All change over on facebook!

Dickens is still continuing in libraries - I haven't just given up on Oliver, but the previous posts were taster posts as I went through personally, so please continue to read Oliver Twist and feel free to add a comment!

We have been running Facebook Havering Reading Group for quite a while now.  We have nearly 300 members but felt that we needed to make it more obviously Havering Libraries and also take the original page back to the reading group concept which we had originally planned - it became more a news and information page.

 

So - we have now acted upon this distinction.  So, if you want to join an online reading group then pop on over to our Havering Reading Group facebook page.  If you want to find out all about the fabulous new services we are offering, our events, and special activities we are running etc then you need to pop over and like our Havering Libraries facebook page.  This will become the main source for information about Havering Libraries - unless I forget to change accounts and post on the wrong page!  OR (and this just HAS to be the best option) why not like both the pages and get the best of both worlds?

 

Look forward to seeing you over there 

What day is it?...from the Lake District

What a tough life love leads some women to.  The lower classes in Dicken's world had a difficult time, and then, even when offered a chance to improve her lot, Nancy chose to "stand by her man".
"Will you return to this gang of robbers, and to this man, when a word can save you?  What fascination is it that can take you back, and make you cling to wickedness and misery?  Oh!  There is no chord in your heart that I can touch !  Is there nothing left, to which I  can appeal against this terrible infatuation?"
"When ladies as young, and good, and beautiful as you are, " replied the girl steadily, "give away your hearts, love will carry you all lengths - even, such as you, who have home, friends, other admirers, everything, to fill them.  When such as I, who have to certain roof but the coffinlid, and no friend in sickness or death but the hospital nurse, set our rotten hearts on any man, and let him fill the place that has been a blank through all our wretched lives, who can hope to cure us?  Pity us, lady - pity us for having only one feeling of the woman left, and for having that turned, by a heavy judgement, from a confort and a pride, in to a new means of violence and suffering."
"You will," said Rose, after a pause, "take some money from me, which may enable you to live without dishonesty - at all events until we meet again?"
"Not a penny," replied the girl, waving her hand.
"Do not close your heart against all my efforts to help you," said Rose, stepping gently forward.  "I wish to serve you indeed."
"You would serve me best, lady," replied the girl, wringing her hands, "If you could take my life at once; for I have felt more grief to think of what I am , tonight, than I ever did before, and it would be something or to die in the hell in which I have lived.  God Bless you, sweet lady, and send as much happiness on your head as I have brought shame on mine"
Thus speaking, and sobbing aloud, the unhappy creature turned away, while Rose Mayle, overpowered by this extraordinary interview, which had more the semblance of a rapid dream than an actual occurrence, sank into a chair, and endeavoured to collect her wandering thoughts."
Again, I wonder what similarities there are with society today?  How many people (not just women) stay in relationships which are harmful to them and their families?  Dickens has done it again - he was a social reformer of his time - yet, I think, reading his works could give valuable insight to our society today.  
OK - I am off quad-biking in about 10 minutes, so I need to finish this now and find somewhere that I can upload it.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, the weather here is now beautiful - the t-shirt got an outing today!

Dickens from the Lake District - day 4

Well, well, well....SNOW!  Yep, I am glad I packed for the "Lake District Weather" - from strappy tops, to fleeces and anoraks, I brought the lot! 
My passage for today shows the contradictions that were rife in society in Dicken's time, so without further ado, here it is...

"I never," said Mr Bumble, "see anything like the pitch it's got to.  The day afore yesterday, a man - youhave been a married woman, ma'am, and I may mention it to you - a man, with hardly a rag upon his back (here Mrs. Corney looked at the floor), goes to our overseer's door when he has got company coming to dinner; and says, he must be relieved, Mrs. Corney.  As he wouldn't go away, and shocked the company very much, our overseer sent him out a pound of potatoes and half a pint of oatmeal. "My heart!" says the ungrateful villain, "what's the use of this to me?  You might as well give me a pair of iron spectacles!"  "Very good, " says our overseer, taking 'em away again "you won't get anything else here." "Then I'll die in the streets!" says the vagrant.  "Oh no, you won't," says our overseer."
"Ha, ha!  That was very good!  So like Mr. Grannett, wasn't it?" interposed the matron.  "Well, Mr. Bumble?"
"Well, ma'am," rejoined the beadle "he went away; and did die in the streets.  There's an obstinate pauper for you!"
"It beats anything I could have believed," observed the matron emphatically, "But, don't you think out-of-door relief a very bad thing, any way, Mr. Bumble?  You're a gentleman of experience, you ought to know.  Come."
"Mrs. Corney," said the beadle, smiling as men smile, who are conscious of superior information, "out-of-door relief, properly managed; properly managed, ma'am; is the porochial safeguard.  The great principle of out-of-door relief is, to give the paupers exactly what they don't want; and then they get tired of coming."
"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Corney. "Well that is a good one, too!"
"Yes.  Betwixt you and me, ma'am," returned Mr. Bumble, "that's the great principle; and that's the reason why, if you look at any cases that get into them owdacious newspapers, you'll always observe that sick families have been relieved with sliecs of cheese.  That's the rule now, Mrs. Corney, all over the country.
But, however," said the beadle, stopping to unpack his bundle, "these are official secrets, ma'am; not to be spoken of; except, as I may say, among the parochial officers, such as ourselves.
This is the port wine, ma'am, that the board ordered for the infirmary; real, fresh, genuine port wine; only out of the cask this forenoon; clear as a bell and no sediment!""

