In the previous installment, Dickens hit us with the mother (or should I say the father?) of all coincidences. This week, read chapters 77 and 78.
I’d like to take the opportunity to express my admiration for chapter 76, in which Hugh, Dennis and Barnaby are prepared for hanging. The writing is powerful, the scene is dramatic, and Hugh in particular comes across as the most subtly drawn villian in any Dickens novel. I’m not surprised Hugh faces death with courage, but I do find it quite remarkable that he spends his last moments expressing regret for leading Barnaby to the same fate and bringing sorrow to Mrs. Rudge, and also trying to find a home for his dog. To draw a (perhaps inappropriate) parallel with Dickens’ other historical novel, it’s almost as astonishing as it would be to witness Madame Manette express regret for sending Charles Darnay to the guillotine because of the grief it caused Lucie.
Please excuse the Freudian slip. I meant to write Madame Defarge.
Welcome to the blog! I will definitely be posting lots of thoughts as it airs, and other commenters might too,…
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Oh hi, I was just scrolling by and came across your blog 🙂 Hope you’ll be posting your thoughts on…
He did an audiobook of A Christmas Carol too.
Yes — wouldn’t it be just lovely if Jaggers was exposed as a fraud/fixer/defaulting trustee etc.? He could be packed…
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