Is anybody actually up to where we should be with this? I'm still way behind, although I have read at least a few of this weeks chapters which to be honest is bloody fantastic considering I've been studying like mad for my driving theory test (which I passed by the way, but to be honest I was ready to mock my own intelligence levels forever if I hadn't, so it's a bit of a relief!). I'm just past the bit where Sam visits his parents at the pub/hotel/couldn't quite decide what it is place, so yeah. Like, about nine chapters short of where I should be! I've left the book in the car so whether I get any more read tonight depends on my ability to be bothered to get up and go get it (and also on the speed with which I make button loops for a cardigan. So hmm)
I'm still quite enjoying it, but there's still lots more I feel a more pressing urge to pick up. I do kind of have to make myself read it to be honest, but I really like Sam Weller. His accent is a bit difficult at times but I love his readiness to rush in and defend Mr. Pickwick from whatever at any given time. I am getting a little bit annoyed with Mr. Pickwick's ability to get himself into stupid situations entirely without realising that he's pretty much responsible for them - I think Hanna said something similar last week, and the more I read the more annoying he gets. It's not a bit thing though, overall I'm still finding the characters pretty endearing and I like that familiar faces keep popping up from time to time.
I said to Rhys the other day that that whole thing we were mocking at the beginning of the readalong about how the novel's most noticeable for being a good study of the coaching houses of the period has actually turned out to be pretty interesting to be honest. Mostly because their coach journeys are way more interesting than any National Express trip I've ever taken!
I can't remember if it was this week or last week's chapters which I read this week, probably last, but honestly what were they doing letting Mr. Winkle near a gun again?? And how have they now been swindled twice by Mr. Jingle?! I'm very glad they've got even with him, to be honest I could do without him for the rest of the novel!
Come on, guys, we're more than half way through now, we can do this! *cheers*
*Picks up Charlotte and drags her through the next two weeks* :-p (sorry for victimizing you a bit Charlotte!)
I'm up-to-date - just posted this week's update.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really getting on with this, to be honest. In my defence, my OCD can't deal with the way Sam speaks, which sounds like a cop-out but actually isn't. He makes me want to cry and throw up at the same time, literally!
Congratulations on your theory test - a surprising amount of people fail the hazard perception, so allow yourself to be at least a little proud :)
Thanks :-) I'm quite proud to be honest, although I have already passed it once and then failed my practical and didn't drive again for five years, so yeah...
DeleteDamn Sam and his silly speaking! (But you're fine with how Mr. Jingle speaks? I can't handle him, so disjointed!!)
I feel like I'm going to constantly subject us to annual Dickens hating just because there's just enough in these books that I enjoy to make me feel like it's worth it :-/
Oh, I knew quite a few people that did that. Understandable though - I REALLY didn't want to ever drive again after I failed the first time.
DeleteNo, I'm absolutely not fine with Mr Jingle's speaking! I just don't LIKE it, it doesn't stress me out. I tend to skim his parts, to be honest, but that just means I have no idea what's going on!
Well, we DO sign up for these things so we only have ourselves to blame!
I hate how both Mr Jingle and Sam speak, and I skim Mr Jingle's parts too. I was reading them really carefully at first but still not really being able to figure out what he was on about, so I gave up, haha.
DeleteI'm up to date too! I completely get why people wouldn't be though. If it weren't for the fact that my husband is working stupidly late recently so I end up on my own a lot in the evenings, I think I would be having huge problems keeping up.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on passing your theory test!
I am all caught up, but I was speed-reading and probably didn't catch all of the satire that Dickens intended for me to catch. (Congrats on passing the driving theory test, by the way!)
ReplyDeleteAh, and you got the part I found most infuriating - I can't understand Sam's father at all. I have to read each sentence like three times to decipher what he's trying to say!
I'm so far behind now I'm basically not even readalonging any more - except I AM, because I'm still reading and loving the book, just a week and a half behind where I should be. Whatever happens I'm going to consider this readalong a success for me, because I probably wouldn't have picked up TPP for a few years yet without Dickens in December, and I'm enjoying it so much even if I'm enjoying it SLOWER. So thank you. :D
ReplyDeleteP.S. If you ever have trouble with dialect in a novel, VOCALISE. Our English teacher taught us that and it works for everything from Chaucer's Middle English to Toni Morrison's deep south to Emily Bronte's Yorkshire servants. So, for Sam and Jingle, pretend you're on Eastenders, basically. You'll be fine.
The vocalizing tip is neat! Tried it - ended up getting a stitch in my side from laughing so hard. I sound so ridiculous and heinously inaccurate!
DeleteOh yeah, that happens. I live every day in mortal fear that someone will come in and overhear me doing it, but it's about the only way I can focus on a book sometimes! I'm normally pretty good at accents, but the other day I was reading one of the Cockney parts and I swear I managed to hit Scottish AND Welsh in a single paragraph. >:)
DeleteUgh. This book. It makes me want to cry, throw things and hurt others, all at the same time. I *may* have stopped reading it altogether and you should know that I do feel bad about it! I just can't bear to be reading it anymore :| I liked A Tale of Two Cities after the first section or so. The Pickwick Papers? Rubbish. And dull.
ReplyDeleteThank you for making me start this book and realise just how much it and I do not get on :)
Much, much respect to the rest of you still reading!