When I read this passage it makes me think that this sort of contradiction is very real in society today - some people believing that less-well-off people bring their misery upon themselves.   I think that Dicken's writing is riddled with comparisons with our society today: although settings and actual situations are changed, the basic premis runs through.

OK - I am looking out of the window now and the sun is shining again - time to wander off and find somewhere with internet so I can upload this to the blog!  Wish me luck!

Day 3 - Dickens in the Lakes

The continuing sage of finding somewhere with internet access in the Lake District...today, it was a breeze!  Yes, you read correctly - an absolute breeze!  We drove through to Cockermouth and decided to have lunch in the Trout Hotel - and wonderful place that it is, it had really fast wifi access - yay!  I am now typing this blogpost back at the cabin and thinking that it will be really easy to post this up tomorrow too.  The reason for my confidence is because we will be returning to the Trout Hotel tomorrow.  Yes, it was a very nice lunch, but that is not the reason we will be returning there.  The reason for our second visit in as many days is that my son left his phone there and we need to drive back and collect it - what lovely people, they found it and have kept it safe for us - phew!
My passage for the day is relevant in that it is a discussion about the two types of boys...
"He is a nice-looking boy is he not?" inquired Mr Brownlow.
"I dont know," replied Mr Grimwig, pettishly.
"Don't know?"
"No.  I don't know.  I never see any difference in boys.  I only knew two sort of boys.  Mealy boys, and beef-faced boys."
"And which is Oliver?"
"Mealy.  I know a friend who has a beef-faced boy; a fine boy, they call him; with a round head, and red cheeks, and glaring eyes; a horrid boy; with a body and limbs that appear to be swelling out of the seams of his blue clothes; with the voice of a pilot, and the appetite of a wolf.  I know him!  The wretch!"
"Come," said Mr Brownlow, "these are not characteristics of young Oliver Twist; so he needn't excite your wrath."
"They are not," replid Mr Grimwig.  "He may have worse."
Mr Grimwig sounds so much like someone I know.  Obviously, I can't mention names, but I am almost certain that they would never imagine themselves to come across like this!  Enough said, methinks!
While I remember, this is the link for a great app from the Museum of London.  It takes you on Dickens Walks!  How fabby is that?
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Resources/app/Dickens_webpage/index.html
I hope you link through to the app - it really is great fun!
I hope you are all reading your copies of Oliver Twist by now!  I am off to go and finish mine now.  Its all a little unfortunate really; I really need to get on and finish (so that I can complete these blogposts!), but all this fresh air - and suffering from neuralgia - means that I keep falling asleep - fresh air and nerve painkillers are a wonderful combination! 

Day 2 From the Lake District!

