Pickwick Papers Read-Along Check-in #3: May 2016

 This event is the brainchild of Behold the Stars. 

We are reading The Pickwick Papers exactly as others did 180 years ago!

This was published in a serial format, so every month another 2-3 chapters

were published and readers had to wait until next month for the next installment.

It is fun to think that we are replicating history in this regard and 

that I will have finally read a Dickens book! 

Here is my Read-Along page where you can view the reading schedule 

as well as read a bit about my reticence with regard to Dickens. 

I do realize that this book is not especially typical for this author. 

In fact, I believe it safe to say it is considered 

to be rather an outlier among his published works.

Which is sad, since I am immensely enjoying his humor!

I believe I have mentioned before that 

I truly appreciate this Oxford Illustrated edition 

I checked out from the library. 

I highly recommend it! 

This month we are reading Chapters VI-VIII.

We find our four gentlemen, Messrs. Pickwick, 

Snodgrass, Tupman, and Winkle, being introduced and introduced to all those already esconced at Manor Farm. 

It seems to be quite a diverse crew, headed by the matriarch 

and owner of Manor Farm, Mr. Wardle's mother. 

Although she is unable to hear much of anything, 

talk of card playing gets her full attention! 

As they play, I was reminded of playing euchre with my ex-husband. I despised playing with him as my partner, and learned early on not to do so. I would always try to have someone else as my partner, 'cause he just didn't care. He. Would. Play. Anything! Seriously, anything! While I didn't care about winning/losing, I did want to play the best game I could play, given my cards and the order of play. So I could rather relate to the fat gentleman's frustrations with Mr. Miller. Though these Pickwickians evidently take their card-playing quite seriously!

The rubber was conducted with all the gravity of deportment and sedateness of demeanour 

which befit the pursuit entitled 'whist'--a solemn observance, to which, as it appears to us, 

the title of 'game' has been very irreverently and ignonimously applied...Mr. Miller...

not being quite so much absorbed as he ought to have been, contrived to commit 

various high crimes and misdemeanors, which excited 

the wrath of the fat gentleman to a very great extent... (69)

I was literally laughing out loud as I read this passage! Dickens' use of such pretentious language is so funny! 

At one point, the clergyman, by popular request, tells of "the convict's return." There was a man who was mean and nasty with absolutely no friends.

...I do firmly and in my soul believe, that the man systematically tried for many years to break her [his wife's] heart; but she bore it all for her child's sake, and, however strange it may seem to many, for his father's too; for brute as he was and cruelly as he had treated her, she had loved him once; and the recollection of what he had been to her, awakened feelings of forebearance and meekness under suffering in her bosom, to which all God's creatures, but women, are strangers. (74)

Mrs. Edmunds and her son regularly attended church, though they were "both poorly dressed--much more so that many of their neighbours who were in a lower station--they were always neat and clean." The boy is convicted of crimes and imprisoned and the mother dies not long after this event. Some 17 years later the "convict" returns to a different village, with no one he can recognize. As he walks through the churchyard...

The man's heart swelled as he crossed the stile. The tall old elms, through whose branches the declining sun cast her and there a rich ray of light upon the shady path, awakened the associations of his earliest days. He pictured himself as he was then, clinging to his mother's hand, and walking peacefully to church. He remembered how he used to look up into her pale face; and how her eyes would sometimes fill with tears as she gazed upon his features--tears which fell hot upon his forehead as she stooped to kiss him, and made him weep, too, although he little knew then what bitter tears hers were. (78)

Dickens could certainly write! 

The last soft light of the setting sun had fallen on the earth, casting a rich glow on the yellow corn sheaves, and lengthening the shadows of the orchard trees, as he stood before the old house--

the home of his infancy--to which his heart had yearned with an intensity of affection 

not to be described, through long and weary years of captivity and sorrow.  (81)

Though he did see his father and initially grabbed him by the throat, "his arm fell powerless by his side." For he was, after all, his father. The old man did end up dying then and there from a "ruptured blood vessel," however. He worked for the clergyman for three years before dying and being buried in the corner of the churchyard, with no one other than the clergyman being aware of his identity. This is the second rather morbid story Dickens has inserted into this rather nonsensical absurdity of a book. I kinda wonder why, except perhaps to insert some bit of 'reality,' morbid as it may be? 

