Some thoughts on Dickens

My first exposure to Charles Dickens was when I was six or so and KUTV aired Mickey's Christmas Carol. I thought the story was fun and loved it. I remember rewinding the tape so many times to rewatch our copy. I even remember the commercials that were on the program.  Anyway that was my exposure to Dickens until I was in fourth grade and my teacher gave me a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for Christmas.  I was so excited to get home to read the story. I remember staying up late into the night to read and realizing I didn't like it. 

Most people would chalk this up to being ten years old when I read it but the problem is this never changed. It didn't change when I read Oliver Twist and Tale of Two Cities in high school. It didn't change when I read Bleak House in college. It may be blasphemous for an English teacher and major to say this but I hated Dickens. 

Wait I take that back. I don't hate him per se. I actually love his stories. I love watching the BBC/Masterpiece theater versions. I feel myself drawn in (even if they are basically the same story over and over again) and I love the characters. I just don't like his writing style.

Which brings me to why I am even posting this. My neighborhood book club announced they would be reading Our Mutual Friend for the month of March. I was super excited, not because I got to read Dickens, but because here was a book I could finally get on the Kindle for less then I could buy it. I downloaded it and went to work. Yeah it took me a week to get through the first twenty pages. I still couldn't slug through his style. 

So I went to my old standby, the movie. I am sitting here watching the movie getting ready to discuss a book I couldn't read at book club tonight. I'll be honest, I'll admit I didn't read it and outline the reasons why. I will also talk about how much I loved the story. How the story of redemption and love is incredible. How their is a kind Jew in the story...way ahead of the times there Dickens. How there are strong women...something he didn't do earlier in his career.  And, what I believe to be his greatest strength, taking seemingly random story lines and weave them together into a classic tale.

So I won't be picking up any other Dickens' books anytime soon but keep those BBC movies coming!