Phew!  It was touch and go whether I would ever find internet connection to post yesterday's blogpost!  I sat inside our cabin and was so happy when I managed to find a BTFon connection - logged on fine, paid my money for access and then....poooof!  The connection disappeared as if it had never been there at all!  Grrrrrrrr!  I then spent a rather chilly 30 mins trying to connect using my phone as an access point - which has always worked really well in the past - but, nope - just toooo many hills!  Despite me waving the phone around, climbing on the patio table to put it on the roof of the cabin (yes, really!), I still couldnt get enough signal to post up!  Eventually, we drove out a ways and managed to post up the blogpost from the carpark of the Rheged Centre using my phone!
Here's hoping this one will be easier!
My next notable passage, is when Oliver is apprenticed to the local funeral director.  He has to put up with such hardships, but it is only when his dead mother is insulted that he really strikes back...
"Crimson with fury, Oliver started up; overthrew the chair and table; seized Noah by the throat; shook him, in the violence of his rage, till his teeth chattered in his head; and collecting his whole force into on heavy blow, felled him to the ground.
A minute ago, the boy had looked the quiet child, mild, dejected creature that harsh treatment had made him.  But his spirit was roused at last; the cruel insult to his dead mother had set his blood on fire.  His breast heaved; his attitude was erect; his eye bright and vivid; his whole person changed, as he stood glaring over the cowardly tormentor who now lay crouching at his feet; and defied him with an energy he had never known before.
"He'll murder me!" blubbered Noah.  "Charlotte! Missis! Here's the new boy a murdering of me! Help! Help! Oliver's gone mad! Char-lotte!"
Noah's shouts were responded to, by a loud scream from Charlotte and a louder from Mrs. Sowerberry; the former of whom rushed into the kitchen by a side-door, while the latter paused on the staircase till she was quite certain that it was consistent with the preservation of human life, to come further down.
"Oh, you little wretch!" screamed Charlotte: seizing Oliver with her utmost force, which was about equal to that of a moderately strong man in particularly good training.  "Oh, you little un-grate-ful, mur-de-rous, hor-rid villain!"  And between every syllable, Charlotte gave Oliver a blow with all her might: accompanying it with a scream, for the benefit of society.
Charlotte's fist was by no means a light one; but, lest it should not be effectual in calming Oliver's wrath, Mrs.Sowerberry plunged into the kitchen, and assisted to hold him with one hand, while she scratched his face with the other.  In this favourable position of affairs, Noah rose from the ground, and pommelled him behind.
This was rather too violent exercise to last long.  When they were all wearied out, and could tear and beat no longer, they dragged Oliver, struggling and shouting, but nothing daunted, into the dust-cellar, and there locked him up.  This being done, Mrs. Sowerberry sunk into a chair, and burst into tears."
It's a strange passage to stand out, but it does so for a few reasons.  It's obvious from the telling that Oliver is not equal to the fight and, indeed, has not shown a previous inclination to fight, despite numerous taunts to himself.  It is the insults to his mother which finally propel him to take action.  Every mother knows the battle they face with their sons to persuade them that we don't need anyone to fight our battles and that we can do so ourselves very nicely thank you!  The passage tells of the close bond between mother and child and shows us that this bond has existed throughout time and situations.
Again, on a personal level, Charlotte's manner of striking Oliver in between each syllable, reminds me of sitting in the back seat of our car and arguing with my big brother....my dad would turn round and do exactly the same thing to us!  "If (wallop) you (wallop) don't stop (wallop) arguing (wallop) then (wallop) I will (wallop) pull this car over and (wallop) give you BOTH (wallop) a good wallop (wallop)".  However you look at it, this approach was very effective at making us stop arguing!  In fact, as I type this, my big brother is fast asleep on the sofa, having driven up to join us!
Finally, there is that tongue-in-cheek humour again - the description of Charlotte beautifully conveys her bulk and the dramatics from Mrs Sowerberry when all is over. 
So, yes, it was not the most typical passage to pick as a notable one - but for me, there were things that were so poignant and personal.  And, I guess, that is one of the appeals of Dickens - he speaks to us on many different levels (often in ways we are not consciously aware of). 
I am going to go and nudge my big brother (and now my mother!) awake, go and find my child (who has taken himself off to the stream) and go and have a nice meal out!  Then, I need to find somewhere and somehow to upload this blog post! 
I do so hope you have located your copy of Oliver Twist - I hear that Havering Libraries may have a few available! 

Dickens from the Lake District!

"Although I am not disposed to maintain that being born in a workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstances that can possibly befall a human being.  I do meant to say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver Twist that could possibly have occurred.  The fact is, that there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver to take upon himself the office of respiration, - a troublesome practice, but one which custom has rendered necessary to our easy existence; and for some time he lay gasping on a little flock mattress, rather unequally posed between this world and the next; the balance being decidedly in favour of the latter.  Now, if during this brief period, Oliver had been surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevitably and indubitably have been killed in no time.  There being nobody by, however, but a pauper old woman, who was rendered rather misty by an unwonted allowance of beer; and a parish surgeon who did such matters by contract; Oliver and Nature fought out the point between them.  The result was, that, after a few struggles, Oliver breathed, sneezed and proceeded to advertise to the inmates of the workhouse the fact of a new burden having been imposed upon the parish, by setting up as loud a cry as could reasonably have been expected from a male infant who had not been possessed of that very useful appendage, a voice, for a much longer space of time than three minutes and a quarter."
I have always loved the film/musical of Oliver Twist - laughing and singing along and being terrified at parts.  However, I had never read it - what an admission!  So, when City Read London announced that Oliver Twist would be the book chosen for the whole of London to read, I settled down with the aim to read it "no matter how long-drawn out and over-embellished it is". 
The quote above is roughly a page into the book (depending on the version you are reading) and really changed my approach to Dickens as a whole.  I had already - secretly - promised myself that I could skip all the long passages of description (yes, we have all feared Dickens because of those dreaded over-descriptive passages .....hmmmm, think I might have to post this anonymously after that last comment), so was surprised to find such a dry, humourous passage so soon into the book and immediately relaxed. 
As I write this first blog post on the book, I have just realised that I got distracted and never DID finish the book - arrghhhh!  Luckily, I am on holiday this week, in the beautiful Lake District, so now have my bedtime reading rescheduled!  Pop back tomorrow to find my next fave passage - yep, I have already read it!