Upon rising the next morning at Manor Farm, 

The rich, sweet smell of the hayricks rose to his chamber window; the hundred perfumes of the little flower-garden beneath scented the air around; the deep-green meadows shone in the morning dew that glistened on every leaf as it trembled in the gentle air: and the birds sang as if every sparkling drop were a fountain of inspiration to them. Mr. Pickwick fell into an enchanting and delicious reverie. (82)

At this point I grew quite nostalgic for my own version of country life from the past! On this same morning, we find all four gentlemen called out to accompany their host...as he prepares to go "rook-shooting" with none other than Mr. Winkle! Winkle again! When Mr. Pickwick is asked to confirm Winkle as "a very good shot," he replies

I've heard him say he's a capital one, but I never saw him aim at anything." (83)

I'm thinking to myself, "Uh-oh..." Later, at his host's urging, 

Mr. Winkle...took up the spare gun with an expression of countenance which a metaphysical rook, impressed with a foreboding of his approaching death by violence, may be supposed to assume. It might have been keenness, but it looked remarkably like misery. (83-84)

Ha! I sense disaster in the offing... Winkle finally shoots, and

There was a scream as of an individual--not a rook--in corporeal anguish. Mr. Tupman had saved the lives of innumerable unoffending birds by receiving a portion of the charge in his left arm. 

To describe the confusion that ensued would be impossible. (85)

But then of course Dickens does just that! We get all the details in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, including how Mr. Tupman "opened first one eye, and then the other, and then fell back and shut them both..." Ha! The drama!! 

The boys all head into town for a grand cricket match, sans Mr. Tupman, of course, who was unable to accompany them due to his shooting wound, and the ministrations of the spinster aunt which he wouldn't miss for the world... And whom do they run into but "Jingle--Alfred Jingle, Esq., of No hall, Nowhere!" Again! I'm convinced this Jingle will be wherever the Pickwickians are forever into the future--he is a moocher extraordinaire who has found his 'marks'! :) These men proved to be some real party animals, toasting each other seemingly for hours, etc. It is during this time that Mr. Tupman sets his sights on one female of the group:

The young ladies were pretty, their manners winning, 

their dispositions unexceptionable; 

but there was a dignity in the air, 

a touch-me-not-ishness in the walk, 

a majesty in the eye of the spinster aunt, to which, 

at their time of life, they could lay no claim, 

which distinguished her from any female 

on whom Mr. Tupman had ever gazed. 

That there was something kindred in their nature, 

something congenial in their souls, 

something mysteriously sympathetic in their bosoms, 

was evident. (96)

However, Mr. Tupman decided he must know,  

...had her agitation arisen from an amiable and 

feminine sensibility which would have been 

equally irrepressible in any case;

or had it been called forth by a more ardent 

and passionate feeling, which he, 

of all men living, could alone awaken? (96)

Oh, yeah...I'm laughing out loud again! 

That was SOME "salmon'!

Finally, at about 1AM the males return to 'the fold'/Forest Manor--"under the influence of the 'salmon,'" so they say! This, following the Fat Boy's discovery of Mr. Tupman and the spinster aunt in a rather compromising position on the arbour seat in the garden! Mr. Jingle impresses all the females by being charming and ingratiating, particularly in contrast to the drunken obnoxious behaviors of his 'friends,' who had not had nearly as much to drink as had he. (This Jingle could obviously hold his liquor, huh?) :) And he is the first down to breakfast the next morning, entertaining all the 'girls,' much to Mr. Tupman's chagrin! Once the old lady is made aware of Miss Rachael's (her own daughter's) misbehavior with Mr. Tupman, she is appalled and angry! As Mr. Jingle overhears this conversation, he resolves to use it to his advantage to win over the spinster aunt, Miss Rachael, just as he had decided to do upon meeting her the prior evening, especially as he "had more than a strong suspicion that she possess that most desirable of all requisites, a small independence." Ah, yes, this guy's a real swindler, just as I had suspected! He is a sly rascal who lies to them both in order to extract his own 'rewards,' not the least of which is the ten pounds he 'borrows' from Mr. Tupman, promising to repay him in three days' time. Uh-huh...sure...

