Dang! Reading Charles Dickens is r---e---a---l---l---y s---l---o---w g---o---i---n---g, but I have finally finished
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which is not only slow—it's frustrating. I started the book with a sense of glee. "Dickens at only 224 pages? Wow!" Then gradually it sank in that he died while writing this book. Consequently I'll never ever know how he would have ended it.
I think the book made it on my unread shelf because a year ago another book called
Drood—I forget the author—was released to glowing reviews. How could I read
Drood without reading the original? I wondered. So, I read
The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Now it's obviously time to go buy
Drood, read it whenever, and find out if the whole Droodian thingy was a success.
The things I noticed while reading
The Mystery of Edwin Drood were bits of writing that impressed me, unfamiliar words, and language oddities (at least things I found odd IMHO). So we'll start:
Impressive bits:
1) Sometimes even Dickens can make me smile.
"Hah! I expected to see you older."
"I hope you will was the good-humored reply." (page 43)
2) "'Umps,' said Mr. Gregious, with a nod. But with such an extraordinary compromise between unqualified assent and a qualified dissent, that his visitor was much disconcerted." (page 92) I like ambiguous words. I think I'll start "umpsing." A lot.
3) You can't beat Dickens for naming characters, an opinion I was reminded of during a conversation held by Mr. Crisparkle, Mr. Honeythunder, and Minor Canon. (page 152)
4) Later in the story a Dick Datchery arrives, looking for lodging that is "venerable, architectural and inconvenient." He is assured by a waiter that "We have a good choice of inconvenient lodgings in the town." (page 163) Sure makes me want to take up residence. How 'bout you?
5) "'I beg pardon,' Mr. Datchery said, making a leg with his hat under his arm." (page 166) Say what? Help me out. Please.
6) It appears that Charles Dickens is not above a pun.
Surname Jasper. Christian name John. Mr. John Jasper.
Has he a calling, good gentleman?
Calling? Yes. Sings in the choir.
Spire?
Choir. What's that? (page 214)
Unfamiliar words:
1) Wittles. "And it (opium) takes away the hunger as well as the wittles." (page 2) Google sent me to a site which, in lieu of definitions (saying there weren't any), gave three sentences where wittles is substituted for vittles. (Same site also said "wittles" was not accepted in Scrabble, FYI.) And I guess that makes the quote make sense—if someone is buying opium, he won't have money for food. But not accepted in Scrabble? Sorry. That makes it not-a-word. Or an unword?
2) Acidulated. "No, I can't kiss you, because I have an acidulated drop in my mouth." (page 18) Dictionary.com*: To make somewhat acid, to sour." OK. Why? These days we work for not sour.
3) Esquimaux. "I have put my finger on the North Pole before now, and said, "Spear of Esquimaux make, for half a pint of pale sherry." (page 26) "a former spelling of Eskimo." Like that makes the sentence any clearer?
4) Tippet. "He had a scanty flat crop of hair, in colour and consistency like some mangy yellow fur tippet." (page 66) The point of a hood or the dangling part of a sleeve. Okay.
5) Forasmuch. "… forasmuch as it has engendered …" (page 81) I never consciously realized it was one word. More heard than read? Possibly.
6) Corbels. "… the corbels of the roof, …" (page 108) "any bracket, esp. one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent. ´ Okay.
7) Chip. "I was born a Chip, and have neither soft sympathies nor soft experiences." (page 95) Capitalized, I could find nothing. Anyone know anything?
8) Calenture. "A mild fit of calenture seizes hum." (page 108) "A violent fever with delirium" Doesn't sound mild to me. Is one allowed to argue with Dickens?
9) Boggling. Mr. Datchery, in search of his inconvenient lodging, "went bobbling about." (page 164) "To bungle; botch." Nice word. Glad to know it.
10) Farden. "I lay it out honest to the last brass farden." (page 215) No definition in either dictionary or wordnik. Sentences in the latter suggest it's an amount of money—which is pretty much what I assumed.
11) Calumniated. "Why should the young man be so calumniated?" (page 223) "to make false and malicious statements about; slander." Umps.
Language oddity: (Thought I'd noticed more. Oh, well.)
1) "… to compassionate somebody…" (page 193) Yep. Fourth definition is a verb, "to have compassion for." I don't think I've ever run into that usage before.
On second thought, maybe
The Mystery of Edwin Drood took so long to read because I kept running up against unfamiliar words. UMPS!
*All quoted definitions are from dictionary.com unless otherwise noted.
