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Archive for the ‘Charles Dickens’ Category

Charles Dickens–The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New One In (1844)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, History, It's a Wonderful Life, My Morning Jacket, Short Story, Supernatural on January 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: MY MORNING JACKET-Does Xmas Fiasco Style: We Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (2000).

mmjxmasWe heard a song from this on WXPN the other day and Sarah bought it for me for Christmas.  I have really liked My Morning Jacket’s newer music, and I like their earlier stuff, but a little less.  This seems to fall somewhere in between.

This also seems to be about the worst actual Christmas album that I like very much.  There is virtually no Christmas feel to it, even if many of the songs feature the word Christmas somewhere.  Basically My Morning Jacket are doing their own thing, and they sound great–lengthy jams of acoustic alternative rock and Jim James’ soaring vocals.  It’s a lovely piece of music, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas (so it was nice to end the Christmas music posts with it).

There are six songs “Xmas Curtain” would be released on their second album the following year (so they made this after releasing one album!).  It is a cool song although it seems to be more about criminals than Christmas.  There are lovely harmonies and a strange steel drum sound for the melody.  “I Just Wanted to Say” is a slow guitar picked song.  It does reflect holiday sentiment: “wishing you happy holidays.” Once again gorgeous chorus and harmonies.  Although there’s a long instrumental section at the end which kind of makes it lose the Christmas spirit (the song is over 6 minutes long).

“Christmas Time is Here Again” is really the first explicit Christmas song. It’s a lovely song and kinda feel Christmasey.  Of course, if they  wanted a nice simple Christmas song it should end at 3:40.  But rather they tack on a lengthy (very pretty) instrumental section. I love what they play, but it make you lose sight of the earlier part of the song even if the lyrics do repeat again. The bells are nice at the end.

“New Morning” is a Nick Cave song, not exactly Christmasey but very pretty.  The other very Christmasey song is “Santa Claus is Back in Town.”  This is apparently an Elvis song (the backing vocals of “Chris-mussss”) give it a very fifties sound.  This could also easily end at 4 minutes, but they tack on a bunch of guitar nonsense at the end for an extra minute and a half.  These little flourishes aren’t bad, and this is clearly a fun fan record, but you’re not going to get on a Christmas compilation with all that extra business.

The final song is a “hidden track.”  It is the lengthy instrumental from “Christmas Time is Here Again” but played by itself (with the whole band).  As I said, it’s lovely.  Of course it’s fades after 2 minutes, but then gets louder and runs a total of 7 minutes–those jokesters.

[READ: December 10, 2014] The Chimes

I didn’t know this story at all.  It turns out to be more of a New Year’s story than a Christmas story, despite it being in the Christmas Books book.

The story is centered around Toby Veck, known as Trotty because of his usual walk.  Trotty is a messenger.  But his main feature is that he is obsessed with the chimes, the Bells, at the churchtower.  He believes that they speak to him.  It sounds like he sleeps out under the bells, but I gather that he actually just spends most of his time outside so he can be a messenger to others.

It is a cold cold New Year’s Eve night.  His daughter, Meg, brings him a large feast of tripe (she drags out his trying to guess what it is).  He is thrilled at the boon of such a feast.  While he is enjoying the food, she reveals that she is going to get married to her fiancee Richard the next day. Trotty seems concerned by this but before he can say anything, he is interrupted by Alderman Cute and his associate Mr Filer.  The Alderman basically gives them all a hard time.  He criticizes Trotty for eating tripe (which he says is the most wasteful of all foods?!), he criticizes the poor in general (and talks about arresting just about everyone) and he criticizes Meg and Richard for planning to get married.  He says that Richard could do much better and that if they do marry they will just wind up poor with unwanted children.  What a dick. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol: In Prose: Being A Ghost Story of Christmas (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, Danú, Ghosts, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Patrick Kavanagh, Short Story, Supernatural on December 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: DANÚ: An Nollaig in Éirinn: Christmas in Ireland Live in Concert (2010).

danu cdWe saw Danú perform a Christmas show last year.  The show was wonderful, so we bought the CD.

The CD is a live show much like the one we saw, so not only is it a Christmas album, but it’s a nice memento of the show.  Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s voice is beautiful–a soaring, angelic sound and the performance of the band is amazing.