Ah, to what hilarity and drama will we be treated in the 

next three chapters IX-XII next month? 

I'm assured to laugh, at least once in reading three more chapters! 

Pickwick Papers Read-Along Check-in #2: April 2016

 We continue reading just as we would have 180 years ago 

when chapters 3-5 were published. 

Here is the page with all information and the initial posting for Chapters 1-2. 

This Read-Along was the brainchild of O at Behold the Stars!

I am so glad I happened across this event! 

Although I read these three chapters in mid-April, I am just now 
posting my thoughts on the first day of May! Yikes! 
Obviously, my blogging during the month of April was way behind!

Although I read 8 books, I only managed to post reviews of 2! 

These are definitely first-world challenges... And otherwise, life is good! :)

We find a second stranger added to the original party of four: Samuel Pickwick, Esq, G.C.M.P.C. (General Chairman--Member, Pickwick Club), Tracy Tupman, Esq., M.P.C. (M.P.C. = Member Pickwick Club), Augustus Snodgrass, Esq., M.P.C., and Nathaniel Winkle, Esq., M.P.C. Upon Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle's return to the Inn, after a rather lengthy delay during which a dual between Mr. Winkle and Dr. Slammer was barely avoided, a detailed description of this stranger is provided:

It was a care-worn looking man, whose sallow face, and deeply sunken eyes, were rendered still more striking than nature had made them, but the straight black hair which hung in matted disorder half way down his face. His eyes were almost unnaturally bright and piercing; his cheek bones were high and prominent; and his jaws were so long and lank, that an observer would have supposed that he was drawing the flesh of his face in, for a moment, by some contraction of the muscles, if his half-opened mouth and immovable expression had not announced that it was his ordinary appearance. Round his neck he wore a green shawl, with the large ends straggling over his chest, and making their appearance occasionally beneath the worn button-holes of his old waistcoat. His upper garment was a long black surtout; and below it he wore wide drab trousers, and large boots, running rapidly to seed. (33)

I believe I am remembering correctly that Dickens is known for his details and I felt this description certainly proves his skill in this area. A picture immediately formed itself in my mind of this man, whom I might best describe as nearly indigent? It certainly did make me wonder about him and how he would ever 'fit in' with the four Pickwickians! :) 

As I begin reading this installment, I keep wondering when the promised introduction of Dr. Slammer to the other two Pickwickians, Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Tupman, would occur, since I couldn't imagine it wouldn't be chaos and turmoil as soon as Dr. Slammer recognized Tupman, as well as the first 'stranger' to join their group, Mr. Jingle. For if he was also present...well...who knows? Would a dual be fought right then and there once Dr. Slammer recognized the person who insulted him and disrupted his intended courtship of the widow at last night's ball? (Mental note: never loan your friend's clothing to a stranger! Who knows what could happen in the aftermath?) :) Of course, both Winkle and Snodgrass are totally ignorant of the fact that Mr. Jingle had worn Mr. Winkle's jacket while causing "injuries" to Dr. Slammer the previous evening!  I was already laughing at the prospect!

And then...just as Mr. PIckwick puts his glass down and opens his mouth in preparation to speak in response to a story told by the new stranger, the waiter enters, announcing, "Some gentlemen, sir." 

It has been conjectured that Mr. Pickwick was on the point of delivering some remarks which would have enlightened the world, if not the Thames, when he was thus interrupted: for he gazed sternly on the waiter's countenance, and then looked round on the company generally, as if seeking for information relative to the new-comers.

