Author Topic: Last Dickens, The ~ Matthew Pearl ~ October Book Club Online (Read 63626 times)

ALF43 · « **Reply #80 on:** October 04, 2009, 08:40:55 PM »

The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Click register at the top of the page to create a username and password so that you can post messages in the discussions here on SeniorLearn.

Welcome! Everyone is invited!

We are happy to announce that the author, Matthew Pearl, is joining us in the discussion of his latest novel, "The Last Dickens," as he did with his "Poe Story" and "The Dante Club.

Matthew's literary fiction picks up where Dickens left off in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." The story of the fate of Edwin Drood is a mystery within a mystery. When young Edwin disappears after dinner on Christmas Eve and his watch and chain are later found in the nearby river, everyone suspects foul play. Could one of Edwin’s acquaintances have murdered him – and, if so, what could their motive be? Tragically, the mystery is destined never to be truly solved, as Dickens died before he could finish this novel – all that is left are the clues that can be found in the completed chapters.

Pearl sends a partner of Dickens’ American publisher, James Osgood, to the Dickens' estate in England where we meet the "fugitives" from the characters of Dickens' novel. Is Edwin Drood dead or alive? Was he killed by his uncle, John Jasper? Or did he somehow escape that fate, possibly to return later? We are anticipating more intrigue as Pearl's fictional characters search for answers in the author's well-researched fiction.

Chapter discussion schedule

October 1-6: First Installment ~ Chapters 1-10 ~ June, 1870
*October 7-10: Second Installment ~ Chapters 11-17 ~ November, 1867
October 11-13: Third Installment ~ Chapters 18-22
October 14-16: Fourth Installment ~ Chapters 23-26
October 17-28: Fifth Installment ~ Chapters 27-37
October 29-31: Sixth Installment ~ Chapter 40

Discussion Leaders: JoanP, Andy

Some topics for discussion Oct. 7-10 : Chapters 11-17, November, 1867:

1. Can you recall another author creating such rock star excitement as Dickens did in his American tour in 1867? Why was he here? Was this a book tour?

2. Have you ever read Dickens' Nicholas Niclesby? Did you notice William Thackery's rhyme on Nichlesby at the start of the Second Installment? Why do you think it was placed here?

3. Do you have any idea why Dickens receive such negative press, yet the public's adulation?

4. Did you notice that screw in Dickens' walking stick? Do you think it was common at this time to use walking sticks as weapons, or for protection?

5. Those Bookaneers again! Who were they? Did they really exist? Do you suspect the man described as George Washington was one of them?

6. Is Tom Branagan correct in warning the police to keep the female stalker away from Dickens, or do you think she's harmless? Did you notice something about the description of her eyes?

7. Why do you think the subject of mesmerism was brought up and then quickly dropped as the train jolted? Have you ever been hypnotized? Can you think of a reason one would become violent when hypnotized, as Aunt Georgy did?

8. Are you familiar with the terms, "incubus" and "succubus"? The stalking woman refers to herself as an incubus. Why is this so odd? Do you think it is ominous?

9. What has happened to Dickens' diary? Could the incubus have learned anything of importance while she had it?

10. Do you think the incident with the lighting in the Tremont Temple was an accident? If not, who do you think would want to harm Dickens?

Related Links : Q & A with Author, Matthew Pearl; 19th century Boston publishing houses ; check out Mr. Osgood here; James R. Osgood Co. closes, May, 1885 - NY Times

marcie · « **Reply #81 on:** October 04, 2009, 09:54:32 PM »

I'm just catching up with you all here. I've read the first section and all of your posts. I appreciate all of the interesting background links and thoughtful comments.

I really like the character of Rebecca. She is beautiful ("one of the four prettiest maidens aboard" the ship), although lacking in "fashionable style." Her black mourning clothes make her look "strong-willed" which is, apparently, a negative characteristic for a woman. (That reminded me of Lady Catherine de Berg's portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813.)

I like the fact that, when Rebecca was a young girl, "books were her companions, sustenance feeing her mind." I have been reviewing the lines about which some of you have commented, [after moving to the city], she found Bostonians particular and critical about their reading material, for she had never thought about books being judged rather than devoured." Rebecca thinks that "working in a publishing firm, she might learn to have a more discerning eye for books' moral and literary merits." I think she wants to educate herself. Not all books... not all ideas... have the same value in helping oneself to develop a worldview. She wants to learn to judge important ideas.

