'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!

Get well soon @Piggywaspushed

Welcome to September. I managed to get to the end of our section yesterday although I read much of these chapters in a rather addled and bedridden state.

It's all turned out well for the Dorrits, hasn't it? I can't see where Part Two will take them now!

The highlights for me of this stuffed part were the awful Mrs Gowan and Tattycoram /Harriet's outburst. I can't really tell whose side Dickens is on there. Lots of sympathy in the language for the kindly Meagles, but Dickens again seems to be having a swipe at well meaning middle class and thoughtless philanthropy. I am pretty much Team Tatty at present and agreed with her outbursts. The Miss Wade chapter is the famous 'did Dickens include lesbians chapter. Must say I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't read that online.

I did pick out soem quotations, which I will add later.

We now need to know more about Mrs Clennam's watch inscription and Rigaud's plans and get Arthur to realise he is in love with Amy. Silly Arthur.

I enjoyed these chapters. Nice to see something good happen for the Dorrits, although it did seem to go to their heads a bit! (Amy excepted obviously). It’s still not really clear who Rigaud is and what he’s up to.

I also wouldn’t have picked up on the lesbian theme in the Miss Wade chapter! I do feel sorry for Tattycoram.

Hello! These were interesting chapters with a lot of action, culminating in a complete reversal of fortune for the Dorrits. I was wondering how Mr. Dorrit would feel about giving up his position as Father of the Marshalsea as he seemed to enjoy this status. Will he miss it or relish his freedom and all the new opportunities that this new wealth will bring?

I also don't blame Tattycoram for leaving the Meagles. I think she put up with them for too long (not that she had much choice being orphaned and penniless). I think Dickens is taking a swipe at Mr. Meagles. His intentions may be noble, but he hasn't a clue how to relate to Tatty without treating her like a young child. I was laughing at the covert lesbian reference and wrote 'oo-er!' in the margin of my book :) I don't think Dickens trusts Miss Wade at all. She is clearly Up To No Good where Tatty is concerned.

I enjoyed the Affery/Rigaud chapter. Affery reminds my of a headless chicken when she gets flustered and Rigaud comes across as a sort of pantomime villain, very cloak and dagger with his hooked nose and luxuriant moustache.

I was wondering if Arthur has any backbone, still pining after Pet's pretty face. She is a character who seems to have very little substance, all big innocent eyes and earnestness. I'm sure that Arthur and Amy are meant to be, however! There is still half a book to go!

I'm sorry to hear you were very unwell, Piggy. It sounds like you had a horrendous dose. I really hope you're on the mend.

I want Miss Wade not to be Up To No Good but I fear you are right. Poor Tattycoram.

I want to say I am on the mend fuzzy but shan't tempt fate. At first, I was ill every day, revived, overdid it on a trip out , had a major relapse. Now I tend to have 2 good days, followed by one day bad. Hoping those gaps will lengthen bit by bit... I do feel very Victorian Lady, lolling about at home, sighing and languishing.

I really hope so Piggy 🤞 In the meantime, live your best life as a Victorian lady

Haven't quite made it to chapter 36 yet, on chapter 32 atm, but will be back to read the comments as soon as I have!

Hope you feel better soon Piggy. Enjoy languishing, just… don’t get started on the laudanum

Two moments stood out for me this month. First, when Fanny and Mr Dorrit got upset with Amy for walking arm in arm with A Pauper (the horror!). The other Dorrits are desperately and unattractively clinging on to what scraps of status they have, while only Amy acknowledges the reality of their situation (while always trying to hide it from their father).

The other was when Mrs Merdle told her husband off for looking harassed by his business. ‘I simply request you to care about nothing - or to seem to care about nothing - as everybody else does… Seeming would be quite enough: I ask no more.’ It struck me as a very British attitude to mental distress that is still very current.

Oh, and I didn’t spot the lesbian reference, but I’m definitely team Tattycoram. I wouldn’t fancy the chances of anyone who told me to count to five-and-twenty when I was in a rage.

