Thursday, November 5, 2015

Rereading, rambling & relishing - Part 1

What's your definition of rereading? I've been rereading a lot this year but the books I'm rereading are ones I haven't read for over 30 years in most cases. So, do they count as rereads if I read them so long ago or can I count them as brand new reads (for the purposes of my Top 10 of the year list)?

I've just finished listening to Dombey and Son, beautifully read by David Timson. I know I read this years ago because I have a battered old Penguin on the shelf. But, there was so much I'd forgotten. Dombey doesn't seem to be one of Dickens's best-known books. Looking at imdb, there was a TV series in 1983 with Julian Glover as Mr Dombey, Lysette Anthony as Florence & Zelah Clarke (my favourite Jane Eyre) as Susan Nipper. It's on YouTube but the soundtrack is out of sync which is a shame (it seems to be the same on the Region 1 DVD I saw a clip of so must be a fault with the original). I loved the story but the characterisations are very black & white. All the good characters (Walter Gay, Sol Gills, Captain Cuttle, John & Harriet Carker) are so very good & all the bad characters, especially Mr Carker the Manager (his sharp white teeth make so many appearances) are so obviously villains from the beginning. Florence is another of Dickens's unnaturally good girls & poor little Paul is doomed from the beginning with his "old-fashioned" ways. Edith Granger, the second Mrs Dombey, is a fascinating character. Brought up by a horrible, rapacious mother to entice men, any emotional life she might have had has been stunted from childhood & Mr Dombey deserves everything he gets when she refuses to be the compliant, grateful wife he expects. I didn't believe that she would run away as she does, though. The comic characters, especially dear Mr Toots, with his kindness & his inarticulate worship of Florence ("it's of no consequence") & fierce Susan Nipper, are a joy.

I read the Introduction to my Penguin edition after I'd finished listening & there was a reference to Kathleen Tillotson's book, Novels of the Eighteen-forties. Another book I remember reading years ago. I don't have a copy but borrowed it from Open Library. Published in 1954, it's still one of the freshest, most interesting works of literary criticism I've read. The first half of the book is a survey of the literary scene  of the 1840s & then Tillotson looks specifically at four novels - Dombey, Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair & Mary Barton as representing the different kinds of novels published in the decade. I especially enjoyed her discussion about why we shouldn't lump all Victorian novels together. The novels of the 1840s couldn't have been published in the 1860s or 1870s when incidents like Jane's frank discussions with Rochester about his mistresses & Becky's methods of advancing herself would have been banned from the circulating libraries. If you're interested in Victorian fiction, I'd recommend this book. I was only going to read the chapter on Dombey but then I read the chapters on the other novels & then went back to the beginning & read the first half of the book. I've read Jane Eyre many times & Vanity Fair & Mary Barton once but now I really want to read Mary Barton again. More rereading.

I was also reminded of another classic book of Dickens criticism which I have not read, but was able to borrow from Open Library, The Dickens World by Humphry House.

Then, I was pushed forward from the 1840s to the 1940s by reading Mrs Miniver's Daughter's post on the 70th anniversary of Brief Encounter, one of my favourite movies. The mention of the Kate O'Brien novel Laura has just borrowed from Boots reminded me of Nicola Beauman's book, A Very Great Profession (originally Virago, now Persephone). Nicola Beauman saw Brief Encounter & wondered what else Laura was reading & her research became AVGP. I watched the movie again last weekend (I tried to see which O'Brien it was - I decided it must be a mid-1930s O'Brien because that's when the play was written, so The Ante-Room or Mary Lavelle - among other things but failed. Maybe if I saw it on the big screen...) & reread the book.

I also need to stop listening to podcasts (damn the BBC!). I've just listened to a Woman's Hour special celebrating the life of Marguerite Patten, the cookery writer who was so closely associated with the Ministry of Food during WWII (you can listen to it here). She died recently aged 99 & they replayed an interview with her, which included cooking quail parcels & Eve's pudding, from 2009. Well, that made me want to read about the Home Front which reminded me of an article I read recently about a new TV series in the UK called Home Fires, about the Women's Institute during the war. It's based on the book Jambusters by Julie Summers &, even though I have a whole shelf of books about WWII on the tbr shelves, this is the one I want to read. At least we have a couple of copies in my library's collection but they're both on loan - I should be glad our patrons have such excellent taste but I'm just irritated that they got in before me. So, I've downloaded the free Kindle sample & reserved the book.

