Abby dislikes Charles Dickens because of his pointless paragraphs. I love him for the same reason. This is by far my favorite, from Martin Chuzzlewit:
(Dickens is describing a dragon sign/figurine thing in front of an alehouse)
"He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his fore paws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me- it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty.Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore."
Dickens then basically says that all that doesn't really matter anyway because the dragon is not the point of the story. And so far, I have not heard of the dragon again. I love it.
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The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives... To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord... to comfort all who mourn... Giving them… the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. -Isaiah 61:1-3
4 comments:
Is that one worth the read? I've never tried it...I still have yet to dig my way through Great Expectations...
Well, I'm only 60 pages into it- out of 762. So only about 700 more pages. I'll let you know in about 3 years. =) We'll see if I ever get through the thing. I love Dickens, but it sure is hard to get through his books sometimes. I did conquer David Copperfield, though, and that was just as long.
Oh David...sweet, foolish David...you should read my paper on him sometime ;)
I've learned to read books with actual substance, I guess. Oliver Twist was a crybaby. I'm sorry, but I have no stomach for those kind of classics. =) I prefer The Iliad and the Odyssey and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Oedipus Rex, etc...
Abby
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