Charles Dickens' first visit to New York

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Tuesday, December 25. 2018

Charles Dickens' first visit to New York

In 1846, Dickens and wife Kate were welcomed like The Beatles.

He made a real study of the city. He was impressed by the vitality, appalled by the squalor. But what angered him was the lack of international copyright. It figures. Writing was not a hobby for him. He wrote to get rich.

He did not want to end up like his father. A brief bio of Dickens.

There are still many of us Dickens fans in the Anglosphere. That he tossed off a novelette about Christmas which captured the meaning of Christmas - the joyful spiritual rebirth - is the least of his achievements. He was just fascinated by human behavior.

We find much of the joy at Christmastime in all of the parties and festive get-togethers. Connecting and re-connecting with people in a festive and cheery atmosphere, from neighborhood pot-lucks to fancy and formal. There is a magic to it all. Dickens got that.

Posted by The Barrister at 12:16 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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Dickens was a man ahead of his time when it came to International Copyrights. The number of ideas that the rest of the world has stolen from the inventors in America is mind-boggling. Even the method to make the Icicle lights that everyone hangs on their houses - invented by two Ohio ladies and promptly stolen by the Chinese.

#1 snopercod on 2018-12-25 15:20 (Reply)

I grew up on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and loved it. I did a production of it in high school. I later learned that no less a figure than G K Chesterton had rescued the story from oblivion. We did it as a group reading in with parts about 20 years ago.

But that started the downturn. I didn't like it much as it was being read, and I have liked it less every year. It is part of our culture, certainly. We cannot separate how we celebrate Christmas from A Christmas Carol cleanly. But we should start. It's not that good, and its one positive is an encouragement to be generous.

#2 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-12-25 18:11 (Reply)

Headed off on a tangent in re Mr. Magoo.

I grew up on it as well. There was a whole series of Mr Magoo episodes, and they were all forgettable . . . except for the, A Christmas Carol episode.

It was far and away my favorite, the only episode where Magoo's intense near-sightedness was not an issue.

I would argue there is another positive from the book aside from generosity, and that is that people can change and redeem themselves, even if it is under the threat of a premature death.

#2.1 feeblemind on 2018-12-26 16:08 (Reply)

I cannot cordially like Dickens: too depressed for me. For really satisfying morality plays, give me Jane Austen any time.

#3 Texan99 on 2018-12-26 10:49 (Reply)

English Major here. I am a big fan of Dickens. One of my favorite authors. Great Expectations is divine. Loved it. Oliver Twist also a great read. Hated 'The Pickwick Papers' as it bored me to tears when I was a teen.

Otherwise, I love his characters, his descriptions, his tropes of mysterious backgrounds and amazing coincidences, secret relationships and unmasked identities. Keeps you reading.

If you think his writing style is heavy and wordy, gives it a few chapters to steep yourself in his style, and you will get lost in the story. Trust me.

#4 MissT on 2018-12-26 12:47 (Reply)

Dickens is certainly one of the great writers in the English language. His popular appeal has sometimes grated the critics, but his stories reveal a genuine sensitivity to human nature, his characters veritably leaping off the page. Once having turned the pages of Dickens, who could ever forget Ebenezer Scrooge or Wilkins Micawber or Miss Havisham or Oliver Twist?

And who hasn't had a dickens of a time?!

#5 Zachriel on 2018-12-26 13:05 (Reply)

Please, Sir, I want some more.

#6 Zachriel on 2018-12-27 10:22 (Reply)

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Tuesday, December 25. 2018

Charles Dickens' first visit to New York