Charles Dickens

As a kid, reading was instilled in me and my sisters as the most important thing ever. Besides my dad saying cooking was. As a very young child, I remember my Mema (grandma) reading to me. I would always pick a book out of her massive collection, as she is a retired school teacher, and beg her to read to me. When I was old enough to have learned how to read, I remember grabbing a book and coming to sit in her lap and asking her to read to me to only be met with disappointment. She knew I could read!

Every summer, my sisters and I spent a few weeks with my grandparents in Arkansas. Mema would sign us up for the free library program, where they had prizes for the top readers of the summer. We spent our summers…and school days… reading. Sounds exciting, huh? Well, Mike always tells me he is jealous that I can read so much and so fast. I don't think its that impressive. Seems pretty boring to me. I would rather have been able to be an awesome skateboarder and be able to pick up athletic activities quickly and amazingly like Mike can. Or even have been able to be even remotely decent on a video game or been in a dance class or been remotely decent in anything that is impressive and exciting as a child to carry me through being an adult. But libraries were free.

Mike says that my reading has gotten me this far in my life, to have finished college and be in a promising career. I can't be completely negative about my "great" ability to read. When I was in my early teens I remember reading Charles Dickens "Little Dorrit". Though I don't remember the whole book or probably did not pick up the underlying themes at the time, the book is written in a way like no other. The man lived in the 1800s and writes very weird to our standards. I'm surprised I even understood his words at such a young age. Recently I "picked up" a couple free books for my free Kindle App on my Iphone of Charles Dickens. 

Of course for Christmas, I read the famous story of "A Christmas Carol". I have watched many versions of the movie, but to actually read the book is an inspiration in itself. By the peculiar words Dickens uses, you can feel the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge instead of just see it. My favorite quote right now comes from this book:

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour."

The way Charles Dickens writes can be the most annoying or most insightful to someone. Its so plain and clearly points to the culture of his day. There are also underlying themes to most of his stories. For instance, in "A Christmas Carol" the children at the spirit's feet names' were Ignorance and Want. On pages 778-781, this showed that you are responsible for not holding on to these characteristics for yourself. I'm glad I rediscovered the comical views and writing style of Charles Dickens once more.

Next on the agenda is reading "A Tale of Two Cities" with the famous intro to the book: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...