Marianne Murphy Zarzana
  • Home
  • Writing in This Moment: Blog
  • Poets & Writers I Read
  • Poem Gallery

Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens

2/7/2011

0 Comments

 
Before I read any novels by Charles Dickens, one of my most vivid movie memories as a child was watching the classic version of David Copperfield in black and white. A favorite line: "Barkis is willing." Barkis, one of the characters, kept sending a message through David to Clara Peggotty, the maid of David's mother, indicating he was willing to marry Clara. Such a low‐key way of expressing the desire to marry.

In Mrs. Sumpter's English class at Thornridge High School, Dolton, Illinois, I remember the intensity of reading A Tale of Two Cities. Over the years I've enjoyed reading A Christmas Carol, watching many versions of it including A Muppet's Christmas Carol, and giving a speech on it for my Toastmaster's group. When we lived in Pennsylvania, one of our theatrical friends presented an amazing one‐man show of A Christmas Carol in his living room to the delight of friends and neighbors.

Recently my husband and I watched the recent Masterpiece Theatre version of Little Dorrit. Such terrific, three‐dimensional characters—the underdogs you cheer on such as Amy and Arthur, the villains whose world finally crashes down on them, and the ones like Mrs. Clennam who surrender their pride and become truly human even as they take their last breath. 

Which novel is your favorite? Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend? When we took a group of Global Studies students from Southwest Minnesota State University to England, we made a pilgrimage to Dicken's home in Portsmouth. From that humble beginning, such a gifted writer, so many stories still being told today almost two hundred years after his birth (1812). I'm sure they're planning all kinds of anniversary celebrations next year in the UK. Since my husband is a Victorian literature specialist, we'll probably have our own celebration—far from Dicken's England on the prairie in Marshall, Minnesota.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    I love to play with words. To capture moments on the page. To explore the physical and spiritual geography of what I call "fly-over country." I write from imagination, observation and my own experience of wandering in fly-over country--the literal, physical spaces of my life on the Minnesota prairie and the inner territory of the soul. 

    I teach writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. I enjoy cooking and traveling with my husband Jim, reading, practicing yoga, playing tennis, biking, hiking and gardening.

    Archives

    December 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    October 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Blogroll
    Arts Beat
    A Year of Being Here
    Bearded Vegan
    Becky's Blog
    Better World Books
    Birth Breasts and Beyond
    Carrie Etter
    Christine Stewart-Nunez
    Dana Yost
    Heroic Yes! Productions
    James A. Zarzana
    Landing on Cloudy Water
    Nicole Helget
    No Ideas But in Things
    Story Guru
    The Marsco Saga
    Write Right

    Categories

    All
    African American Writers
    African-American Writers
    American Life In Poetry
    Awp
    Dance
    Family
    Favorite Poems
    Favorite Writing Blogs
    Global Studies
    Good Articles
    Good Articles About Writing
    Good Blogs
    Good Books
    Good Essays
    Good Movies
    Good Plays
    Good Poems
    Good Quotes
    Good Video Clips
    Guerilla Art
    International News
    International Writers
    Irish Writers
    James A. Zarzana
    Libraries
    Literary Awards
    Literary Journals
    Mankato
    Memoir
    Mindfulness
    Minneapolis
    Minnesota Public Radio
    Minnesota State University-Mankato
    Mnsu
    Msu
    National Public Radio
    Nd
    Notre Dame
    Poetry Foundation
    Public Art Projects
    Publishing Resources
    Readings
    Shameless Plug
    Shameless Plugs
    Smsu
    Storytelling
    Ted Kooser
    Websites
    Writer
    Writer's Almanac
    Writers I Read
    Writing About Family
    Writing About Food
    Writing About Music
    Writing About Words
    Writing And Community
    Writing And Faith
    Writing And Politics
    Writing And Romance
    Writing And Sexuality
    Writing And Sports
    Writing And Teaching
    Writing And Technology
    Writing Contest
    Writing Groups
    Writing Prompts
    Writing Workshops
    Yoga
    Young Readers
    Young Writers

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.