Nicholas and Anne

I'm a little further along in Nicholas Nickleby; as with most classics, the more I read of a certain author, the more I appreciate them. I didn't have much to say about Great Expectations when I read it in high school, but I wound up coming around to David Copperfield and now I'm just solidly enjoying NN (I am still alternating between 100 pages of that at a time and my books for my summer book camp*, because I do need to make it through those by mid-August and I want to be sure I do that).

*I want to interrupt myself here to mention that today I finished Karuna Riazi's middle grade fantasy/adventure The Gauntlet for that aforementioned book camp (did I post a list of all the books earlier in the summer or did I just think about doing that?). I think my hopes might have been a little high. I'd place it in the same category as Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein - I like the idea and I think 5th and 6th graders will enjoy it, but I was completely underwhelmed by the craft of it. Farah is really the only character that is developed and I didn't feel like there was a lot of suspense in the plot. I know it was inspired by Jumanji and I can see it making an entertaining movie, but it really left me cold. It's from Simon & Schuster's new imprint Salaam Reads, which is focused on children's and YA books about Muslim characters and that is awesome (and I do think that aspect of this book is well-done), but I'm hoping for better. I will say that another of their books, Amina's Voice by Hena Khan, is also on our summer list and that one was very good. 

Okay! That went longer than intended. Back to Nicholas Nickleby! I've been thinking, during Nicholas' spell at Dotheboys (which just ended - and what an exit!), about noted Dickens fan Anne Shirley. The Dickens book I remember her reading was Pickwick, but I bet she dug this one too. After all, Nicholas is a teacher, just like her. Of course, Anne would have taken a very different approach to Dotheboys - where Nicholas just suffered and then exploded, Anne would have expended a tremendous effort to turn it into a proper school and would probably have won over at least the younger Wackford Squeers. I suspect Smike would have wound up adoring her, although I suspect he was bound to follow anyone that showed him even the tiniest bit of kindness. I'm glad Nicholas is willing to keep him around.

Austen and Defoe and Dickens and DeVos

1. It's the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death. The Atlantic has a little series of articles about her work going and I got caught up in reading favorite Austen quotes, at which point I was reminded that I had shared some great Austen (P&P) quotes here long ago. They're still great, so here they are again:

"She had dressed with more than usual care, and prepared in the highest spirits for the conquest of all that remained unsubdued of his heart, trusting that it was not more than might be won in the course of an evening."

"Is not general incivility the very essence of love?"

2. Man, it does not feel like it has been 3-ish weeks since I read Moll Flanders, but apparently it has been. This summer is going fast and I don't particularly appreciate it. Anywho, it was better than I expected! I can see why it was popular back in the day - it's quite scandalous. I also decided that if I ever take up roller derby, I'm claiming Maul Flanders as my derby name.

3. I've hit the Dickens. Given that this summer is moving so quickly, I may not make it out of Dickens by the end of August, but for the time being, I'm keeping my focus on Nicholas Nickleby. Nicholas has just seen the reality of Dotheboys, which brings me to...

4. I know that I keep talking about the way our current political reality keeps creeping into my reading material (which should be an escape), but I remain amazed by how frequently it happens (I read Corelli's Mandolin somewhere between Moll and Nicholas and the Mussolini stuff hit home). Reading about Dotheboys is so much harder in light of Betsy DeVos' desire to subsidize sketchy charter and private schools and limit oversight of said schools because people like Wackford Squeers exist (Dickens talks in his preface about them as a class of people) and they will see nothing but opportunity in DeVos' vision of the future of education. The DOE and government regulations exist to protect children against the Squeerses of the world, not empower the Squeerses.