The Book Shopper

A Dickens of a Year

 

Before "the old year slips away, lamented by no one*," a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens is in order.  My memory of Dickens goes back to my school days in the 5th grade when I was assigned the Victorian novelist as part of the class project on the "Great Authors." 

To explain why I kept this report all these years would require much space and deep thought, which is beyond the scope of this blog, but it does serve as physical proof of my lifelong interest in books and authors.  The "cover art" -- with a grade of A-  (see left) -- is an early example of grade inflation. The list of authors that were considered "great" is kind of interesting from the perspective of which classic writers were in vogue in the mid-1960s (very few authors from the 20th century and very few women).

I wish I still had that excellent penmanship.

I did go on to read quite a few Dickens novels until I said "enough already" 30 years ago while I was halfway through Oliver Twist. Still, Dickens is in my entertainment mix.

My longtime partner Denise and I always watch A Christmas Carol every December. She prefers the black and white 1951 Alastair Sim version, which is quite good, but I favor the 1984 version starring George C. Scott as curmudgeonly Ebenezer  Scrooge.  However, this season there is a new up and comer, a "live streaming film version" of Jefferson Mays 's one -man stage performance where  he plays all the characters. The richness of Dickens's language really comes through in this filmed theatre version.

We also recently watched the film The Personal History of David Copperfield, a quirky adaptation by Armando Iannucci (Veep, Death of Stalin) and staring Dev Patel as the hero of his own life. 

For a more in-depth overall assessment of Dickens, read Charles Gottlieb's recent review of A.N. Wilson's The Mystery of Charles Dickens (2020), but if you're looking for something tighter that captures the crux of the novelist, check out this report from a 5th grader who showed some early promise.

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* The expression "the old year slips away, lamented by no one," is from Rick Atkinson's Day of Battle about the United States fighting in Italy during World War II. It was Atkinson's description of 1943 which had been a bloody stalemate that accomplished little at great cost. 

The Best Books Read 2020 Award

Unlike many book lists that enumerate the best books published during the year, The Book Shopper blog can boast that even though none of the books on our list were published in 2020, at least all the selections have been read cover to cover, and gleaned from a list of 30 books, which is a personal high (but I realize I don't qualify as a "voracious" reader). 

The major qualification to make the list below is that besides enjoyment, each book influenced me by either a)  leading to other books which I eventually read, or b.) slightly changed my thoughts or actions in my little 2020 world. There is no significance in the order and the links go to other locations on the blog where I wrote about them in more detail.

Brian Dillon. On Essayism: On Form, Feeling and Nonfiction (2017)

Viet Thanh Nguyen. Nothing Ever Dies Vietnam and the Memory of War (2016)

Thomas Pynchon. Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)

Leah Penniman. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm Practical Guild to Liberation on the Land (2018)

On Essayism 

Not only does Dillon deconstruct essays to assist in my own writing, but he mentions authors that I have read recently (like W.G. Sebald who made last year's 2019 list), but he pointed me in the direction of Elizabeth Hardwick's  Sleepless Nights (1978) a peculiar but interesting read.  Dillon's book required 3 index cards of notes to properly document. (The index card system is for people who prefer stars and such to rate stuff.)

Nothing Ever Dies

Nguyen received a shoutout on the 2018 list for his amazing novel, The Sympathizer (2016), which led me to read earlier this year his collection of short stories, The Refugees, (2017), which did not disappoint. Not only does Nguyen give us a lesson in history and how it favors the victors, but he makes a recommendation for other books, such as Monique Truong's The Book of Salt (2003) which I am reading now.  The Book of Salt is about a Vietnamese peasant who learns the basics of French cooking in Vietnam and ends up in 1929 Paris cooking for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.  Nothing Ever Dies merited three index cards too.

Gravity's Rainbow

When rereading a book requires two to three months to read, and a special notebook and the formulation of a Gravity's Rainbow Support Group (GRSG) , it must be on the list. The GRSG did not disband and we have since read Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin (1953) and are finishing up Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death (1976) just in time for Christmas. The latter rates right up there with Albert Camus The Plague (1948) for not-so-light pandemic reading. By reading The Plague it should have tipped me off that these outbreaks can last a long time.

Farming While Black

This book qualifies because I spent more time at the community garden in 2020 and I did a pop up book stall called Destination: Books at the Freedom Farmer Market early in 2020. The book introduced me the Chelsea Green Publishing and I did end up carrying several of their books before going into a lockdown mode.  The book is a rare mix of the history of black farming, community activism, and how to grow better veggies. 

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Photo Credit: In 1969, I won a trophy for reading the most books in my 8th grade class, which required keeping a list of everything I read during the school year (so list making goes back to my childhood.) But what this further illustrates is that if you only win a few awards in your lifetime, you hang on to them.

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