As my mother was an English teacher, I grew up in a house filled with books, many of them the classics by the likes of Dickens, Thackeray, the Bronte sisters and others. Yet I have to confess that I have rarely read any of Charles Dickens' books.
I decided a few years ago that it was time to rectify that oversight. What prompted me was watching the wonderful 2008 BBC Series of Little Dorrit. It had so many well known British actors and was a masterpiece of production. I immediately went out and bought a recent paperback edition of the book. It then sat on the shelf for a few years before I finally bit the bullet in 2018 and read it. Then I watched the BBC production again just to complete the process.
A bit of a summary:
The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew.
The novel satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens’ own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.
It is truly one of Dickens' great dark novels. And what a treat it was. Subsequent reads of further Dickens classics made me realise a number of things
- The power of his prose is unsurpassed. His knowledge of the English language and all its nuances makes one's breath catch.
- The plot is complex, with many initially unlinked people and circumstances and caricatures and mysteries, all coming together late in the book in a magnificent way.
This book is filled with its fair share of sinister or unsavoury characters, some more so than others - Mr Casby, Blandois, Mrs General, Flintwinch and Henry Gowan.
Ever wondered where the idea of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme came from. Look no further than the character Mr Merdle who at least has the good grace to commit suicide as his world falls down around him. And what a wonderful thing the Circumlocution Office is!
Like most of Dickens books, the upper class are shown poorly, while the lowly class produce the true heroes.
You can't help but laugh and cry in equal parts. The end is truly wonderful and makes for a fitting end to what has been a long tale.
George Bernard Shaw considered Little Dorrit to be Dickens’s “masterpiece among many masterpieces”. Who am I to disagree.
Five stars!!
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