'Little Dorrit' readalong

[Piggywaspushed]

Hello and welcome to our next proposed Dickensalong after the success of our previous readalongs!

On our previous thread I suggested our first month as commencing in April and convening on June 1st to discuss the first instalment : gives everyone time to get copies and get settled down.

Everyone is welcome! We always start with about 10 people and end up with about 5...

Instalments I have chosen follow Dickens' shorter 19 instalments (which were all exactly the same number of pages originally - that must have taken considerable planning and editing!) but come in pairs or trios:-
The novel comprises only two Books, which forces a break at a particular point, too.

May 2021 - Book One , Chapters 1-11
June - Chapters 12-18
July - Chapters 19-25
August - Chapters 26- 36
September - Book Two Chapters 1-11
October - Chapters 12-18
November - Chapters 19-26
December - Chapters 27 - 34

So finished by 2022. I think that suits reading speed of most.

Happy Reading!

Place-marking with a glass of fortified wine for 1st of July!

I’m half way through chapter 2! But it’s fine, I follow the chat and spend the next month catching up properly.

Aaargh! I haven't read Chapter 18. Will squeeze it in later. I have nothing to kick us off with until then really but chat away.

I'm enjoying the characterisations of Mr. Casby and Harry Gowan.

'The Patriarch, apparently not yet understanding his own part in the drama under representation, glowed with vacant serenity'.

'Henry Gowan (...) was of that exclusively agricultural character which applies itself to the cultivation of wild oats'.

This has been a mixed bag of chapters, with lots of new characters introduced and no real indication of how significant they may turn out to be. I am getting some of them mixed up - after reading the above post I had to stop and think ‘who is Mr Casby again?’.

Some other characters we met previously have popped up again - they obviously will be significant but not clear how yet! We don’t know what Cavaletto is now doing in London and Miss Wade has also been mentioned again.

I also enjoyed the Henry Gowan chapter, especially the dinner where Clarence Barnacle kept losing his eyeglass and sticking cutlery into his eyes instead! I felt very sorry for John Chivery.

So, I have done it. I found it most interesting this month to reflect upon Amy as another prisoner , even though she has committed no crime. When she leaves the Marshalsea she has gone for an 'airing' and really only Arthur wants to see her out of there. Her dear lover, bless his deluded heart, who imagines her epitaph as There she was born, There she lived. There she died

Even Amy feels safer inside. She says when I come outside the gate, I am unprotected and solitary.

It is poignant and thought provoking on the social issues of institutionalisation and dependency cultures.

That hastily reimagined epitaph at the end of Chapter 18 did make me chuckle though!

I'm getting on alot better with this than our mutual friend so far.

It helps to have marshalsea as a sort of anchor and working out how the different characters relate eventually to that place or someone from there

Obviously I haven’t yet managed to catch up enough, but wanted to flag a book called ‘Mansions of Misery’ by Jerry White which is a micro historical study of Marshalsea.

I totally need the Wikipedia list of characters open whilst reading and love schmoop so thanks for that recommendation, I’ve never come across it before.

I’m still enjoying it too, although I’m a little frustrated at Arthur for choosing to fall in love with the vacuous Pet Meagles instead of far more interesting Amy. Also, I didn’t understand the bit about Plornish buying a horse and how that got Tip out of prison…

No, Plornish went over my head too.

I agree with Chessie, it's a mixed bag of chapters. Some of them I have really enjoyed and some I was a bit lost and resorted to Shmoop.
There's a lot of characters to keep track of.

There is bound to be a link between Arthur's father and Mr Dorrit getting into debt. Not at all sure where Cavaletto fits in at all and am finding that whole sub plot a bit annoying.
I want to know more about Tattycoram.
Little Dorrit is a bit irritating - a bit too good and nice. I am picturing Cynthia from Call the Midwife (the little one who became a nun)

Little Dorrit is a walking saint, she is so good. The part where she walked around with Maggy at night was well written. I really felt for them.
Arthur seems to have fallen in and out of love with 'Pet' in one breath. I agree, she doesn't have any substance.
The treatment of Tattycoram by Mr. Meagles is despicable; making her count up to twenty-five repeatedly. So degrading.
I was also puzzled about Tip, Plornish and the horse. Good that it was not just me then!

Arthur trying not to be in love with Pet did remind me of David Copperfield's ill advised passions!

Once you have read several Dickens you definitely come to a better understanding of what 'Dickensian' means.

Just finished chapter 18 and agree June chapters were more of a mixed bag. Am very glad of the Shmoop recommendation, really needed it! It definitely would have come in handy during the OMF read when I didn't have a clue whether I was reading about a piece of furniture or an actual person.

Agree that Arthur's dad may have had something to do with Mr Dorrits imprisonment. Just hope they don't turn on Arthur if/when the big reveal comes.

.'The part where she walked around with Maggy at night was well written. I really felt for them.'

That's been my favourite part so far

@BadSpellaSpellaSpella

.'The part where she walked around with Maggy at night was well written. I really felt for them.'

That's been my favourite part so far

Aw, yes, me too.

I forgot my latest Dickens sees into the future quotation:

'But Lord bless me!' cried Mr Meagles, rubbing his hands with a relish, 'it was an uncommonly pleasant thing being in quarantine, wasn't it? Do you know, I often wished myself back again! We were a capital party!'

Not sure what the MN dreaded coronavirus board would make of Mr Meagles!!

I couldn't imagine a more irritating person to be confined with. Oh wait, I can. Flora.

Hhahahaha! God, yes.

Having followed Katie 'Books and Things' for her readalongs of Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend, I must say I'm missing having someone to explain it all to me and get me enthused about certain characters as well go along! One thing I've come to realise is just what slow burners Dickens' books are, so I'm going with the flow and letting him sow the seeds of the characters and the story. Definitely seems to be a lot of social commentary in Little Dorrit - the prison, Tattycoram's back story, etc. I find Flora hilarious! So Arthur has ruled out Flora and Pet - does this mean he's destined to fall in love with Little Dorrit? Given how she's described as child like (even the word 'Little' is a bit jarring) and how she has made herself a slave to her father and family, so far I don't think that's a particularly appealing prospect. Also loving Affery Flintwich and looking forward to finding out what her 'dreams' are all about.

I haven't looked up Katie to see if she does a Little Dorrit. Will have a look.

Piggy I don't think Katie has done another read along. She may have mentioned LD in passing. When I messaged Katie about Bleak House (to see if she was going to finish her commentary) she said she wouldn't do another one as it was just too time-consuming !! Which is a shame as I really enjoy her observations and enthusiasm. She brought Bleak House and,, especially, OMF alive for me.

Yes, me too. Love Katie.

I'm thinking Dickens was the Woody Allen of his time, all this obsession with young girls that is acted out in his art, with the elderly protagonist managing to bag a nubile young thing. (See 'Manhattan' where Allen's 42 year old is dating a 17 year old) I agree the obsession with Little Dorrit's tiny stature and child like demeanour is a bit creepy.
I do rather like the mild mannered Arthur though (maybe because in my minds eye he's Matthew McFadden as in the adaptation) and I love Flora and her terrible delusions.

But men did marry very young women in Victorian times , to be fair, so it wasn't that odd to them. David is quite young himself in DC but still refers to whatsherface as a 'little child'. I read something on this infantilisation somewhere recently, but can't for the life of me remember where!

We see this from a different viewpoint in Bleak House where we see the dependence of a young woman on a much older man , not as creepy but a s a possible economic necessity for survival.