Welcome to Litsy!

This is a difficult book to love, but I do. Quilp is among the very worst of villains in Dickens‘ novels, which says a lot because there are so many wicked people in his novels. One of the main characters, Little Nell, almost 14, must lead her grandfather with dementia out of London and into the wide world. She learns in the harshest of ways his horrible dark secret, which persists along with his dementia. The most heartbreaking scene I‘ve read ⬇️

“…the lady carried upon her upper lip certain reddish demonstrations, which, if the imagination had been assisted by her attire, might have been mistaken for a beard. These were, however, in all probability, nothing more than eyelashes in a wrong place, as the eyes of Miss Brass were quite free from any such natural impertinencies.”

😂
#WhattheDickens

#wordoftheday #whattheDickens @Cuilin

The definition sort of begs the question doesn‘t it?

“Then, Mr Brass left off writing entirely, and, with his pen in his hand, hummed his very loudest; shaking his head meanwhile from side to side, like a man whose whole soul was in the music, and smiling in a manner quite seraphic.”

Speaking on behalf of lawyers, to some extent this is true!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Book coincidences are crazy! I read this word for the first time this week in Joan Didion‘s Democracy (above). Now, it‘s in Dickens!! What the heck!

“Quilp said not a word in reply, but walking so close to Kit as to bring his eyes within two or three inches of his face, looked fixedly at him, retreated a little distance without averting his gaze, approached again, again withdrew, and so on for half-a-dozen times, like a head in a phantasmagoria.”

Differentiating Dickens‘ characters!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

“[Quilp] clung tight to his opponent, and bit and hammered away with such good-will and heartiness, that it was at least a couple of minutes before he was dislodged. Then, and not until then, Daniel Quilp found himself, all flushed and dishevelled, in the middle of the street, with Mr Richard Swiveller performing a kind of dance round him and requiring to know 'whether he wanted any more?'”

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

“The Pilgrimage begins.” Grandfather and Little Nell. #whattheDickens @Cuilin

I‘m well past this point in the book but want to catch up with the illustrations.

Quill‘s attorney Sampson Brass has a primate appearance here!

“Mr Brass, after writhing about, in a great many strange attitudes, and often twisting his face and eyes into an expression like that which is usually produced by eating gooseberries very early in the season, was by this time awake also. Seeing that Mr Quilp invested himself in his every-day garments, he hastened to do the like,…

I‘ve reached the “holidays” in the book. I‘m not sure if that means winter holidays but it‘s a good excuse to post another image from another dish from my grandmother‘s Old Curiosity Shop dishes.

Reading how popular this serialization of this book back in the day, I now understand why these dishes were made. Even the book description calls it the Harry Potter of its day.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

⬇️

This book has taken a very very dark turn. Oh my heart hurts for Little Nell!!! I wouldn‘t have thought Dickens could go to such heartbreaking places. And I‘ve read enough Dickens to see an immense range of emotions. But dang, this is brutal. (I removed spoilers and replaced with ellipses.)

We definitely needed a bit of humor from Mrs Jarley deciding not to become an atheist.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

But this is what she does instead:

“But instead of adopting this course of retaliation, Mrs Jarley, on second thoughts, brought out the suspicious bottle, and ordering glasses to be set forth upon her favourite drum, and sinking into a chair behind it, called her satellites about her, and to them several times recounted, word for word, the affronts she had received.”

😂😂😂

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

I‘m getting biscuits while we listen to the tagged book

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

“Little Nell stood timidly by, with her eyes raised to the countenance of Mr Quilp as he read the letter, plainly showing by her looks that while she entertained some fear and distrust of the little man, she was much inclined to laugh at his uncouth appearance and grotesque attitude. And yet there was visible on the part of the child a painful anxiety for his reply.”

Then he offers to make her Mrs Quilp number two! Eww!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

“On the Surrey side of the river was a small rat-infested dreary yard called 'Quilp's Wharf,' in which were a little wooden counting-house burrowing all awry in the dust as if it had fallen from the clouds and ploughed into the ground; a few fragments of rusty anchors; several large iron rings; some piles of rotten wood; and two or three heaps of old sheet copper, crumpled, cracked, and battered.”

The boy on his head is, I believe, Tom Scott.

Quilp again with Little Nell

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Meet Daniel Quilp (far left):

“The creature appeared quite horrible with his monstrous head and little body, as he rubbed his hands slowly round, and round, and round again—with something fantastic even in his manner of performing this slight action—and, dropping his shaggy brows and cocking his chin in the air, glanced upward with a stealthy look of exultation that an imp might have copied and appropriated to himself.”

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

“There were suits of mail standing like ghosts in armour here and there, fantastic carvings brought from monkish cloisters, rusty weapons of various kinds, distorted figures in china and wood and iron and ivory: tapestry and strange furniture that might have been designed in dreams.”

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Lap kitty while I read.

In what universe is it ok to reveal the ending of the book in the introduction to the book? In the first paragraph of the introduction to the book? 🤬

I‘m on chapter 11 and decided to go back and read the introduction. I‘m mad as heck.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

I‘m going to have to post photos periodically of my grandmother‘s Old Curiosity Shop dishes. Here it is! The Old Curiosity Shop!

These dishes are among my most precious possessions. I only use them once a year for Christmas.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Dickens always names his characters appropriately. We meet Mr. Swiveller, compatriot of the grandfather‘s grandson Kip, both of whom seem to be up to no good.