And Osgood sees his role as publisher as bringing the opportunity to connect with books of ideas to the masses, ensuring that every person in America had a chance to read a kind of book "not because it would instantly prove popular, but because it could be important."

I think that Rebecca and Osgood might make a good match. :-)

mrssherlock · « **Reply #82 on:** October 04, 2009, 11:08:29 PM »

How frightening Rebecca must have been to turn her back on her only support; her husband must have suffered from PTSD. She realizede that her very life was at risk. She could only flee. Fields & Osgood was more than just her employer, it became her refuge. It would be extremely difficult for her to repress her revulsion as she heard the other, silly, girls whose sole purpose was to find "love". I doubt that Rebecca believes any longer in love.

serenesheila · « **Reply #83 on:** October 05, 2009, 03:17:54 AM »

Matthew, I really enjoy the way you write! Thank you for deciding to finish the mystery of Edwin Drood.

Jackie, it seems silly to me, too, about all of the other single girls on board ship, seeing the voage as an opportunity for love, and possible marriage. However, I find it sad that marriage, was one of the few ways that young women could find to have some security.

My paternal, great grandmother was born in 1870. I was in my late 20s when she died. I spent a lot of time with her, and heard all of her stories. She divorced my great grandfather following the 1892 election. He lost a lot of money, and property by betting on that election.

Grandmother left him, and went home to her parents. Her father gave her a cow, and told her, as his daughter, e expected her to go and make a life for herself. She was pregnant and had two small children. She ended up homesteading, in a wooded area in Montana. I remember her stories about finding Indians in her kitchen watching her make bread, and pies. Her brother was Indian Agent at that time. I loved her stories.

Howe

serenesheila · « **Reply #84 on:** October 05, 2009, 03:24:34 AM »

However, it must have been very frightening for her. When she had finished the 5 year requirement for homesteading, she had to have her ex husband sell her property, as women did not have the right to own, or sell real estate. Then she, and her children moved to Washington State, to be near her sister. Grandmother, then made pies and bread, to support her family.

I am finding myself feeling a lot of resentment at the times of her life, and those in this book. Matthew, I appreciate you going into so much information about what was, and was not respectabel, for single women in those days. We have made a lot of progress in equality for women during my lifetime. We still have a lot of progress in this area, to go.

Sheila

serenesheila · « **Reply #85 on:** October 05, 2009, 03:33:01 AM »

Rebecca is the type of woman I would like to have for a friend. She has a good head on her shoulders. She is also a compassionate human being, and courageous.

I am horrified by the comment about the nanny's telling their charges that if they misbehaved, a black man would eat them! How hurtful that must have been to any person of African ancestry hearing it. How frightening it must have been to the children! But, again, that is the way much of society viewed things in those days. A lot of us still do this about anyone different from us.

Sheila

ALF43 · « **Reply #86 on:** October 05, 2009, 08:18:18 AM »

Serenesheila- Thank you so much for sharing your views and your stories about your paternal great grand mother. Can you imagine walking into your kitchen with a band of indians checking you out? I love stories like that and IF there is such a thing as reincarnation I believe that I once was a squaw or perhaps a pioneer woman back in those days.

I think that grit and stamina was inherent in Rebecca's personality, the same as her kindness. She can be tough when necessary but Matthew has given her a staunch voice.
"If I am to take care of myself like a man does and be dependent on no man, then I expect not to be treated like a helpless vessel."

MrsSherlock is correct in presuming that the publishing house became her refuge. I think she enjoys her job and wants to be proven capable.
While aboard ship she began to spy on the industrious Mr. Osgood as he played chess and mentally manipulated her own strategies.

Welcome Marcie, I so so happy to see you in here .
Matthew, Marcie just completed the monumental task of leading our Mystery of Edwin Drood discussion with Deems, so I am certain that she will add a wealth of information and interest here to our discussion. Tell us the truth Marcie, what do YOU really believe was Drood's fate?

ALF43 · « **Reply #87 on:** October 05, 2009, 08:30:23 AM »

Pg. 79 (hard cover) is a wonderful tribute to Charles Dickens and Drood.
Matthew do you really believe that he was a ripe genius,as Osgood believed?
I love this:
"The characters were infused with such lfife that one could almost feel that they would step out of the pages and act out the remainder of the story without Dickens's pen to help."