The disc is a mix of beautiful ballads (Irish specific and those familiar to all) and rollicking instrumentals.  The ballads, most sung by Muireann include “The Wexford Carol” (a traditional song); “Angels We Have Heard on High” (gorgeous–with audience participation); “Le Coinnle na nAingeal” a lovely, slow ballad about putting candles in the window

n Irish and English) and “Le Coinnle na nAingeal.”  She even got the audience to sing along to some of the Irish words in “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” and, of course, we all chimed in on “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

The rollicking numbers include “The Slide Set” (Scartaglen Slide and two reels: “The Hunters Purse” and “The Reconciliation”); “Round the House Set” (some fun dance numbers); and “The Polkas.” “Apples in Winter/The Frost is All Over” is a charming instrumental, the second half of which is all about the button accordion (amazing playing!).

Some other songs include “A Christmas Childhood” is a spoken poem by Patrick Kavanagh set to a piano melody.  “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” is an anthem from Kerry in which boys hunt for a wren on the feast of St Stephen. It is a slow song and the was much audience participation when we saw them.  “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” is a very funny tale about a deadly Christmas Cake–a fun sing along with silly lyrics.

The show and disc end with “Oíche Chiúin/Silent Night” a lovely rendition that segues into an amazing bodrhan solo (Martin O’Neill is fantastic–the sounds he gets out of this one drum are staggering).  It ends with a whooping song called “Contradiction.”  The encore is a beautiful duet called “The Parting Glass” and, since no Irish set should end in a mellow way, “The Christmas Eve Reel” ends with a wonderful stomping song.

The show was fantastic and the CD is great too.  There’s no between-song banter, which is a shame, but which also keeps the set a reasonable length.  It’s a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas, even if there’s not many familiar Christmas songs.

[READ: December 10, 2014] A Christmas Carol

Obviously, I know A Christmas Carol.  Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future etc.  I have seen the play, I have listened to Patrick Stewart’s reading and I’ve seen nearly every movie and TV version. But I have never actually read it.

I found the story to be really enjoyable.  And for Dickens, the story is pretty compact. There are few moments where he throws in a lot of extra bits and pieces, but the action moves pretty swiftly.

I think one thing that I was surprised by was that Scrooge is moved by the very first spirit that comes along.  In my memory he isn’t that impressed by the first one, but in the story he is ready to give in after his trip to his childhood.  I was also surprised to see that Scrooge’s nephew plays a pretty big role at the end. In my memory (or maybe in condensed versions—or the Grinch, anyhow), Scrooge eats with the Cratchits.  But no, he sends them the goose with no word given (and we never see their reaction) and then has dinner with the nephew who invited him early in the story (Dickens is nothing if not tidy in cleaning up loose ends). (more…)

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Charles Dickens–The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Short Story, Supernatural on December 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: STARS OF CHRISTMAS (2008).

starsxmasI believe that I bought this collection because it was cheap–a new disc of interesting mixes for Christmas  Well, given the artists on the cover (my cover is actually different, but similar), I had no idea that I was in for a largely classic/formal collection of songs.  True I probably should have looked at the list, but for a cheapie Christmas CD it seemed safe.

The first several tracks are done is very operatic style.  Many other tracks are done in an almost church-like atmosphere.  Nothing inherently wrong with these versions, indeed, many of them are quite lovely but they’re not what I like in Christmas songs and, frankly there’s too much of it on this disc (it’s nearly an hour long).

MARIO LANZA-“I Saw Three Ships” and SERGIO FRANCHI-“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” Operatic and JOHN DAVIDSON-“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are all very formal and operatic.  ED AMES-“Joy to the World” is also operatic and it adds a backing vocal chorus.

Somewhat less operatic but still formal are PERRY COMO-“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and ANDY WILLIAMS-“Angels We Have Heard on High.”  This all makes sense as these are religious Christmas songs.  Even the CAROL LAWRENCE and ROBERT GOULET version of “Carol of the Bells” features Goulet’s ponderous voice.  (It’s a nice version, but Lawrence can’t quite match him).

After these, the mood lightens somewhat.  DANNY KAYE-“Deck the Halls” is a bit more fun (as Danny Kaye would be).  And then comes the big WTF moment–AIR SUPPLY? doing “The First Noel.”  Their version is fine and doesn’t sound too out of place here.

