The Artful Dickens by John Mullan
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I just finished The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist by John Mullan. I love Dickens, and this book gave me so much joy. Mullan provides a brilliant survey of various creative literary devices and themes common in the work of Charles Dickens. Each chapter is about a different "trick and ploy" found throughout the novels. Topics include the use of present vs. past tense to create tension (an innovation at the time), foreshadowing ("foreseeing"), humor juxtaposed with dark themes, speech, character names, ghosts, drowning, and what Mullan calls "fantasizing"--the similes, metaphors and "as if"/"as though" phrases found everywhere in the novels. He cites specific examples from the texts.
Just one of the many interesting stories was how Dickens as a young adult was fascinated by a London entertainer named Charles Mathews, who was a brilliant imitator. Dickens himself loved to imitate and mimic people's speech and mannerisms, and worked hard to make his written speech and details of each of his characters immediately recognizable and discernable from other characters. This book makes me want to go back and read all of the novels again, even the ones I didn't like as well, just to experience his amazing writing techniques.
Just one of the many interesting stories was how Dickens as a young adult was fascinated by a London entertainer named Charles Mathews, who was a brilliant imitator. Dickens himself loved to imitate and mimic people's speech and mannerisms, and worked hard to make his written speech and details of each of his characters immediately recognizable and discernable from other characters. This book makes me want to go back and read all of the novels again, even the ones I didn't like as well, just to experience his amazing writing techniques.
