December 27, 2005 @ 2:39 am | Filed under: Books, Chesterton & Dickens
For those of you who have not been following the comments to my recent posts on Dickens (here and here), Nancy Brown & Love2Learn Mom were kind enough to tell me about G. K. Chesterton’s biography of Charles Dickens, The Last of the Great Men
I’ve decided upon a Chesterton and Dickens concentration for the upcoming year. I don’t know that I’ll achieve the long-term goal of Writing and Living, who, as you know, plans to read Dickens’s entire body of work in 2006, but I plan to spend a few months, at least, in the company of these two amiable gentlemen, Gilbert and Charles.
A useful (and delightful) link: The American Chesterton Society blog.
My other monthly reading goals for 2006:
• Two children’s novels a month—newly published, or new to me
(first on the list: The Penderwicks
• At least one adult novel not by Dickens
(first on the list: The Red Tent
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Ooo! The Red Tent was one of my favorite books. I’ll be doing the 50 books in a year challenge, with a bit of a twist, because I read way more than that.
Posted on December 27th, 2005 at 6:36 amWelcome to St. Blogs. And good lock with your reading quest. I am a fan of both writers, and Mr. Chesterton occasionally shows up (literally) in my blogs.
Posted on December 28th, 2005 at 7:23 amargh. That was meant to be good luck, not good lock!
Posted on December 28th, 2005 at 7:25 amLife of Pi is one of my all-time favorites. It has an ending that will make you want to read the whole book over again.
Posted on December 29th, 2005 at 2:15 pmIn children’s novels, I would be interested in your opionion of Drift House by Dale Peck, so perhaps you can add it to your list for this year. It has a little bit of magic/time travel (of the Narnia variety, though not religious), and takes an unexpected twist on pirates and mermaids. I am thinking it will make a great read aloud as my kids get older; boys and girls would enjoy it, and it reminds me vaguely of my favorite childhood readalouds.
Posted on December 29th, 2005 at 7:41 pmRe: DRIFT HOUSE—thanks for the suggestion—I look forward to reading the book! (Off to update my library queue…)
By the way, I really enjoy your blog. The Urban Organic link in your sidebar gave me such a pang of nostalgia—we used to get our produce from those folks back in the days when Jane was a baby and we lived in Astoria, Queens. How I looked forward to discovering what surprises would be in our box every week!
Posted on December 31st, 2005 at 3:55 amEvery year, Daddy reads “A Christmas Carol” aloud to all the children. He began the tradition about five years ago, and it is heartwarming to see their depth of understanding and appreciation for the brilliance of the tale increase each year. As I type this, Scrooge is laughing giddily and calling out, “It’s all right! It’s all true! It all happened! Ha, Ha, Ha!” and the children are giggling right along with him. Needless to say, this become one of our favorite parts of Christmas!
Posted on December 31st, 2005 at 6:20 pmBTW, dh just finished this year’s read aloud with “God bless us every one, and God bless Charles Dickens, who was as brilliant an author as ever walked the earth.” : )
Posted on December 31st, 2005 at 6:32 pm