Mesmerised by a master storyteller
I HOPE anyone reading the review of A. N. Wilson’s book The Mystery Of Charles Dickens, released to mark the 150th anniversary of his death, will not be put off the novels of this literary genius, who has given me more joy and pleasure than any other author. Like most of us, Dickens was flawed, but as he said in his last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend: ‘No man knows till the time comes what depths are within him. To some men it never comes; let them rest and be thankful!’ Am I being mischievous that I thought of MPs when I read A. N. Wilson’s description of Dickens as a man ‘intensely occupied with concealment — and with subterfuge and falsification’? Dickens was undeniably a superb storyteller who exposed all the flagrant hypocrisies and cruelties of his age and created a gallery of characters — such as Bumble, Heep and Quilp — that are so colourful you feel you know them as real people. If you have never experienced the joy of Dickens, and are looking for a good read at this time when you may have more leisure time at your disposal, try David Copperfield, Great Expectations or Oliver Twist. My favourite Dickens novel is Martin Chuzzlewit. The Mail has covered many a financial scandal, but if you want an insight into the first Ponzi scheme in literature, read about the inner workings of Tigg Montague’s
Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. Confidence trickster Tigg even offers you gratuitous advice in the event of the fraud being exposed: ‘Bolt!’ Bamboozled by the complexity of the financial world? Get a basic insight into the economics of practical value to your daily life from Mr Micawber in David Copperfield. The hopelessly improvident optimist who ends up in a debtor’s prison will be of invaluable assistance with the following recipe for financial happiness: ‘Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds], nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six: result misery.’ So forgive the incomparable storyteller his many shortcomings and enter into the magical world of Charles Dickens to be enraptured.
PETER HENRICK, Dickens Fellowship, Birmingham. THE review of the latest Dickens biography shed light on the fact that as a 12-year-old, he worked in a factory sticking labels on jars for ten hours a day. Even though Dickens later had two more years of education, leaving school at an early age was the norm in the Victorian era. It still was in 1912 when my father’s schooling finished. He walked a round trip of 12 miles each day to school and despite receiving an education for only seven years, eventually became chairman of an international company. His grasp of English was superb and he never made a grammatical error. We need to take a hard look at what has gone wrong with the education system since then when some pupils are emerging at 16 barely literate and unable to string a sentence together.
HEATHER SPINK, Heathfield, E. Sussex.