September 1968 and my first term at high school. Mr Ashcroft, our almost retired English teacher, decided that we should read ‘A Tale of two Cities’ by Charles Dickens. I didn’t have a problem reading the words, but there was an enormous problem for the class to understand the meaning of the story. Prior to this I had been an avid reader - of anything Enid Blyton wrote, so I’m sure you can imagine my dilemma. I can’t remember (well it is a long time ago!) either discussing or writing anything about the book. All we did was ‘read it round the class’ a paragraph at a time. How not to do it!
Mr Ashcroft was, I’m sure, asleep in the corner. His very presence in the room was enough to maintain perfect order. That, and the ‘slipper’ he kept on his desk. Just in case…
I didn’t understand the book then, and I haven’t been tempted to read it since!
Anyway, I digress. The subject of my post should more accurately be ‘A Tale of Two Rooms’. Over the past week my nest has been rearranged.
Rhiannon is back living at home, albeit in a different bedroom, while she looks round for a suitable house to buy. Her room is smaller than her old room but does have the benefit of an adjacent shower room! Yesterday she started her new job, much closer to home, so won’t have the best part of two hours travelling each day.
Tom is back at Lancaster University Colorado and Japan
We are hoping that the coming year will be happy and successful for them both. Perhaps I can quote selectively from Charles Dickens with the opening lines of 'A Tale of Two Cities' …
It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us…
Lovely to be young and looking forward to new opportunities.
ReplyDeleteNot so bad to be ancient and looking forward to them either...
Dickens was my father's favourite author, but he leaves me cold...too many grotesques and simpering females.
I totally agree, Fly.
DeleteI don't enjoy Dickens as an author, either.
Although I have enjoyed some of the stage adaptations
We read Great Expectations in the same way and I absolutely hated it. Years later I read it for myself and thought it was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI too wish Rhiannon and Tom happy and successful times ahead.
Thanks, Tracey.
DeleteI don't think we ever read it - if we did it was obviously not very memorable. If you cut and pasted the last words in, the background will change to what was on the original. You need to remove all formatting first. Or that is what I have done in the past. Keep well Diane
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane.
DeleteI tried to do what you suggested and the formatting changed, not to what I wanted, but it is better.
I always found Dickens rather dark and heavy going, a bit scary in fact. Shakespeare, on the other hand was great fun - you would think it should be the other way round.
ReplyDeleteHaving no children I can only imagine how proud you must feel about your two. They seem like the sort of kids I would have wanted, had I ever wanted any.
Thanks Jean.
DeleteWe are proud of them, but really all we want is for them to be happy and fulfilled.
I have the idea that I've read all of Dickens, but of course, I haven't, I've just watched all the TV adaptations over the years. I suspect I've never even opened one of the novels. Hope all goes well with the children's new settings...my daughter moved into her new flat this week, thought all she could see out of her bedroom window, was the car park....she lifted her eyes and found she has a spectacular view of the Protestant cathedral in Liverpool. I guess, moving into somewhere called Cathedral campus might have been a clue !
ReplyDeleteHi Janice,
DeleteHope your daughter is settling in. You can see that Tom's view is only of a car park. A cathedral would be a bonus! He brought his car back home today as he isn't allowed a parking permit. The fees are an extortionate £5 per day to park in the dorm car park!
Time does fly ... It seems like yesterday that you wrote about Tom leaving for Japan and buying gifts for the 'inlaws'. He looks fantastic in that photo; so I guess he had a great time! :) Martine
ReplyDeleteHi Martine,
DeleteTom had a fantastic time in Japan and is already putting a CV together to return when he finishes Uni. Still, I suspect a lot of hard work has to be done before he graduates!
I can honestly say I read all the Dickens novels! READ - past tense. UNDERSTOOD - nay. I was not yet 10. They were the only set of books in the house and for a long time the only books! Printed by a deceased relative. I have to confess that when I moved to France they moved elsewhere in the box where they had lived for many years with their smell! I do feel guilty! Film adaptations are better.
ReplyDeleteSo glad your "grown ups" are doing well and hope that they enjoy their independence and newly found opportunities as well as you and Tim enjoy yours!
Sounds like I'm in a minority here but Dickens is one of my favourite authors! I read him a lot when I was young and have re-read a few recently - in fact, I specifically dug him out of our still-packed boxes in the north of Spain this summer for my son to read. They can be a tad complex of plot but I love the detail.
ReplyDeleteI think you will like having your daughter back at home for a while, won't you? And it's such a lovely photo of Tom - I would say he definitely looks happy. Good job.
Axxx
'Good job' as in 'you have done' - not 'good job he looks happy'! Axxx
DeleteI do not have a clue what I read at 11/12. It must have made a great impression on me. However, I remember well uni and my first job. Happy days!
ReplyDeleteMy English teacher said she hated Dickens up to the age of 40, when she read "Bleak House". I never coped with his books at school, but I read Bleak House when my then partner had to study it when doing an Open University course, and it really gripped me. Give it a try! Pauline
ReplyDelete