Dickensalong 2023 : The Old Curiosity Shop

[Piggywaspushed]

Come along and join me in this year's Dickens readalong.

We have chosen The Old Curiosity Shop which was originally published by Dickens across 88 weeks in his won periodical.

Obviously 88 weeks is a bit much for our modern concentration spans and multitasking minds , so I propose an 8 month read. There are 73 chapters in total, not split into volumes or books (thanks for this Dickens!!) but I found little stars every few chapters so think these indicate breaks:

January - Chapters 1- 8
February - Chapters 9- 16
March - Chapters 17 - 26
April - Chapters 27 - 36
May - Chapters 37 - 45
June - Chapters 46-53
July - Chapters 54 - 63
August - 64 - end

I hope that's all OK. It's not as long as some of the others we have done so 8 instalments seems to work.

All welcome - old curiosities, and new!

She’s just too good to be true @FuzzyCaoraDhubh!

I always pictured Scrooge as in his 70s. In screen adaptations he certainly looks closer to 70s than 50s doesn't he! I guess he would look a bit too young otherwise by today's standards.

I'm hanging on and the only thing I'm really enjoying is the fact I have absolutely no idea where we are headed!

The thing is that simply looking at the average life expectancy age is misleading - the average age skews young because so many children died in infancy back then. Once you reached the age of about 5, you actually then had a reasonable chance of living to a reasonable age. So I don’t think 50s would have been considered old at all.

I'm sure Greg Jenner answers this is Ask A Historian. Something along the lines of it not being unusual to encounter some very very old people but that there were fewer of them.

I think I also read, perhaps in the same place, that once women reached menopause, they were considered ancient. Really very old actresses have played Miss Havisham in the past, for example, until Gillian Anderson changed perceptions.

The 'feeble woman bent with the weight of years' that Nell meets in the churchyard is 78, assuming she’s the same age as her husband, who died 55 years ago at 23. I'm just listening to Prue Leith on the radio talking about doing a one-woman show aged 83….

But yes, as Chessie says, the child mortality rate was horrendous. Surviving that gave you a decent chance of a reasonable life-span, but pregnancy and labour were hugely dangerous for women without modern healthcare, and just general lack of proper treatments for quite minor illnesses would contribute to the death-rate. No antibiotics, surgery incredibly risky, little understanding of the principles of antiseptics until the 1860s.

And I just found an interesting website that says between 1851 and 1881 the average age in Britain was just under 25 years.

April is Chaps 37 to 36 inclusive, as a reminder!

Ummm.... no, that's not possible! 27!!

Thanks Piggy, I’m still reading along, it’s just not inspiring any thoughts to post for the last couple of sections!

Thanks Piggy!

I just got to a fun bit about snorers who claim 'not to have slept a wink' which reminded me of DH if that helps...

Mrs Jarley is very Dickensian.

I hear you LadybirdDaphne

Oh, I meat to say by the way- if you didn't know Our Katie of Books and Things has a book out. I haven't bought it yet and it could well be rather dreadful but here's a link! I am going to buy it anyway in support of the lovely excitable Katie!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Hartwood-Hall-Katie-Lumsden/dp/0241556074/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Who is Katie? Is she from Mumsnet?

Katie Lumsden of Books and Things. She posts readalongs and summaries of mainly Victorian literature on YouTube

I didn't know she had just started this Dickens readalong as it goes!

Katie is hilarious to watch sped up on YouTube! It's like it becomes a parody of how rapidly she speaks!

Thanks for that, Piggy! I love Katie's readalongs so I'll definitely listen in. I'll check out her book too.

Thanks for the explanation. I'd never heard of her.

Though I stopped watching her video because of the constant upspeak!

Katie! Haven't watched her since the Bleak House readalong. Might give her videos on TOCS a go

I've finished the installment. I'll listen to Katie later on to hear her take on it.

I've also finished. I'd been going to post late last month, as I was behind, but there wasn't much to add, other than a mention of possible 'Punch' theme, and a couple of very minor observances. So that can wait for this next discussion.

I listened to Katie's longer, reflections, video. She also agrees with Little Dorrit similarities, though a more complex character than Nell. But she reminded me of a class theme that often comes up in Dickens, so very useful actually.

Though I'd hoped she might say something about The Pilgrim's Progress. She probably has somewhere.

I'm not going to have finished my chapters in time for the discussion this month. I'll pop along and add my comments after the event!

I haven't finished yet either...