“Little Dorrit is a classic tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, while Dickens’ working title for the novel, Nobody’s Fault, highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life.”
“Dickens’ childhood experiences inform the vivid scenes in Marshalsea debtor’s prison, while his adult perceptions of governmental failures shape his satirical picture of the Circumlocution Office. The novel’s range of characters – the honest, the crooked, the selfish and the self-denying – offers a portrait of society about whose values Dickens had profound doubts.”
hilaryfbbc
/ April 3, 2012Little Dorrit – read by Anton Lesser – audio CD – that’s the way to do it!
His differing ‘voices’ add a nice dramatic touch to conversations – and, importantly for me, mean I don’t miss out on some of the nuances of long sentences that I might be tempted to skim over visually and miss. Although I am listening to it a good few chapters behind where I have reached in the actual paperback copy, I am hearing it afresh and it is really adding to the experience; (as some of you know it lasts 28 hours!) Perhaps because I have read each chapter just a few days ahead of listening to it (if you can follow this you’ll be fit to apply for a bureaucratic job in a circumlocution office) I am finding it really easy listening. I may have to buy a copy for my MP4 player.
jillseal007
/ March 7, 2012Please note that the above schedule is not a requirement for reading this book – just a suggestion to be followed in whole or part only by those who wish to do it this way.
Jill
jillseal007
/ March 7, 2012At the Classics Group meeting last night the suggestion was made of reading Dickens in installments as the original readers did.
For Little Dorritt it’s not possible to completely copy the original experience since it was published in 20 monthly parts (with the last issue being a double issue of Parts 19 and 20). In order to read it by July 3rd, the date of the Classics meeting, it would be necessary to have an every-6-days schedule rather than a monthly read.
Here is the original schedule of publication (instalment no., publication date, chapters covered) with the last date being the day I’m going to start reading the installment.
Book the First: Poverty
I – December 1855 (chapters 1–4) 8 Mar
II – January 1856 (chapters 5–8) 14 Mar
III – February 1856 (chapters 9–11) 20 Mar
IV – March 1856 (chapters 12–14) 26 Mar
V – April 1856 (chapters 15–18) 1 Apr
VI – May 1856 (chapters 19–22) 7 Apr
VII – June 1856 (chapters 23–25) 13 Apr
VIII – July 1856 (chapters 26–29) 19 Apr
IX – August 1856 (chapters 30–32) 25 Apr
X – September 1856 (chapters 33–36) 1 May
Book the Second: Riches
XI – October 1856 (chapters 1–4) 7 May
XII – November 1856 (chapters 5–7) 13 May
XIII – December 1856 (chapters 8–11) 19 May
XIV – January 1857 (chapters 12–14) 25 May
XV – February 1857 (chapters 15–18) 1 Jun
XVI – March 1857 (chapters 19–22) 7 Jun
XVII – April 1857 (chapters 23–26) 13 Jun
XVIII – May 1857 (chapters 27–29) 19 Jun
XIX-XX – June 1857 (chapters 30–34) 25 Jun
Jill
moirabbc
/ March 1, 2012I started reading this about 18 months ago and got firmly stuck in the Circumlocution Office and lost the will to go on. Hopefully this challenge will enable me to move on. I know what you mean Michele as this part of the novel reminded me too much of being a CAB adviser trying to get answers to simple questions from banks and utility companies on behalf of clients.
michelebbc
/ February 27, 2012I’ve started listening to Little Dorrit on my daily commute into work. Initially I felt quite lost and bemused by the number of characters and threads of story lines. However things now seem to have settled down a litte and I’ve just been enjoying Arthur’s trip to the ‘Circumlocution Office’. If only Dickens knew! His important government office in which business is delayed by passing it through the hands of various different officials still rings so true and I’m sure he’d have a lot to say about those automated phone systems that pass you from pillar to post these days!