'Oh,' said Mr. Winkle, rising, 'some friends of mine--show them in. Very pleasant fellows,' added Mr. Winkle, after the waiter had retired--'Officers of the 97th, whose acquaintance I made rather oddly this morning. You will like them very much.'

Mr. Pickwick's equanimity was at once restored. The waiter returned and ushered three gentlemen into the room. (41)

As you might imagine, it did not take long for Dr. Slammer to recognize both Mr. Tupman and the stranger from the previous evening. Mr. Pickman intervenes, asking Tupman to explain, which he does, leaving the stranger "to clear himself as best he could." After recognizing the stranger as a "strolling actor," Lieutenant Tappleton apologized to Pickwick for placing him in this "disagreeable situation,"

'[A]llow me to suggest, that the best way of avoiding a recurrence of such scenes in the future, will be to be more select in the choice of your companions. Good evening, sir!'

'And allow me to say, sir,' said the irascible Doctor Payne, 'that if I had been Tappleton, or if I had been Slammer, I would have pulled your nose, sir, and the nose of every man in this company. I would, sir, every man. Payne is my name, sir--Doctor Payne of the 43rd. Good evening, sir.' Having concluded this speech and uttered the last three words in a loud key, he stalked majestically after his friend, closely followed by Doctor Slammer, who said nothing, but contented himself by withering the company with a look.

Rising rage and extreme bewilderment had swelled the noble breast of Mr. Pickwick, almost to the bursting of his waistcoat, during the delivery of the above defiance. (43)

Though Pickwick was determined to set out after these three immediately, the others restrained him and eventually "harmony once more prevailed" and "good humour was completely restored." I was snort-laughing during the nose-pulling threat! Really? That's the worse you can think to do? Ha! Ha! It still makes me smile, shake my head, and chuckle! :)

While watching military maneuvers the following day, Pickwick, Snodgrass, and Winkle, actually become 'caught' between two advancing lines of oppositional 'soldiers' and 'shot' with blank cartridges by one line. It is then that Mr. Pickwick's hat blows off and he gives chase, until it finally lodges in a wagon wheel, a wagon upon which Mr. Tupman is sitting. In this wagon sits a stout gentlemen who insists the four join him for a week at his country estate, Manor Farm in Dingley Dell, starting the very next day. Did I mention there are two young ladies in this wagon? I suspect that is what drew Tupman's attention initially. He had been missing from his party most of the day. :)

As these four prepare to start out the next morning, they realize there is no conveyance that will hold all four of them--three at the most. It is decided by Pickwick that Winkle shall ride alongside on horseback. Though Winkle sincerely doubts his "equestrian" skill, he reluctantly agrees, determined that no one should no of his hesitancy. Then Pickwick is assured he can drive the coach due to the calm nature of the horse. And off they go. Winkle is not having a good time of it, as his mount is moving down the road sideways. Pickwick drops his whip and Winkle, being the good sport he is, stops, dismounts, and returns the whip to Pickwick. However, his mount is determined NOT to allow Winkle up on his back again, and when both Winkle and Pickwick are trying to stop his movement, Winkle lets go, and off the horse goes, retracing his steps back to Rochester, from which they had set out... At that exact moment, the other horse tore off at great speed, 

...dashed the four-wheeled chaise against a wooden bridge, separated the wheels from the body, and the bin from the perch; and finally stood stock still to gaze upon the ruin he had made. (63)

Fortunately, both Tupman and Snodgrass had managed to throw themselves out of the vehicle prior to the crash and were not injured "beyond sundry rents in their garments, and various lacerations from the brambles." They unhitch the horse from the now wrecked chaise, and walk in the direction of Manor Farm, leading the horse along. Within an hour's walk they come upon a road-side public-house and try to leave the horse there, but the owners believe they've stolen the beast and will not take it. 