Changing the tone somewhat, JULIE ANDREWS-“Patapan” I don’t really know this song very well.  Andrews does a lovely version of it.  It’s strange that there are two Christmas songs about drums.  And THE LENNON SISTERS, who I quite like, do “Silent Night.”  Their version is sweet and relaxing and reminds me of the singers from O Brother Where Art Thou?  JOSE FELICIANO-“The Cherry Tree Carol” is another song I don’t know.  This version is weird here since it’s on acoustic guitar with Feliciano’s delicate voice.

The best song on the disc is ARTHUR FIEDLER-“Sleigh Ride”.  This is the classic instrumental with strings and sleigh bells.  I’m surprised by the instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” by CHET ATKINS.  It’s guitar based and slightly countryish, but there’s no way to guess it’s from him.  EDDY ARNOLD-“Jolly Old St. Nicholas” is a song I vaguely know.  It also has country tinges.  It’s an unusual song what with asking Santa what he;s going to give you.

JIM REEVES-“O Come All Ye Faithful” changes the tone again.  This song is done on pipe organ.  It sounds like it was recorded in a church (which makes sense).  LORRIE MORGAN-“O Holy Night” I dislike this version quite a lot.  It feels rather pretentious and she does some weird melodies at times.  BURL IVES-“O Little Town of Bethlehem”  I like Ives, but not on this song.  It’s too slow or something.

The final two songs are just awful to me (which I know people will yet at me for saying)  GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS-“Away in a Manger” and ARETHA FRANKLIN-“Ave Maria.”  I’m not a big fan of Knight as it is, although I do usually like Aretha.  But man this version of “Ave Maria” is dreadful.   She starts wailing, horrible trills that are way out of place on this song.  And it’s nearly 7 minutes long.  Gah, what a dreadful way to end the album

So, there’s a few good songs here.  There’s a couple of nice version that might fit on a mix and then there’s some horrors.  Probably worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

[READ: December 10, 2014] The Cricket on the Hearth

I was unfamiliar with thsi story before reading it.  The author of the introduction to the book (Eleanor Farjeon) says she likes it better than “A Christmas Carol.”  I can see some reason for liking it more, but it’s not quite as impactful.

It’s a strange story with hidden identities, true love, fake love and crickets.

The story begins at John Peerybingle’s house.  He is a carrier, basically a mailman.  He is married to Dot and they have a new baby boy.  Their nanny, Tilly Slowboy (Dickens is none to subtle about names, eh?), is a simple girl who seems to have a knack for either smashing the baby’s head on things or just barely missing his head when she turns around.  When the story starts, John has just returned from his latest travel, and he is happy to be home.

Dot talks about the cricket that is chirping so loudly at the hearth (there’s a question from the narrator as to whether the cricket or the kettle made the noise first, and he maintains that it was the cricket).  Dot thinks fondly of the cricket, especially when John is away. She imagines that the cricket is looking over them every time it chirps. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–Christmas Stories [1-6] (1850-1853)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Set at School, Short Story on December 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

storiesSOUNDTRACK: CHRISTMAS: 16 Most Requested Songs (1992).

16This album features 16 “most requested” songs, but I don’t believe that they are the most requested versions of these songs.  These versions come from Colmbia’s back catalog and as such, none of them features any of the real Christmas heavy hitters.  Not that the version are bad, they’re pretty much all really good, they’re just not the “classic” versions.  Well, except for one or two.

GENE AUTRY-“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Starting with the “You know Dasher and Dancer” verse, this is a nice, traditional version of the song and one I don’t hear as much as I’d think I would.  DORIS DAY-“Here Comes Santa Claus” Opens with a nice booming Ho Ho Ho from Santa. I like that there are ample sleigh bells in the song, even if the words are vaguely menacing (somehow even more so in this version). I’ve also always found the aggressively religious aspect of the song about Santa to be a bit peculiar.  JIMMY BOYD-“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” This is an inherently goofy song and I don’t care for the “serious” rendition this is given.  I also don’t care for songs sung by “kids.” Although I do admit to thinking this song was cute when I was a kid.  ROSEMARY CLOONEY-“Winter Wonderland” This version is a little too precious for my liking.

GENE AUTRY-“Frosty the Snowman” This is another straight reading of this silly song—very children friendly and a good version.  JOHNNY MATHIS-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” I don’t care for Mathis’ voice so I don’t like this version.  THE RAY CONIFF SINGER-“Silver Bells” This is ajoyful, sweet rendition of the song, even if it is extremely uptight sounding. (it evidently comes from “The Lemon Drop Kid”).  ROBERT GOULET-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (from “Meet Me in St. Louis”).  Goulet’s voice is pretty magnificent, it might even be a little too much for this little song.  PATTI PAGE-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” This is a version with kids singing along. And with Patti telling them to behave, it also has a menacing feel to it. I guess Santa really could be kind of a nasty guy huh?  MITCH MILLER & THE SING-ALONG GANG-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” It’s hard to make this song not sound really tedious, but these guys do it pretty fast and in a very specific, marching style. It’s almost military in it’s seriousness, which does take some of the romance out of the song, but I like it nonetheless.

ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” Andy Williams has a quintessential Christmas voice.  I’m glad Columbia has him for this collection. It’s fast fun and joyful. ANGELA LANSBURY, FRANKIE MICHAELS, JANE CONNELL and SAB SHIMONO-I love that Lansbury has such a great singing voice since in my mind she’s only ever been Murder She Wrote. And she wails this. (This version comes from “Mame.”  I didn’t know it came from a musical.  And I love th eline that I never noticed before: “But it’s one week past Thanksgiving Day now”).  MEL TORME-“The Christmas Song” The Velvet Fog’s version is quite nice, but doesn’t quite match Nat “King” Cole’s for pure classicness (although, huh, Torme wrote the music for this song).  TONY BENNETT-“White Christmas” I’m not a big fan of Tony Bennett and I don’t like this version of this song—it’s too spread out.  JULIE ANDREWS-“Silent Night” a very pretty and pure version of this song. Although I don’t find it as moving as other versions.  MAHALIA JACKSON-“Joy to the World” I know she’s a legend, but I really don’t like Mahalia’s versions of songs—she’s a just too over the top for me.

So, overall, this is a good, if safe collection of Christmas songs. Not my favorite bunch but a lot of good versions here, and one or two great ones.  And there are even a couple of under-played ones.

[READ: December 8, 2014] Christmas Stories

I intended to read A Christmas Carol last year during Christmas time but since we saw the play, I decided not to.  So this year I figured I would read as much of Dickens’ Christmas Books as I could during the month of December.  Then I misplaced Christmas Books, so I picked up Christmas Stories.

Christmas Stories does not include “A Christmas Carol.”  Rather, it includes 21 “stories”  ranging from a few pages to over a hundred pages long.  They appeared in Household Works, a publication which Dickens created to “bring himself even closer to his many followers.”

I chose to write about these first six together because they are the shortest pieces in the book and they can kind of be lumped together.  These are strange pieces because they are not really stories.  They are more like nostalgic or even moralistic moments in which Dickens conveys the Christmas spirit through some characters.

For frame of reference Dickens was born in 1812.  He wrote Oliver Twist around 1839 and “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. (more…)

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Tom Angelberger–Horton Halfpott: or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s Corset (2011) [audiobook 2011–Ron Keith]

Posted in Audiobooks, C., Charles Dickens, Children's Books, Decadence, Etiquette, Funny (ha ha), Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Romance, Sam Riddleberger, T., Tom Angleberger on August 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2014] Horton Halfpott

hortonLast summer we listened to Angleberger’s book Fake Mustache, which was one of my favorite audio books ever (until the League of Princes series).  In fact we just re-listened to fake Mustache and enjoyed it even more the second time! I was pretty excited to listen to Horton Halfpott as well because it has two subtitles.  Since we had a long drive ahead of us, it seemed the ideal time to bust out Horton.

And while I did enjoy the book by the end (quite a lot in fact), I found it a little slow going in the beginning.  This book was narrated by Ron Keith, who is British.  There is nothing weird about that because the book is set in Britain.  It is just such a stark change from Fake Mustache (which was so very American) that I think it took a while for us to adjust to the rather stiff and formal (but funny) reading that this book had (compared to the wild and crazy reading of Mustache).  Since the book is a kind of spoof on Dickensian class stories, the narration makes perfect sense.

This entire adventure begins on the day that M’Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset (the narrator apologizes for even talking about an old lady’s underwear, but it is crucial to the story):

There are so many exciting things in this book — a Stolen Diamond, snooping stable boys, a famous detective, the disappearance of a Valuable Wig, love, pickle éclairs, unbridled Evil, and the Black Deeds of the Shipless Pirates — that it really does seem a shame to begin with ladies’ underwear.

M’Lady Luggertuck usually wears her corset very very tight, and she acts like she has on a very very tight corset–there is no happiness to be found in Smugwick manor. But on the day that she asks her maid to loosen the corset a little bit, a kind of shock wave floods through the castle, which seems to encourage everyone to loosen up just a bit.

