Dickensblog

Contact

Guess that quote!

Categories:

Who's up for a game? I'll give you a Dickens quote, and the first person to guess (in the comment section) which book it came from gets to give the next quote. Let's see how long we can keep it going.

I'll start with a pretty easy one (at least I think it's easy!).

"'Ahoy! Bless your eyes, here's old Bill Barley. Here's old Bill Barley,
bless your eyes. Here's old Bill Barley on the flat of his back, by the
Lord. Lying on the flat of his back, like a drifting old dead flounder,
here's your old Bill Barley, bless your eyes. Ahoy! Bless you.'"

Responses

  1. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    Arg! It’s so familiar!

    Reply
  2. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    Please may we have a hint?? 🙂

    Reply
  3. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    Okay, it’s a book from Dickens’ earlier period – everything before the midpoint book of David Copperfield. 🙂 (Sorry, I think I picked one that was too obscure…)

    Reply
  4. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    Early and somewhat obscure . . . I’m going to go with “Barnaby Rudge.”

    Reply
  5. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    No – since I think this is the third guess, I’ll go ahead and tell what book it was from – Oliver Twist!
    Here’s another:
    “Professionally he declines and falls, and as a friend he drops into poetry. “

    Reply
  6. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    I was just about to guess Oliver when I read your comment here. Honestly I was. 🙂
    Oliver isn’t obscure, but the quote is. I knew it was familiar, though. I haven’t read Oliver in a couple years.
    This new one is “Our Mutual Friend,” Mr. Boffin talking about Mr. Wegg. (Can we make it a rule that we have to say who’s saying the quote, if it’s dialogue?)
    “It’s a weakness in our family, so of course I can’t be blamed for it. Your grandmama, [name of character], was exactly the same–precisely. The lest excitement, the slightest surprise–she fainted away directly.”

    Reply
  7. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    I think it’s Pickwick Papers…

    Reply
  8. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    Nope.

    Reply
  9. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    Is it Nicholas Nickleby?

    Reply
  10. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    Yes, it is. Silly old Mrs. Nickleby.

    Reply
  11. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    ^ ^
    I was THINKING it was her! I said Pickwick first, though, because the quote reminded me of Tupman’s love interest, lol.
    Okay, here we go!
    “Not to put too fine a point upon it….”

    Reply
  12. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    A Christmas Carol? It sounds a bit like something at the beginning.

    Reply
  13. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    No (I’m hoping it’s not too short a quote!). Just so you know, it’s not narration, it’s dialogue. 🙂

    Reply
  14. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    “Great Expectations”?

    Reply
  15. Nibs Avatar
    Nibs

    No…(but a bit closer!)

    Reply
  16. Marian Avatar
    Marian

    Bleak House! Mr Snagsby! Poor guy…
    Here’s one; though I’m afraid you’d recognise it instantly if you happened to read my blog post where I quoted it. 😛
    “No man of sense who has been generally improved, and has improved himself, can be called quite uneducated as to anything.”

    Reply
  17. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    Daniel Doyce in “Little Dorrit”!
    “‘Twas ever thus–from childhood’s hour I’ve seen my fondest hopes decay, I never loved a tree or flower but ’twas the first to fade away; I never nursed a dear Gazelle, to glad me with its soft black eye, but when it came to know me well, and love me, it was sure to marry a market-gardener.”

    Reply
  18. Christy Avatar
    Christy

    That’s a truly funny and truly pathetic (as in pathos) quote, just like Dickens. No idea where it’s from.

    Reply
  19. Marian Avatar
    Marian

    I think I read the “nursed a dear Gazelle” part in Heir of Redclyffe, but I’m not sure which Dickens it’s from. Dombey and Son?

    Reply
  20. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    You’re right that the character is quoting (or rather, misquoting) from somewhere else! But he’s actually quoting Thomas More.
    It’s not “Dombey and Son.” Here’s a hint: It’s a book that has not yet been quoted in this thread. Mentioned, but not quoted.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to GinaCancel reply

Search
Latest Posts
Latest Comments
Post Categories

Discover more from Dickensblog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading