Welcome to Litsy!

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🤪

I kept to a chapter a day until last weekend and then I just had to finish it. But if I‘m counting correctly we should be finishing about now. I fell in love with Tom Pinch and his sister, and laughed with Mark, and despised Pecksniff. The ending was satisfying, except for poor Tom. Be sure to read the end note Dickens insisted be included in every edition - knowing how much of his $ was made in the US made me 🙄 #whatthedickens

Here‘s my Dickens shelf. L to R: Little Dorrit, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, Dombey & Son, Bleak House, Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and A Tale of two Cities. My Martin Chuzzlewitt doesn‘t match either of these sets, and his Christmas books are on another shelf. Plus I have most of his novels on my Kobo. But I love these old boxed editions. @Texreader #whatthedickens

Daughter went to a used bookstore near her work today and found more outstanding editions for my Dickens collection. #whattheDickens @Cuilin