Everyone, that is except for Horton’s superior, Miss Neversly.  Miss Neversly is a mean mean woman, always ready to hit someone (especially Horton) over the head with a wooden spoon (ouch), always ready to doubt someone, always looking for and never receiving praise from M’Lady Luggertuck.

Horton, by the way is a kitchen boy.  He is not a bad boy at all, just an unlucky boy in a bad situation (see, the set up is very Dickensian, and Angleberger thanks Dickens in his acknowledgments).  Horton’s best friend is a stable boy named Bump. They are also friends with the other stable boys Blight and Blemish.  And the story is certainly sympathetic to these poor lower class individuals. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol (1843) [audiobook 1994–Patrick Stewart]

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Death, Dreams, Ghosts, Marriage (Happy), Patrick Stewart, Short Books on December 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 29, 2013] A Christmas Carol

patAfter enjoying the play of A Christmas Carol, we decided that since we were on a longish trip for Christmas, that we’d listen to the audiobook and see what was different.  The kids were certainly less engaged than a more kid-friendly book, and that’s understandable—the language is pretty opaque from time to time.  But I was pleased at how they were able to tell where we were in the story (as compared to the place) most of the time.

I felt that the play was different, so i was listening for them.  I don’t know anything about the adaptor of the play and his choices to change things—I don’t even know if the version we saw is a standardized version of the play (I feel like next year we should see it somewhere else for comparison).  But there were more than a few things that were changed. (more…)

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Five Dials Number 27: Things Simmering (29 March 2013)

Posted in Anne Carson, Ben Masters, Charles Dickens, Christmas Album, Christos Asteriou, Christos Ikonomou, Craig Taylor, Daniel Sherbrooke, David Foster Wallace, Death, Dimitris Tsoumblekas, Eftychia Panayiotou, Eithne Nightingale, Essays, Fears, Fishing, Five Dials, Hannah Bagshaw, Helen Conford, James Joyce, Joe Brainard, John Oldale, Laura Gottesdiener, Laurence Howarth, Lawrence Howarth, Marcel Proust, Panos Karnezis, Peter Constantine, Sam Donsky, Sam Riviere, Short Story, Surreal, Themelis Glynatsis, Violence, Yiannis Doukas on December 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BIRD AND THE BEE-12 Days of Christmas (2008).

The+Bird+and+the+Bee++la+classeI first heard a bit of this song in a Sephora a few years ago.  Then they played it on New Girl (in two separate Christmas episodes).  But I never knew who the artist was. Then some kind soul pointed me to the band and lo, I found the track.

I don’t know much else about the Bird and the Bee, but this is hands down my favorite rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas.  In addition to the great, groovy sound (which reminds me of the Cocteau Twins), I just loved how…different the song sounded.  Turns out, according to their soundcloud page, “we changed the song so that every repeat is a completely different progression.”  I love it.

The song never gets boring and her voice is simply gorgeous.  I only wish it was available for sale or download or something.

[READ: December 16, 2013] Five Dials #27

I was a little harsh on Five Dials Number 26, but overall, it still kept up the greatness that has been Five Dials.  And #27 keeps up the excellence.  Since Five Dials likes globetrotting, this issue is based in and around Greece, the county that is in tumult.

This one also has letters from Our Glorious Readers.  One of the readers sensibly comments that the Berlin issue would keep her busy throughout the winter.  Wish I had doled mine out better.  I feel that Toronto gets a little knock from the editors who seem to think it is not as cool as Berlin.  I also enjoyed the reader’s description of Peter Stamm’s writing as being like skiing.

CRAIG TAYLOR-A Letter from the Editor: On Timelines and Greek Photographs
Taylor talks about the timelines that tend to appear in newspapers, most of which seem to talk about the collapse of something or other (like the Greek economy).  After visiting Athens, Five Dials felt it was time to bring some Greek writing to English readers. The letter talks about the contents within and gives good context to Dimitris Tsoumblekas’ photos which are quite good but are even better when you know what they are doing–especially the one about his father. (more…)

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A Christmas Carol [McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, December 20, 2013]

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Acting, C., Charity, Charles Dickens, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Greed, McCarter Theatre, Play (Drama), Princeton, NJ, Short Story on December 24, 2013| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 20, 2013] A Christmas Carol

headerI had never seen A Christmas Carol performed.  I was, of course, familiar with the story–from the original (the Patrick Stewart audiobook is amazing) and from the many, many versions of it that have been performed in cartoon and live action formats.

