Dickens and Conan

Abby: I love the Dickens characters. I think that's why I enjoy him so much. Why else would anyone read an author that can spend three pages describing a doorknob! His books are massive, like Clancy and Michener.

I don't really know why I enjoyed Great Expectations so much, but I suspect it had to do with my age. I read it as a teenager. I was reading a lot of gothic romances, which were somewhat spooky and romantic. They fed my dreams back then, I guess! I only got out of them what I was able to understand as a teen. I was also extremely fond of Jane Eyre, which I read again recently as an adult. I absolutely hated it this time around, even having read it three or four times before. I saw more in the relationship (as a married woman) than I ever could have as a child. I didn't care for Mr. Rochester at all this time. Their relationship was too dysfunctional. So, why did I love it as a teen?

But...oh, the characters are wonderful. Miss Havisham and Pip were favorites. If you get a chance to see the movie version (of which there are many), look for the old black and white version. The scene in the graveyard is just sooooo spooky! It's the best. When I came home after my first year at BYU, Dad and I read David Copperfield at the same time. That was a hoot, too. The aged aunt was a favorite of mine in that book. And I still think of Uriah Heep whenever I meet anyone who is intentionally meek and oily at the same time. Heep made my skin crawl whenever he was in a scene.

Spoiler ahead for those who have not read Great Expectations...Beccy and I burned my little cactus named Miss Havisham in effigy one Saturday afternoon. It was doing poorly and had literally gone gray. So we done her in! That's how enthralled I was with the story. I felt so sorry for anyone who had been jilted like her...again, the teen thinking...and could absolutely understand her reasons for never having left the room/house again.

I think Jasper Fforde was just being silly as usual. I just finished his Nursery Rhyme crime division book called Over Easy. It's about the death (murder?) of Humpty Dumpty who, yes, you guessed it, fell off a wall. It wasn't near as funny as the Thursday Next series. I was kind of disappointed.

Mim: I have a funny memory of Grandma Andersen's house. We (I know Matt was there...don't know who else) had gone upstairs to Freeman's room (was he on his mission then?) and into the very back of the closet. Someone showed us the top of Max and Donnie's wedding cake. It was old and moldy and hard as a rock. I always associate that memory with Miss Havisham! Silliness.

Beccy: I must confess that my dear man has read every one of the old Conan books! They were popular in the seventies. He swears they were good reads. I debate that point! The covers alone would keep them out of our house...but then, again, I read a lot of Tarzan novels and they were actually pretty well-written. They had notty covers, too. Maybe it was just to sell the books?