Title: Barnaby Rudge
Author: Charles Dickens
Pages: 634
Finished: June 9, 2019
First Sentence: In the year 1775, there stood upon the borders of Epping Forest, at a distance of about twelve miles from London—measuring from the Standard in Cornhill, or rather from the spot on or near to which the Standard used to be in days of yore—a house of public entertainment called the Maypole; which fact was demonstrated to all such travellers as could neither read nor write (and at that time a vast number both of travellers and stay-at-homes were in this condition) by the emblem reared on the roadside over against the house, which, if not of those goodly proportions that Maypoles were wont to present in olden times, was a fair young ash, thirty feet in height, and straight as any arrow that ever English yeoman drew.
Summary: The novel follows the lives of a select few people and how they are affected by the Gordon Riots of 1780. The first couple hundred pages introduce us to the characters. We see their lives, find their big issues as they currently are, and pretty well figure out who are the good guys and the bad guys. The narrative jumps five years in the future and gives a very detailed account of the Gordon Riots through the eyes of some of the primary rioters and other people affected by it. And like any Dickens novel, things turn out all right in the end.
Thoughts: Whew. First of all, I enjoyed the book. I found the story compelling, and I wanted to finish it. But boy am I out of practice with Dickens. I started writing down a sentence summing up the chapters after I finished them. And eventually I concluded I could really only read at a pace of two chapters a day just so I didn't start forgetting details.
Anyway, the introductory chapters took some time to get going. I realized at one point that this was basically setting the stage for the story. All books have that to some extent, but because it's Dickens, it took many more pages to get through that bit. Once I figured that out, I was much more able to get through.
Regarding the Riots, I found myself doing more research. I participate in Revolutionary War Reenacting, so I found it really interesting to read about what was going on in England during the conflict in the Colonies. Mainly, the level of detail Dickens added was disturbing and sad at the same time. The mob brain. People dying as they were destroying things. Perhaps I was more sensitive to it thanks to last month's razing of Kings' Landing in Game of Thrones, but it was just really really sad. And I wanted to believe that it was not really true. That perhaps Dickens took creative license to deal with it. But from what I was reading, the damage was very thorough, the violence graphic, and the loss of life higher than one typically wants.
As usual, Dickens has a cast of characters full of foibles and very marked characterizations. I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised when the despicable Hugh had a bit of a soft spot for Barnaby. It popped up where I least expected it and I found myself way more interested in the character than I had been originally.
One of the things I like about most Dickens novels is, even when things are at their darkest, you know things will turn out right in the end. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I didn't enjoy The Old Curiosity Shop quite as much.
While I was reading, I found myself thinking about the nature of how Dickens's novels were originally published. Yes he was paid by the word, but the serial publishing is basically how television shows are released. Or were. Now we can binge. So to have basically and episode come out every month or week and then have time to talk about it when visiting, that'd be very interesting. I imagine it'd completely change the way one experiences the story.
Okay, that was very long and rambly. I might try to edit this later. I had Barnaby Rudge slotted as my 19th Century Classic for Back to the Classics and I can cross it off my Classics Club list.
Anyway, the introductory chapters took some time to get going. I realized at one point that this was basically setting the stage for the story. All books have that to some extent, but because it's Dickens, it took many more pages to get through that bit. Once I figured that out, I was much more able to get through.
Regarding the Riots, I found myself doing more research. I participate in Revolutionary War Reenacting, so I found it really interesting to read about what was going on in England during the conflict in the Colonies. Mainly, the level of detail Dickens added was disturbing and sad at the same time. The mob brain. People dying as they were destroying things. Perhaps I was more sensitive to it thanks to last month's razing of Kings' Landing in Game of Thrones, but it was just really really sad. And I wanted to believe that it was not really true. That perhaps Dickens took creative license to deal with it. But from what I was reading, the damage was very thorough, the violence graphic, and the loss of life higher than one typically wants.
As usual, Dickens has a cast of characters full of foibles and very marked characterizations. I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised when the despicable Hugh had a bit of a soft spot for Barnaby. It popped up where I least expected it and I found myself way more interested in the character than I had been originally.
One of the things I like about most Dickens novels is, even when things are at their darkest, you know things will turn out right in the end. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I didn't enjoy The Old Curiosity Shop quite as much.
While I was reading, I found myself thinking about the nature of how Dickens's novels were originally published. Yes he was paid by the word, but the serial publishing is basically how television shows are released. Or were. Now we can binge. So to have basically and episode come out every month or week and then have time to talk about it when visiting, that'd be very interesting. I imagine it'd completely change the way one experiences the story.
Okay, that was very long and rambly. I might try to edit this later. I had Barnaby Rudge slotted as my 19th Century Classic for Back to the Classics and I can cross it off my Classics Club list.
No comments:
Post a Comment