Charles Dickens: The 19th Century Zuckerberg?

Thought this might appeal to everyone:

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-social-network-charles-dickens-wrote.html

Anyone up for discussion thisWednesday? ;-)

Emily

A Communist Christmas Carol??

Alright, I've finished "A Christmas Carol" and I can't help reading it from a Marxist perspective. Especially in passages like:

" 'Is there a peculiar flavor in what you sprinkle from your torch?'
...
'Would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?' asked Scrooge.
...
'To any kindly given. To a poor one most.'
'Why to a poor one most?' asked Scrooge.
'Because it needs it most.'" (77)

There are numerous examples of this call for a redistribution of wealth and urging for social equality.

I'd also reference passages such as : '...forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than million's like this poor man's child..." (82).

Long live the 99%, Viva la Dickens!

Thoughts?

Eric

p.s. Get well soon Saxby.

Pickwick Papers - narratorial voice

I find the use of an editor as narrator's voice very telling in The Pickwick Papers.  First, Dickens compiled the vignettes as an editor would do.  Second, yet not to confuse the idea of author/narrator, while there is an inherent distancing that occurs in being an editor, these stories are the editor's creation.  And, lastly, there is a conspiratorial air to using the word "we".  If conspiracy is too strong of a word, there is, at least, a sense of complicity.

Did Dickens choose this style because he was new at fiction (having been commissioned to write the narrative to accompany Seymour) ?  Or, was this the convention at the time?  

Welcome to the Dickens Seminar Blog

Dear Dickens Seminar Students:

Welcome to the blog for the class.  I'm getting adjusted to this mode of communication myself... so bear with me, but I think we'll all find it very useful.  I look forward to participating in exchanges with you... and reading your insights, exchanges, and observations.

Alan