A quick scoot around the blogs has unearthed some more treats:
- Vulpes Libris has reviewed a new book on the Great Exhibition (for a less exhaustive account, I would recommend The World for a Shilling)
- The Guardian’s view of Michael Slater’s new biography of Charles Dickens. As much as I enjoyed Peter Ackroyd’s behemoth, I can’t wait to see what this consummate Dickensian has to say on Boz.
- The Cat’s Meat Shop provides a useful glossary of slang for The Child of the Jago
- I’m inclined to agree with The Little Professor that we don’t need any more costume dramas. Apparently, the BBC are “resting” Dickens. Praise be!
- The Victorian Peeper has peeped at some Census records and discovered that many of Jack the Ripper’s victims had been married women who turned to prostitution after the breakdown of their marriages. Let’s hope that this focus on the victims themselves will help arrest the appalling commercialism that surrounds the memory of a murdering rapist. They were real women, and deserve to be treated with respect.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I wouldn’t mind more costume dramas, but I’d like to see a step back into the 18th century.
Dramatizatons of _Humphrey Clinker_ and _Roderick Random_ might be fun. And what about some of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s plays? Surely they would be well worth the effort.
Charles Dickens and Jane Austen have nearly been dramatized to death. And in the case of Dickens, there is apparently no end of the tricks producers will pull. I saw just the other day that Disney has put out a new animated film of _A Christmas Carol_. I love the book, but how many versions of it can we stand?
I would love to see a dramatization of Brown’s _Wieland_. Now _there_ is a scary tale! However, it is an American novel with an American setting, so we aren’t likely to get it from the only people who could probably do it justice.
I would also like to see a long moratorium on _Frankenstein_ films. Branagh’s version is as close to the novel as I’ve ever seen, and I really liked DeNiro’s portrayal of the Creature. But, in the end, it was _not_ Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_, as the title promised.
Well, sorry to be babbling on like this.
Bob
Yes, televising some Sheridan plays is an excellent idea, Bob. Perhaps “The Critic”, with Waldorf and Statler in the box? I shouldn’t joke, as that’s probably what we’d get!
I certainly support your moratorium on “A Christmas Carol” and “Frankenstein”. They become further removed from the texts with every adaptation, and I want to stand outside the cinema with a sandwich board, urging people to go and read the book.
I suspect the BBC could do a good job with Humphrey Clinker or Roderick Random – I wonder whether it’ll ever happen? We did get “Clarissa” many years ago, so there is a precedent for 18th century novels.
I shall look out for “Wieland”.
I could not get on with the Ackroyd but thought the Slater was magnificent. Here is my review if you would like to take a look.
http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2009/10/charles-dickens-by-michael-slater.html
Many thanks for your comment, Elaine – you’ve galvanised me into buying a copy of the biography! Michael Slater is coming to talk about the writing process at my university just before Christmas, so I’ll report back on any interesting insights.
Catherine – please do. I sat down with this biography and did not move from my sofa for four days while I read it. Could not put it down.
Why not ring up Yale and ask if they will send you a review copy? that is what I did and they are very happy to send books to book bloggers. Try it!!