David Copperfield Dickensalong

Did anyone else really notice the contrast between the comic bits and the very Victorian, rather preachy passages - especially the Annie Strong part, where she gives forth this great high-flown plea for forgiveness? I felt a certain tension there, and I wasn't sure that it always worked that well. Almost as though Dickens felt he had to include some storylines that ticked those moralistic boxes, but was more comfortable (and certainly more original) with the lighter comic material.

But I suppose this was early in his writing career and he was still working out how to do all this...

Well, I whizzed through the final chapters this afternoon and have just caught up on your chat. I too thought that Dora resembles DC's Mum in many ways.
Hooray for David punching the evil Uriah. (I almost cheered!)
Happy to keep the reading pace and finish in July.
Onward to Chapter 57... obviously dying to know what beans Martha might be ready to spill!

There are two books Terpsichore the sequel is What Else Would Madame Defarge Knit? which had better patterns in my opinion. The editor of the book used to do a podcast called CraftLit that did readalongs to classics. I don't know if it's still going.

The worst screen knitting offence I have seen is two knitting needles stabbed through a finished piece of crochet that the actress was vigorously wafting in her lap. I was quite incensed.

I'm going to check that out properly now, Fortuna, thank you. I only got as far as looking at the thumbnails of the patterns.

(Apologies for a brief derail into knitting chat, but Great Expectations was on TV the other day - the David Lean version. Estella was knitting in one scene and Valerie Hobson looked as though she knew what she was doing, although the piece of 'knitting' looked more like netting. Then the long-shot changed to a close-up and she was clearly holding a piece of knitting at a much later stage of construction, with many more rows completed in a different pattern. Then they went back to the long-shot and the earlier version reappeared.

I had to laugh at how indignant I felt at this bad knitting continuity! 🧶)

She never left off, or left us for a moment. I had arrived early in the day, and we had still three or four hours before dinner; but she sat there, playing her knitting-needles as monotonously as an hourglass might have poured out its sands. [...] I was conscious presently of the evil eye passing me, and going on to her, and coming back to me again, and dropping furtively upon the knitting. What the knitting was, I don’t know, not being learned in that art; but it looked like a net; and as she worked away with those Chinese chopsticks of knitting-needles, she showed in the firelight like an ill-looking enchantress, baulked as yet by the radiant goodness opposite, but getting ready for a cast of her net by-and-by. [...] In the drawing-room, there was the mother knitting and watching again. [...] I would rather have remained down-stairs, knitting and all, than gone to bed. I hardly got any sleep. Next day the knitting and watching began again, and lasted all day.

Sounds like a good use of two days to me. One of the reasons I have embraced audiobooks so much is that it allows me to knit at the same time. Nothing like a good book and a good stretch of stocking stitch in the round. There is a surprising amount of knitting mentioned in the book, with 4 women at it at some point or other.

Terpsichore I don't know if you have ever seen the Defarge book itself, every project is inspired by classic literature and the patterns are interspersed with essays about the book/character that inspired them.

Happy with the choice to split the rest, just let me know where I should be reading up to please.

No objection to two more months.

Mrs Heep when she was standing sentinel over DC and Agnes to make sure they didn't get up to any funny business, Piggy

Fine by me too

Absolutely fine by me, Piggy.

I'm a knitter too, Fortuna, I hear you . He obviously liked the image, though - I instantly thought of Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities, knitting furiously away by the guillotine.

There's an online knitting/crafts site called Ravelry which some will know - I've seen a book of patterns on there called 'What Would Madame Defarge Knit?'

My audiobook claims we're at 77%. 5 hours left at x1.6 speed so doable, but I'm equally happy to split it. I think the past sections we've done have averaged at about 3 hours worth each.

I'm listening to an audiobook version and the voice Anton Lesser does for Uriah Heap makes my skin crawl.

I'm finding it quite oddly balanced for action. 2 months ago there was nothing to say then last month it was all go, lots happening this month too. As mentioned there's a lot to be tied up before the end. I'm finding the vast cast of characters a bit much. I'm struggling to keep up with everyone because I leave it to the end of the month and the long gap means I've forgotten everything.

I was quite interested in the language used to describe knitting. He obviously wasn't a knitter himself. I was listening out for the hair bit Piggy and it made me laugh. Lots of out of control hair here too.

It's 218 pages in my virtual copy. I'd be fine to carry on to the end - some of the remaining chapters are pretty short. But if we do two more that's OK by me, as you're going to be busy, Piggy.

Finish in June I mean

I'd be happy to push on through to the end in June

Dora was played for laughs in the film, and it worked well.

300 pages is quite a lot, tbf - many complete books are shorter. Are we doing the remaining chapters this month? It feels like there's a certain amount of exit velocity.

The women of wisdom and judgment (Betsy, Agnes) are ranged on one side; poor, infantile child-wife Dora with her guitar and her pretty pouting is on the other. David needs to learn and grow as well. I suspect Dora's not long for this world.

I hadn't thought about Dora being similar to David's mother before, but you're right. Dora is so fluffily awful, she would be a comedy character if our David wasn't now trapped with her.

Does anyone else have a feeling that the ending will be either very rushed, or not satisfactory with too many loose ends? We have barely 300 pages to go and we still need to find out what happens to Emily, we need to get Traddles married, the Micawbers will probably get ruined again, Steerforth and Littimer need their comeuppance, Agnes needs to get married, we need to find out the mystery in Betsy Trotwood's past (who was the man in her carriage that day in London, the Murdstone's will no doubt have an ending of sorts. It's an awful lot to cram in.