This post is much too long & I have more rambling & relishing to do so come back tomorrow for Part 2.

14 comments:

  1. The more, the better! I'm smiling over your quandry because I've kept an ongoing reading list for about 30 years (this year!) and for a long time I was religious about not re-entering a book that I had already entered. But lately I've been relaxing about that... Then again I often look at that list and realize that I don't remember the books at all...so if they were re-reads I probably wouldn't realize it without my notes. :)

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    1. I've kept reading lists since 1979 (you'll see a picture of them tomorrow) so I know how many times I've reread my favourites. I'm always surprised at how similar my tastes are to what they were 30+ years ago.

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  2. I love a good rambling post! My main quarrel with Dickens is his black and white characters (followed closely by his melodramatic plotlines) so I've never been able to work up much enthusiasm for him. Regardless, I'm very intrigued by Novels of the Eighteen-Forties. I can never read too much about Vanity Fair and the unsurpassed brilliance of Becky Sharp.

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    1. The Tillotson book is very good.I used to read a lot of literary criticism in my younger days & this book really stood out. I was pleased to be able to read it again. I love dickens but his later novels certainly have more depth of characterization. Still, I listened to 39 hours of Dombey & loved every minute so it didn't bother me too much.

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  3. That all sounds like a very delightful read and ramble. I love Dombey and Son but like you haven't read it for decades. Perhaps Audible would be the way to go. Thanks for these reminders!

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    1. If you enjoy audio books, I think you's love David Timson's reading of D&S, Harriet, it was wonderful. A good way to get into a long book too, I find.

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  4. Novels of the 1840s sounds fascinating. How different the cultural climate was versus 20-30 years later, a generation.

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    1. Yes, it's so easy for us at this distance to lump all Victorian novels in together but each decade was very different. You wouldn't think of putting books of the 1940s & 1990s in the same basket so why do we do it for the 19th century? A very useful reminder. KT's prose is clear & readable too, which literary criticism isn't always!

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  5. I like your rambling post, which not so rambling: an idea bring to another one; this is how it should be! The only book I have not read is "The Dickens World", and I shall look for it at The Open Library. Thank you for mentioning it and for telling us where to find it.
    Tillotson was assigned to me during my shortened studies and I have my mother's who was assigned the same before me.
    I had no problem with Dickens when I was a child because, as all children, I liked black and white people and thought the world was black and white. Today, I find it more difficult to swallow and I dislike his pure and ethereal young ladies. I prefer Becky Sharp.
    Even if I am still young (22), I have started re-reading classics and I enjoy that very much. I already see my opinions changing.
    Thank you for this clever and sharp review. I am waiting eagerly for what will follow!

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    1. Thanks Camille. I went through a long period of not reading Dickens but started again about 10 years ago with Hard Times with the 19th century group & I've kept reading & rereading him ever since.

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  6. I'm finding myself drawn to re-reading more than I ever have before, in some cases because I read the book so long ago - and age and experience can change your feelings towards books - and in some cases because the books I love are calling louder than the books I don't know. I'd say the line between counting or not counting it as a new book is subjective - are you reading for its familiarity or something more than that.

    I've always liked the idea of Dombey and Son but read mixed report, so I'm glad to find someone who enjoyed it. Dickens does work well read aloud; and I can recommend Martin Jarvis's reading of A Tale of Two Cities, which I've just finished.

    I'll add the Tillotson book to my Open Library list.

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    1. It's a sign of middle age that I can now say it's been 30+ years since I read something! I am enjoying rereading the books I last read in my teens although with so many new books on the tbr shelves, I should be reading those. Still, at least I've stopped buying for a while. I have ATOTC in my Audible wishlist so I will get to it one day. Next up will be Oliver Twist or Nicholas Nickleby, which again, I've read only once & many years ago. I took advantage of the very cheap Whispersync prices (often only $2.99AU for the audio when you buy a free or very cheap eBook) & bought quite a few classics audio books a little while ago.

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  7. Your post poses an interesting question. Between the ages of about 14 and 25 or 30, I read a lot of classics, English, American, Russian, and French. But, I don't think I could give you the plots lines or characters of most of them. So, do I re-read? Or is this reading a new?
    I've been watching the Home Fires series here in the US and enjoying it. I like the characters, except the ones who are evil! I hope you can watch it.

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    1. I do hope we see Home Fires here. It's on PayTV at the moment so hopefully it will be released on DVD. I'm really enjoying the rereading. Like you, I know I've read these books but don't remember a lot about them after all this time.

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