Did you know Charles Dickens released each of his novels in weekly or monthly installments?

That doesn’t mean the author of Great Expectations and David Copperfield invented the concept of serialization, but it seems he popularized it. (According to my online chums at the Facebook -based Folio Society Books fan club, Stephen King picked up the practice for several of his book releases more than a century later.)

Sure enough, Dickens‘ release schedules are available online, so this month I got started on Bleak House (recommended highly by my brother Harry).

Book 1: Bleak House (chapters 1-4) by Charles Dickens

It will take 20 months to read this tome in installments. By then, I plan to have muscular wrists, as Bleak House is 850 pages long! I can’t help but wonder if this length scares off many modern readers.

The first four chapters are intriguing, as a variety of characters and situations are introduced. Lordy, that man could write!

Maybe we’ll come back and talk about Bleak House again in September of 2024, when the final page is turned. Please join this process if you’d like to experience this very controlled, sustained method of reading a Dickens novel.

Book 2: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I first “met” Jane when I was 10 or so (1968) at a Catholic grade school.

Sacred Heart Elementary had just added a “library” (basically a converted broom closet, but still …).

There was one set of books available to 4-6 graders and another for 7-8 graders. I wanted to read Jane Eyre, but was told it was reserved for the older girls. Sister Mary Soandso told me to pick out a more age-appropriate book.

I asked about Jane each week – because no one ever checked it out! But no, I wasn’t old enough to read such a big book. Essentially, I was banned from reading “Jane Eyre.”

Eventually, my mom checked it out for me from the town library and I read it in a few days. This was at least my third time reading it and it’s still fascinating, horrifying, and wonderful.

Book 3: Two more Potter books

Not Harry, silly – Beatrix!

Grandson Cameron (who turns 11 tomorrow) read them with me last time he was here for an overnight, and wrote up a brief commentary:

The Tale of Tom Kitten: There were three kittens: Mittens, Moppet, and the naughty one, Tom Kitten. Set on a walk, they must avoid stuff, including the Puddle-Ducks. Guess who’s in the duck group! Jemima Puddle-Duck!

The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit: The bad rabbit steals the good rabbit’s carrot, meanwhile, a hunter spots the bunny mistaking it for a silly duck. The hunter shoots the bunny, and he loses his tail and whiskers. He deserves it!

Your (grand)child truly-
Cameron W.

Book 4: Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O’Reilly

Gary gifted this Irish memoir to me on (when else?) St. Patrick’s Day.

And of course he read it first.

It’s the tragic story of the death of the author’s mother. She left behind 11 children, some of them quite young.

Mom would say this book brings forth many examples of “Holy Laughter.” Through the tears (and through The Troubles), this huge and heartbroken family somehow manages to live their lives, often with smiles on their faces. As Mammy would have wanted them to.

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I may have to stay up till midnight to read the next installment of Bleak House. It will be interesting to discover if Mr. Dickens also perfected the “cliffhanger” in his serial writing.

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