Pondering that thought, I sensed that any book I have particularly loved and enjoyed holds that fascination. Thank you I will never forget that sentence. That's why when I completed a great book, I feel lonely and dejected. I've lost my characters with all of their charms and foibles.

marjifay · « **Reply #88 on:** October 05, 2009, 02:11:03 PM »

Serenesheila wrote: it seems silly to me, too, about all of the other single girls on board ship, seeing the voage as an opportunity for love, and possible marriage. However, I find it sad that marriage, was one of the few ways that young women could find to have some security.

Wasn't it as late as in the 1950s or so when girls went to college simply to find a husband? When women had no choice of a career where they could earn enough to support themselves, this (and those cruises in the book) made sense, sad as it was.

Marj

ALF43 · « **Reply #89 on:** October 05, 2009, 02:29:43 PM »

Yes, Marj, sadly that is true. Our Rebecca had already been in that pot of stew so she ambitiously knew cared more for career.
We've come a long way baby.

She is intuitive as well, isn't she? "As she met the accused's eye (Herman) and innocent smile, a sudden, almost magnetic repulsion forced her to take a step back."

Haven't we all met such an individual where your radar immediately goes out?

serenesheila · « **Reply #90 on:** October 05, 2009, 02:52:49 PM »

Yes, Marj, it was. If I remember correctley, it was sometime in the 1970s that women could get credit in their name.

It also boggles my mind, to realize that my own mother was 5 years old, when women were given the right to vote!

Sheila

marcie · « **Reply #91 on:** October 05, 2009, 03:00:40 PM »

I agree that it's good to see a strong woman in this story in the person of Rebecca, among some of the other girls who are wedded to their role in society, looking only for a husband.

Alf, I'll wait to talk about my thoughts about Edwin Drood's fate until we finish this book.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #92 on:** October 05, 2009, 08:43:15 PM »

"1.How can you spend time and talent on such a character as Sylvanus Bendall, Matthew - and then sacrifice him in the very next chapter to someone like Herman? Was this difficult to do? "

Part of the fun of being the author is playing God with the characters, I guess! Actually, from a strategic angle, sacrificing a character is part of increasing the sense of danger for your primary characters. Bendall actually serves lots of purposes in the plot before and after his death. And you might not have seen the last of him--I'm thinking of using him in the book I'm writing now, which takes place a few years earlier.

Will get to more questions and thoughts hopefully tomorrow, somehow it's a crazy week already, and it's only Monday!

JoanP · « **Reply #93 on:** October 05, 2009, 08:54:49 PM »

Hi there, Matthew! I know what you mean about a busy week already, and it's a week we've hardly started! Thank you for taking time in your busy schedule to visit with us. I had been wondering about what you might be planning for your next book, having read that Last Dickens would complete the trilogy of Poe, Longfellow and Dickens stories. Did you just inadvertently let us in on something? I'm glad to hear that Sylvanus Bendall is still alive and well in the back of your mind.

Andy, I just love Matthew's quote on Dickens' characters that you brought to us - can't help but repeat it -

Quote

"The characters were infused with such life that one could almost feel that they would step out of the pages and act out the remainder of the story without Dickens's pen to help."

Are some of Matthew's characters taking on a life of their own too?
I'm not sure what to think of Herman. Is he a real character, or a caricature of an evil spirit? From the first moment we met him, there was something other-worldly and evil about him - remember his teeth and his lips were stained a bright red! What was that about? Then he appears on the ship - apparently stalking James Osgood. Rebecca is repulsed by the look in his eyes. James Osgood can't even look his attacker in the eye! Then his feet had been chained together, his arm chained to the wall. And he's nowhere to be found on the ship. How did he get away? What's your guess?

And a more important question - what do you think he's after?

JoanP · « **Reply #94 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:09:18 PM »

Ella has listed a number of mysteries in the first installment - Hopefully we'll find the answers in later chapters.
Dickens does the same thing, doesn't he? Makes us wait for the next installment. I'm still wondering where Daniel Sand spent the morning from the time he picked up the bundle of advance copies. hid them under a barrel and then came back for them around 2pm with those needle marks on his arms. Where was he? Was he with the mustachioed fellow. Is this guy believable?