We took the kids as this is a holiday classic and we thought it would be fun for all of us.  And we were right.  Except–this version is at times quite scary and (as my son pointed out) quite loud.  I didn’t find it terribly loud, although the scary bits were considerably louder than other bits.  And yes, the ghosts were certainly scary.  (I had actually warned him that the ghost of Christmas Future would be very scary, but it proved to not be the case, although it was really frikkin cool).

And I must say I was charmed immediately–as soon as the kids ran out on stage in period costume, singing songs and being very Christmassy, I was hooked.  (more…)

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Shelagh Delaney–A Taste of Honey (1959)

Posted in Absolutely Fabulous, Babies, Charles Dickens, LGBTQ, Marriage Trouble, Morrissey, Parenting, Play (Drama), Pregnancy, Prostitution, Racism, Shelagh Delaney on July 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

honeySOUNDTRACK: HORRIBLE HISTORIES-“Charles Dickens” (2013).

dickensHorrible Histories is a British children’s show.  They tell you histories of people and things in fun ways. Like this.  (It sounds awesome).

This biography of Charles Dickens (which lyrically is amusing as well as informative) is done in the style of The Smiths.  The music is very clearly The Smiths and of course the singer hits all of the Morrisseyisms that he can.  In addition to some actual Smiths lines (Dickens take a bow, heaven knows I’m miserable now), the song more or less mashes up “Heaven Know I’m Miserable Now” and “This Charming Man.”

It’s very funny and catchy as well.  Check out the joy:

[READ: June 30, 2013] A Taste of Honey

I discovered this play because it was mentioned in a documentary about The Smiths,  It was one of Morrissey’s favorite movies; he quoted a line from it in “Reel Around the Fountain” (I dreamt about you last night and fell out of bed twice”) and the song “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” is basically a summary of the play (with lines from it).

It’s a fairly modern story for 1959 England (Delaney was 18 when she wrote it), but it seems like rather a downer to be a favorite film/play.

It is the story of Jo, a young girl who is stuck in the dreaded life of living poor in Manchester (The river the color of lead).  She has no father around and her mother, Helen, (described as as a semi-whore (!), is quite unpleasant). Indeed, the opening scene of the play is the two of them bickering in a hole in the wall flat that feels dirty just by reading it.

Eventually a man comes along who promises to take Helen away from all of this.  He may be her pimp (specifics are not really given in the story and I wondered if they would be more obvious if it was 1959 (or in the movie).  But it’s clear that he has money and seems to be willing to bring Helen home.  At the same time, he is terribly mean to Jo–treating her worse than her mother does.  By the end of the scene, he takes Helen away, leaving Jo on her own. (more…)

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Great Expectations (BBC drama) (2011)

Posted in 19th Century, Big Books, Charles Dickens, Culture Shock, Death, Decadence, Marriage Trouble, Violence on December 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[WATCHED: Summer 2012] Great Expectations

300px-Great_expectations_titlecardSometime after I read Great Expectations, PBS aired this BBC production.  I don’t know if it’s a movie or a mini series and I don;t really care, so I’m calling it a movie.  So I thought I’ll just wait until after I watch the movie and then write my post about both.  And now here were are, several months later.  Sigh.

Anyhow, this movie version of the book was outstanding.  One of the main criticisms leveled at movie versions of books is that your own imagination makes things far “more” than any film could.  For instance  monsters in your head are far more scary than any special effects could make them.  But the opposite was true here.  I never would have guessed that the people in the book could be so horrible, that the squalor could be so extreme and that the atmosphere could be so stifling–I assume years of good breeding made me forget just how bad things used to be

Part of the fault also belongs to Dickens–he was writing for a contemporary audience–for people who didn’t need to be told, for instance, how old Pip was (they would just know) or how old he would need to be to receive his inheritance.  The story was serialized in a magazine, so it was very current.  And so those of us with a great remove from daily life in 1850 don’t always get the details we need.  This is not to say that Dickens himself was not a master writer or an evocative picture creator.  He often includes lots of details they are very helpful, but some things are left out.  So the movie filled in gaps and details that I didn’t know, and they brought the book to life in a way that reading it alone didn’t.  Again, no disrespect to the book–it’s the same way that seeing Shakespeare is better than reading him).   (more…)

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