'It's like a dream' ejaculated Mr. Pickwick, 'a hideous dream. The idea of a man's walking about, all day, with a dreadful horse that he can't get rid of!' The depressed Pickwickians turned moodily away, with the tall quadruped, for which they all felt the most unmitigated disgust, 

following slowly at their heels. (64) 

Ha! This group is hopeless! It was late in the afternoon when they finally turned into the lane leading to Manor Farm.

[T]he pleasure they would otherwise have experienced was materially damped as they reflected 

on the singularity of their appearance, and the absurdity of their situation. 

Torn clothes, lacerated faces, dusty shoes, exhausted looks, and, above all, the horse. (65)

What a motley crew! :) Their host made certain the four men were sufficiently "washed, mended, brushed, and brandied," before leading them down several dark passages, throwing open a door and announcing, 'Welcome, gentleman, to Manor Farm." 

I can only imagine the adventures that await these four at this country estate!

This is such a fun read!

Have you joined in or read it before?
Chapters 6-8 await us in May. :)

Pickwick Papers Read-Along Check-in #1: March 2016

As you may already be aware, Behold the Stars is hosting 

a Read-Along for Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. 
All my updates/postings will be listed on my page here.
And you can get the details and register for the event here.
This first reading installment included only the first two chapters. 
To the left is the cover image on the library copy 
that I currently have checked out. 
I do realize that I'll not be able to keep this same copy 
throughout all 21 months of this read-along event.
At some point in the future, once my renewals have been exhausted on this copy, I will need to decide whether to purchase a copy of my own or just return this one and check it out again. 
But that is a small matter. 
More important is the fact that I have read this month's installment and was very...surprised! Pleasantly so!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading these 32 pages!
So far this book has made me laugh out loud quite often! 
My husband even wanted to know what I was
reading that would make me laugh so much!

This edition is part of The Oxford Illustrated Dickens series and includes a 5-page introduction written by Bernard Darwin in March 1947. Within the first paragraph he states

There are qualities in which some of Dickens's later books 

excelled Pickwick, but they are those in which other writers 

equalled or excelled Dickens. Pickwick is richest in the qualities 

in which Dickens excelled all the other writers... (v)

He elaborates upon the fact that this one book is considered by many to be totally unique and different from all other Dickens's books--literally in a class by itself in comparison. 

In what may seem amazing to us now, 

Dickens was not even the publisher's first choice for this project, 

but thank goodness two others did not accept the offer, 

and Pickwick was born! 

This book is known for its "absence of plot," so 

I am expecting an emphasis on the characterization or 

           what I would call "a slice of life" throughout this book. 

                                            I like that prospect!

Darwin finishes this descriptive critique with accolades to Dickens's ability to develop minor characters who 

"impress themselves for ever on the memory."

After reading Darwin's Introduction, I feel as if 

this book is definitely 'in my wheelhouse'!

Dickens himself 'hooks' me in the Preface when he states

...the universal diffusion of common means of decency and health is as much the right of the poorest of the poor, as it is indispensable to the safety of the rich, and of the State... (xiv)

Chapter 1 opens with Samuel Pickwick, Esq., G.C.M.P.C. (General Chairman--Member, Pickwick Club) presenting his paper entitled 'Speculations on the Source of the Hampstead Ponds, with some Observations on the Theory of Tittlebats'! *At this point I'm thinking to myself, "Ah...farcical!" That was at the end of the third paragraph and as I continued reading, that first reaction was confirmed...repeatedly! :)* The minutes show that the officer presiding over this particular meeting was Joseph Smiggers, Esq., P.V.P.M.P.C. (Perpetual Vice-President--Member Pickwick Club)! Ha! Ha! Perpetual. Vice. President. And that name! Smiggers! Ha! Ha! I still laugh when I reread it! Or rather, I 'snigger'! Points for honesty in that 'official' title. Mr. Pickwick has proposed a 'committee' as such be formed. Smiggers announces:

'That the said proposal has received the sanction and approval of this Association.

