Washington Monument (Places in American History (Dillon)) Book

"Umble we are, umble we have been, umble we shall ever be."

Okay. Every time I finish another Dickens novel, I claim it to be my most favourite Dickens. But this time I really mean it...Copperfield takes the brass ring with Our Mutual Friend coming close behind. This 1911 edition is only Volume 1 of Copperfield, but it was enough to climb to the top of the Dickens pile. Fantastic.

Peggotty and her buttons bursting off her clothing so that Davy the child remembers being able to find a trail back to his mother's cottage. Poor Mrs. Copperfield, so slight and so unprepared for Mr. Murdstone and his sister. Those horrible Murdstones with their metallic names, metallic outlooks, and metallic bags.

"What is before you, is a fight with the world; and the sooner you begin it, the better."

You're evil, Mr. Murdstone. And you sound like the French 'merde' because that's what you are! Mr. Barkis..."Barkis is willing". Mr. Peggotty and that boathouse on the beach. Good-natured Ham. Always hopeful Mr. Micawber. Evil Uriah Heep with those slimy hands. The uppity Steerforths. Cruel Creakle. Befuddled, kite-flying Mr. Dick.

"Franklin used to fly a kite. He was a Quaker, or something of that sort, if I am not mistaken. And a Quaker flying a kite is a much more ridiculous object than anybody else."

And best of all, Miss Betsey Trotwood. What a character! Her constant fights with the trespassing donkeys, her fervent belief that every dwelling in London would burn to the ground every night, her dressing down of the Murdstones, her practical attitude toward adversity (I thought of Maggie Smith, who perfectly embodied her).



This most personal of Dickens's books is not just his life story, but ours. When he notes: The silent gliding on of my existence - the unseen, unfelt progress of my life...isn't that all of us? In youth we approach life with a fire only to find the days grow shorter as daily life moves along, like a Dutch clock. We all matter, we all play a part, we all have our own adventures and travails. It takes a great author to put it all together.

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness."



"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

NOTE: To preserve my 104 year-old book, I covered it in some wrapping paper. Result - nonstop questions from people asking what the book was, where did I find it, etc. Now the hipsters at the cafe think paper is cool and a book club (with real books) has started. Dickens rules.



Book Season = Spring (elm trees whispering secrets)