Law & Order: Special Dickens Unit

| On
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
I'm reading Great Expectations and it's so much better than I thought it would be! Like all the other things I've never read or seen for reasons general cultural ubiquity, the original article is far richer and more surprising than the weak 'get a load of Miss Havisham still in her wedding dress - is she nuts or what?' stuff that has filtered down.  The whole story so far is gloriously bonkers. The quote below is from a scene about 1/4 of the way through - there has been a violent crime and nobody knows who did it. Eventually some police come and, well - I like the way he writes it.  They seem like characters who could easily support their own weekly police procedural show, and they're just in the book for one paragraph! Based on the "knowing and reserved looks" alone, I think they could give David Sunglasses Caruso on  CSI: Miami a run for his money.
The Constables and the Bow Street men from London--for, this happened in the days of the extinct red-waistcoated police--were about the house for a week or two, and did pretty much what I have heard and read of like authorities doing in other such cases. They took up several obvious wrong people, and they ran their heads very hard against wrong ideas, and persisted in trying to fit the circumstances to the ideas, instead of trying to extract ideas from the circumstances. Also, they stood about the door of the Jolly Bargeman, with knowing and reserved looks that filled the whole neighborhood with admiration; and they had a mysterious manner of taking their drink, that was almost as good as taking the culprit. But not quite, for they never did it. 
9 comments on "Law & Order: Special Dickens Unit"
  1. I LOVED that book in high school. I'm always tempted to reread it, but I never have, for fear of it not having aged (for me) well. Bleak House and Oliver Twist have also been on my list for some time. SO MANY books to read.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was one of my favorites junior year as well. I loved the weeks we spent reading Dickens. I'm glad you're enjoying it

    ReplyDelete
  3. I never read Dickens in high school! the only novel of his I'd read prior to reading A Christmas Carol a couple of years ago was Hard Times, and that was for a college history class. So this is all new to me - at least as new as someone as ubiquitous as Dickens can be.

    I'm enjoying it so much! Now just to figure out which one I want to read next...

    (Adam, you should read it again. Instead of framing it as rereading an old favorite, you can just pretend you're reading it ahead of the upcoming Mike Newell film version w/ Helena Bonham Carter as Ms. H. and Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch)

    (Martina! Dickens book club! What Dickens would you recommend for me to read next? Keeping in mind that I'm not likely to do a 1000 page doorstopper just yet...)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good advice. But I probably won't see that movie, under the fool-me-once-shame-on-me-fool-me-twice.... rule. I'm thinking of giving up "new" movies for 2012. We'll see.

    Either way, I have some lovely Graham Greene novels lined up for my next read. But enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Of course, of course - forgive me. I don't know what bossy fever overcame me earlier. There are so many great books in the world, people should read what they want. I'm not sure I will see the movie either, but the stills of H. Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham are arresting.

    I've never read Graham Greene (!!), do you have any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh no, I welcome the advice. I just cringe at Hollywood anymore. It was the movie, not the book suggestion! Book fever is good!

    Never read any Graham Greene??....... THUD. I hate the term OMG, but OMG!

    OK, I'm done. (And kidding.) He's just hands down my favorite author and has been since my senior year of high school when I was gobsmacked by The Power and the Glory.

    Can I make a suggestion?.... Please! :)

    My all-time favs (thus far, I've been restraining myself on the remaining books of his I haven't read to spread them out over the years) are The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and The End of the Affair.

    If you enjoy beautifully morose and tragic love stories, go for The End of the Affair. If you like tragic stories set in exotic locales with historical/cultural touches, read The Quiet American or The Comedians.

    If you'd enjoy a humorous and yet engaging and moving "spy" novel, try Our Man in Havana. (This novel also has, perhaps, the best last couple of lines I've ever read.) If you like religious and tragic stories with Catholic overtones, go for The Power and the Glory (but that may not be the best place to start).

    Overall I'd suggest Our Man in Havana, or The End of The Affair.

    I'm going to read Brighton Rock after I finish Soer's Eating Animals.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh no, I welcome the advice. I just cringe at Hollywood anymore. It was the movie, not the book suggestion! Book fever is good!

    Never read any Graham Greene??....... THUD. I hate the term OMG, but OMG!

    OK, I'm done. (And kidding.) He's just hands down my favorite author and has been since my senior year of high school when I was gobsmacked by The Power and the Glory.

    Can I make a suggestion?.... Please! :)

    My all-time favs (thus far, I've been restraining myself on the remaining books of his I haven't read to spread them out over the years) are The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and The End of the Affair.

    If you enjoy beautifully morose and tragic love stories, go for The End of the Affair. If you like tragic stories set in exotic locales with historical/cultural touches, read The Quiet American or The Comedians.

    If you'd enjoy a humorous and yet engaging and moving "spy" novel, try Our Man in Havana. (This novel also has, perhaps, the best last couple of lines I've ever read.) If you like religious and tragic stories with Catholic overtones, go for The Power and the Glory (but that may not be the best place to start).

    Overall I'd suggest Our Man in Havana, or The End of The Affair.

    I'm going to read Brighton Rock after I finish Soer's Eating Animals.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Believe me, no one can OMG over the things I haven't read more than I can! I often wish I could read a different book with each eye just to speed things along.

    Thank you for the G. Greene tips! I think maybe I'll start with Our Man in Havana. This is one of the reasons I love the internet!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, everyone is wayyyy behind on their reading. The only ones who aren't are those that don't read. :)

    Let me know if you enjoy it. Hope you do.

    ReplyDelete

EMOTICON
Klik the button below to show emoticons and the its code
Hide Emoticon
Show Emoticon
:D
 
:)
 
:h
 
:a
 
:e
 
:f
 
:p
 
:v
 
:i
 
:j
 
:k
 
:(
 
:c
 
:n
 
:z
 
:g
 
:q
 
:r
 
:s
:t
 
:o
 
:x
 
:w
 
:m
 
:y
 
:b
 
:1
 
:2
 
:3
 
:4
 
:5
:6
 
:7
 
:8
 
:9