The thing that irked me about Mr Meagles was his insistence on using the name Tattycoram, even after both Miss wade and Harriet herself made impassioned pleas about the right to her name. It's all quite insightful of Dickens, this. I guess he understood chaotic childhoods.

The 'lesbian bit' is meant to be :

'not with that lady's eyes so intent upon you... and that power over you which we see she exercises; not now, perhaps, but at another time.'

I know Katie from Books and Things refers to Miss Wade as possibly Dickens' only lesbian character.

He also says :

'consider what is in that lady's heart, and think what a future lies before you... that lady's influence over you - astonishing to us, and... terrible to us, to see- is founded in passion fiercer than yours and temper more violent than yours. What can you two be together? What can come of it?'...

' I don't know what you [Miss W that is] are, but you don't hide, can't hide, what a dark spirit you have within you... I warn her against you, and I warn you against yourself'

But then Miss W goes on, in a fine, bravura moment, to say:

'you have spoken of knowing what I am... what your broken plaything is,as to birth, I am. She has no name, I have no name. Her wrong is my wrong.I have nothing more to say to you'

It's stirring stuff and Mr M's sly accusations will not work with the formidable Miss Wade.

He’s very clever and subtle, isn’t he? I mean, it could just be all about illegitimate birth, but it could also be hinting at something Sapphic..

I’m only surprised no one has latched on to this and written a sub-Sarah Waters swirly-covered Harriet and Miss Wade romance.

Another one who missed the lesbian references, it's all a bit too subtle for me!

I was getting my Merdles and Meagles mixed up this month. Must try harder.

I agree that the Dorrit's, with the exception of Amy, are pretty awful people and I can't see this change of fortune will improve their characters. I too was surprised that they'd escaped the Marshalsea so soon, and I'm still not quite sure how this reversal came about. Arthur employs Pancks to do some digging on their situation and he conveniently, and quickly, discovers that Dorrit Senior is heir to a large unclaimed fortune. Whose will? Why was it not known before?

I had assumed any reversal in the Dorrits fortune would be linked to the double dealings of the Clennam family being uncovered.

Any other 50 Bookers immediately think 'Did Not Finish' when the initials DNF were inscribed on the watch

Actually, Desdemona, I only drop in on the 50-bookers threads from time to time, so was wondering what DNF meant on that thread! I hope we all get to finish 'Little Dorrit'. I think we'll deserve a medal if we do, or perhaps an ornate pocket watch!!

Yes, that plot twist seemed rather contrived. 'Off you go Pancks, like a good terrier. See what you can unearth on the Dorrits...' I was thinking it would be related to the Clennams too. Pancks' behaviour was very stalkerish for a while, I thought, following Amy around and winking at her.

Ah, you are all very innocent (re lesbian reference) apart from Piggy and myself!

Merdle and Meagles : me too!

My cover has DNF on it : I hope it's not an omen.

@Piggywaspushed

Merdle and Meagles : me too!

My cover has DNF on it : I hope it's not an omen.

Mine too! :)

Mine has a headless woman on the cover which is rather disconcerting…

Ok, she’s not actually headless, but that’s how it looks!

She definitely does!

Woah! That looks headless to me too. Creepy!

So... chapters 1-11 of Book Two this week! We are more than halfway!

This month even. Bit overly excited there!

Desdemona I never caught the DNF thing but to be fair, I'm someone who hardly gives up on a book even if it's load of crap (I need to change this I know, life is too short!). So once again I'm behind with my chapters, only on 32 atm. My plan to catch up on my reading was blown out the water with DS contracting covid a week after starting back at school, now DD has it. Please keep your fingers crossed that DH and I are not next!

Oh, I hope you remain safe and DCs are OK .

Good luck Cludgie, I do know families where half have caught it and the other half haven't, even though they're living in close quarters so here's hoping you're one of the lucky ones 🤞