I‘m looking forward to Chapter 3, where we will meet a fellow named Daniel Quilp. That‘s an ambiguous last name, so it will be interesting to see what sort of character he is.

Oh I do love Dickens.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

A previous owner of my Oxford edition disagrees with this Cast of Characters (love this) that the old man (the narrator) is the single gentleman, brother to Nell‘s grandfather. I‘ve only read 1-1/2 chapters but at least so far I have to agree with this unknown persons‘s “No.” I can‘t wait to see if this bears out.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Image from my Oxford edition. This illustration is entitled “The Old Curiosity Shop.” It does appear to accurately depict the shop as Dickens describes it. In Chapter 1, the old man meets a pretty little girl at night and walks her “home,” to this unique place. Here the old man meets her grandfather and suspects he‘s up to no good.

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Via @texreader Next up!! Whoohoo!! #whattheDickens @Cuilin

Next up!! Whoohoo!! #whattheDickens @Cuilin

#WhatTheDickens

I‘m on chapter 3. This is longer than I thought it to be. Who‘s joining in on this one? I really enjoyed Chuzzlewit!! Anyone else? Thoughts?

@texreader @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey @sparklemn @bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks

I pulled this off my shelf tonight to plan my #whattheDickens reading & discovered a bookmark from Hay on Wye—where I purchased this copy.😍 It was helpfully tucked in between Curiosity Shop and Child‘s History, so I only had to flip back a few pages to determine how many chapters are in Curiosity Shop. However, the last chapter is helpfully titled “Chapter the Last,” meaning I had to flip back a few more pages to find an actual numbered chapter🤪

It‘s time to pull out our Old Curiosity Shop dishes for Christmas dinner!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

#5JoysFriday

1) visiting Mom and Dad
2) seeing the sunset at the parents‘ farm
3) coming home to my cat after parent visit, for her to pout about it
4) huge book haul including 6 Dickens‘ books
5) discovering audio coloring

Thanks @DebinHawaii for the tag!!

My second weekend in a row at HPB ended in a massive book haul… so here goes:

Here‘s where my willpower broke down. I do love Dickens, and the books were really cheap so this is part 1 of 2. Looking forward to keeping #whattheDickens alive for awhile @Cuilin

It being Christmas, it was time to set out my grandmother‘s Dickens dishes. I‘ve used these as our Christmas dishes for many years but only read Dickens for the first time a few years ago. How marvelous that my favorite Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, was written by Dickens, on whose story (tagged) these dishes were clearly modeled.

Unfortunately after reading through 50% of the book, the story could no longer hold my attention. I found it difficult to get vested and wasn‘t enamored with any part of the book except a couple of chapters. There are redeeming qualities in the story but it just wasn‘t holding my interest. It was almost a chore to pick it up and move further along. Bail for me. I will gift my copies to my favorite Uncle as he unlike me, loved it.

Hello everyone! This is my first time here. I'm reading Dickens with the book club. I'm really relaxing with his stories. It's always between fabulousness and hard reality. Now my reading experience is much richer and I see Dickens's traces in works of Dostoevsky. BTW, he's my icon equal with Hugo.

Did Nell's fate touched you or leave indifferent?

#Dickens #TheOldCuriosityShop

This was a gift from my mom many years ago.

#temptingtitles #withold

Finds from today‘s vacation thrift! As if I needed more…😌

The money lender, Daniel Quilp, is certainly #malicious
#MayCharacters Day 21
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I‘m joining @monalyisha in offering up some books to trade. The next couple stacks are from a huge donation for my LFL from a friend who is an English Lit professor.

Post your own stacks using #booktrade and let me know if you‘re interested in any of these. (US trade only for me due to shipping costs I‘m afraid.)

Day 10: #mourns

Apparently the whole nation grieved when the serial announcing Little Nell's death was published.

#maycharacters @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#sink #quotsynov20 #quotsy #besties

#BiblioMAYnia #Samebookdifferentcover

I‘ve started collecting antique books, which leads to multiple copies. I might have a problem! 😁

#motivation #QuotsyJan20
@TK-421

My best bookish Christmas gift (as my dad picked up for me) was so old, the pages were falling out 😄 but the collectable feel was so meaningful; found at a Christmas farmhouse called The Cat's Meow. The shop is no longer in business, but was a pioneer beauty to visit (around 2005) with hot cider at the log iron stove. 🎄 I soon bought a new edition for reading The Old Curiosity Shop.

#ReadNosedReindeer @StayCurious 10+1
#WinterGames @Clwojick ❄️

My sister's store! 😍 www.curiosasociety.com

My sister's store! 😍 www.curiosasociety.com

My sister's store 😍 www.curiosasociety.com

“There‘s plenty more of it at the same shop,” said Mr. [Dick] Swiveller, by turns advancing and retreating in a threatening attitude, “a large and extensive assortment always on hand— country orders executed with promptitude and dispatch—will you have a little more, sir? Don‘t say no, if you‘d rather not.”

So I have just finished The Old Curiosity Shop. I enjoyed his descriptive writing so much and it was often poetic. As for the narrative I thought it plodded along, sometimes a little to slow but picked up a pace towards the end.

My next read is staying in London though in a rather different genre!

There are certainly people #losttogether in The Old Curiosity Shop #TimbitTunes Prompt 21 @Cinfhen @TheKidUpstairs