The Bookhive List: 'Little Dorrit' by Charles Dickens

Last year I made an effort to read one Dickens novel per month -- I made it to June, which was my Little Dorrit month, and then I ran out of Dickens novels under 800+ pages, so that resolution fell apart completely. However, I definitely accomplished my goal, which was just to get better acquainted with an author I had somehow managed to dodge through all of high school and college, and who up to that point I thought I hated. I still don't love Dickens, and some of his books were painful at times, to finish, but I really loved Little Dorrit. Happy endings were had by all the characters I cared about, there was plenty of mystery and suspense and creepy Victorian weirdness, and many moments of comic relief, including one of the best descriptions of the British colonial government and its bureacracy I've ever read. It is definitely an under-appreciated DIckens novel, and if you're feeling lazy, check out the Masterpiece Classic version, starring Clare Foy (Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, which speaks to her enormous skill as an actress in that she manages to play both women incredibly well). 

The Bookhive List is a weekly recommendation of my all-time favorite, must-read books.

What I'm Reading: 'How to Be a Victorian' by Ruth Goodman

This made an appearance on NPR's Best Books of 2014 (which is my go-to place for book recommendations), and I hinted heavily that I wanted it for Christmas, but my friends and family, who are the blog's only dedicated readers, missed the hint, so I had to get it at the library like a friendless orphan. This doesn't change the fact that it is funny, insightful, and a really terrific approach to history. I'm so much more interested in history books that deal in domestic life rather than sweeping military conflicts, and this is infinitely satisfying. Ruth Goodman's approach is to structure the book around the chronology of a typical day, and her meticulous research is interrupted by her hilarious insertions of personal experience -- because she's been a history consultant for historic estates, she has done most of these activities, exactly as the Victorians did them. So when she describes using the indoor privy or brushing her teeth with cardamom or walking with a hoop skirt, she is actually talking about personal experience. The funniest thing about it is how many Victorian practices, especially in regard to personal hygiene, are becoming popular again -- every woman I know is smearing coconut oil on her split ends, which is precisely what women were doing 150 years ago. This book also makes a great companion to a good Victorian novel, like Dickens or Disraeli.

 

Books About Dads...

Happy early Father's Day. I didn't bother doing a Mother's Day post this year, because aren't all books about mothers, in the end? But books about dads are harder to come by, so here is a round-up of some dad books (Note: these are books about fatherhood, but not necessarily for fathers}.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee -- Duh. But Harper Lee has really been on my mind and in the news a lot lately, so it might be time for a revisit of this one, featuring small-town lawyer/civil rights advocate dad Atticus Finch.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman -- Featuring two dads, equally terrible: weirdly Lyra's relationship with her actual father is much better when she believes he's her uncle, and by the time she figures it out, he's abandoned her to go destroy his own (metaphorical) father, God, who is not so great either. Daddy/patriarchal issues run amok all over this series. Also, moms don't fare so well either.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel -- Recent Tony-award winner for Best Musical and a really terrific/depressing graphic memoir about Bechdel's relationship with her father, a closeted-gay man married to a woman, who may or may not have committed suicide. 

Hard Times by Charles Dickens -- A Victorian novel in which a dad tells his kids what to do and basically ruins everything, their lives and his, and then regrets it bitterly. A real big-time bummer in the dad department.

The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx -- The story focuses on Quoyle's evolving identity as he moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland, but I found his relationship with his two daughters to be the highlight of the book, especially because their names are Bunny and Sunshine.

Absalom, Absalom!  by William Faulkner -- In which weird, incestuous patriarchal issues abound! 

I'm noticing that these are mostlybooks about terrible fathers, which is odd because my dad is really wonderful. If you can think of any books about good dads, feel free to suggest them in the comments section.