That the Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club is therefore hereby constituted; 

and that Samuel Pickwick, Esq, G.C.M.P.C., Tracy Tupman, Esq., M.P.C. [M.P.C. = Member Pickwick Club], Augustus Snodgrass, Esq., M.P.C., and Nathaniel Winkle, Esq., M.P.C., 

are hereby nominated and appointed members of the same; and that they be requested to forward, from time to time, authenticated accounts of their journeys and investigations, 

of their observations of character and manners, and of the whole of their adventures, 

together with all tales and papers to which local scenery or associations may give rise, 

to the Pickwick Club, stationed in London.' (2)

Here, I believe in this paragraph, is probably a more than adequate summary of what we will read about in the remaining 799 pages of this book! At this point I'm just hoping it doesn't become totally absurd and nonsensical. As the club members are calling out "Pickwick," 

"that illustrious man slowly mounted into the Windsor chair, on which 

he had been previously seated, and addressed the club himself had founded." (3)

Ah, well, that might explain a lot! Pickwick himself founded this "illustrious" society! 

I can only believe this is a means for satisfying his oversized ego! So, of course his own proposal to his own buddies was sanctioned and approved! ;) I'm already enjoying this! The meeting proceeds with audience cheers and hoots and hollers as Pickwick speaks and when one member, Mr. Blotton, calls him a                                  "humbug," the man explains that 

                     "he had used the word in its 

  Pickwickian sense...he had merely 

considered him a humbug in a 

Pickwickian point of view."  (5)

Ah! Well then, that was sure a relief as Mr. Pickwick reportedly 

felt much gratified by the fair, candid, and full explanation of his honourable friend. (5)

Wha...?? Oh, well, that must just be the "Pickwickian" way! 

Chapter 2 sees our esteemed previously named four esquires begin their journey the very next day. Pickwick begins his copious note-taking while riding in the cab and speaking with driver about the horse, which is supposedly 42 years old and out working 2-3 weeks at a time due to his "weakness" of falling down when not being braced and held upright by the harness apparatus! Once they reach Golden Cross, the cab driver accuses Pickwick of being an "informer" and attacks him, arousing the crowd that gathers regarding "informers." A stranger intervenes, dragging Pickwick away and ending the confrontation. As it turns out, this man is headed to the same destination as our four adventurers, so they end up traveling together. And this "loquacious" stranger provides plenty of entertainment...he NEVER shuts up! And his speech pattern is consistently sentence fragments strung together in a very choppy manner, so I can see how listeners would need to concentrate to understand him. 

Although this 'Mr. Jingle' (as he is identified only in asides) claims to have luggage being shipped, "packing cases, nailed up--big as houses--heavy, heavy, damned heavy," he seems to have a penchant for leaving the other four to pay for things and his clothing is obviously ill-fitting and rather dirty. He strikes up a conversation with Mr. Pickwick once the coach is moving...

'I am ruminating,' said Mr. Pickwick, "on the strange mutability of human affairs.'

...'Philosopher, sir?'

'An observer of human nature, sir,' said Mr. Pickwick.

'Ah, so am I. Most people are when they've little to do and less to get.' (13)

It was at this point that I seriously began to question this stranger's true motivation for hanging out with the Pickwickians. And I am wondering even more so that none of these four esquires is questioning his presence. The stranger joins them for drinks and keeps guzzling down the wine, also refilling everyone else's glasses. With the others asleep, the stranger talks Mr. Tupman into attending an Assembly being held in their lodging. It is a ball to raise money for charity. Tupman finally agrees and allows the stranger to 'borrow' some decent clothing. However, this kindness results in Mr. Winkle being called out to a dual the very next day by an 'injured party,' from the night before. Winkle is identified by his "bright blue dress coat, with a gilt button with P.C. on it." P.C. of course representing Pickwick Club! 

This all seems so downright silly as I review it, but it works for me!

It is entertaining and it makes me laugh!

So glad to have discovered this read-along!

If you haven't read this one, are you convinced to give it a try?

Details and registration here.
Behold the Stars' posting for this first check-in is here.