Rebecca is entirely believable, isn't she? Ella thinks that she is taking a chance, a woman travelling alone with a man, not her husband. she doesn't seem to care what people think, does she? Jackie - "I doubt that Rebecca believes any longer in love." But didn't you catch her blushing a few times, though? Didn't she seem inwardly pleased when James Osgood asked for her and all those ladies crowded around him had to step aside for her to come to his side?

Sheila - what a story about your grandmother! Thank you for sharing it with us. It helps us to understand what life was like for women back then. "Her father gave her a cow, - She was pregnant and had two young children." Not to make light of your grandmother's situation but when I read it, I thought that cow was probably a godsend for a woman with little children.

Wasn't Rebecca fortunate not to have little children from that first marriage? She has a better chance to move on with her life - and she's making the most of the opportunity she has been given in the publishing business. (Marcie, since so much is known about James Osgood, maybe we can find out if he married Rebecca. I think we need to hang on to that article Andy found in Wikpedia about him. That's a start...)

Talk to you tomorrow, it's been a long travel day today coming from Memphis. At least we didn't have to change planes in Atlanta. Charlotte is so much nicer!

PatH · « **Reply #95 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:26:45 PM »

I assumed the red teeth were from chewing betel nut, which stains the teeth, with a side effect of making Herman seem even more sinister. I don't know how he got out of his cell, but I can easily believe someone so clever managed to hide from a search. I bet he got his cane back, too.

What IS he after? He took a watch and a pocketbook, hardly likely to be valuable enough to be worth it.

JoanP · « **Reply #96 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:37:41 PM »

A lifetime of betel nut chewing

Quote

"The red lips are a result of betel chewing. There is archaeological evidence that the betel leaves are chewed along with the areca nut since very ancient times. It is not known, however, when these two different stimulants substances were put together for the first time

"

Ha!...All right, PatH!! So there is an explanation for Herman's appearance after all! And who knows, maybe he has an accomplice on board the ship who cut the chains and helped him escape - or is hiding him in his cabin, perhaps. But we do know he's a madman, a murderer - and he's after something...James Osgood is on his list of victims - Daniel Sand, Sylvanus Bendall... He's not going to kill J.Osgood ...yet! Not until he gets what he's after.

I'm going to bed and try to figure this out instead of counting sheep!

marcie · « **Reply #97 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:40:55 PM »

It looks like Matthew created a fiction version of James Osgood with only some similarities to actual events. I'd be interested to know from you, Matthew, if you were able to learn anything about the personal character of J R O (I too love that monogram of his initials!) that you used in your book to describe him. I admire the James Osgood you created/adapted.

It would be outside the timeline/scope of The Last Dickens, but it looks like James Osgood developed several publishing ventures after his time with Fields, Osgood and Co. One of them failed in 1885. See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0CE0DC1739E533A25756C0A9639C94649FD7CF

marcie · « **Reply #98 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:45:15 PM »

Good sleuthing, PatH, for the betel nut. Yikes, what an awful red mouth in that photo, Joan. I can't imagine what Herman looked like! Ugh.

Herman left a headless rat in his cell. I wouldn't put it past him to bite off the head (sorry, that is really gross). He doesn't seem to have any humanity.

marcie · « **Reply #99 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:51:37 PM »

In looking for more about Osgood, I came across a very interesting site: The Lucile project which is "an attempt to recover the publishing history of a single 19th century book. Owen Meredith's Lucile was first published in 1860, by Chapman & Hall in England and as a Ticknor & Fields "Blue & Gold" in the United States."

See the section about James Osgood: http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/osgood2/Osgood2.htm

The book covers on the page are lovely.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #100 on:** October 05, 2009, 11:35:00 PM »

Two things: Herman is not a name I would associate with a man whose appearance suggests he comes from the Indian sub-continent. The serendipity god strikes again: reading about James Osgood here I found another character named Osgood in Mary Alice Monroe's Last Light Over Carolina. Go figure.

JoanP · « **Reply #101 on:** October 06, 2009, 10:32:09 AM »

Jackie, you're right about that name. Can we be sure that Herman is the guy's real name? Consider the source. As he was about to murder Sylvanus Bendall, he tells him - "They call me Herman." Who are they?

I slept on it - and here's what I came up with. Herman - could be HER MAN. Do you suppose this is another unfeeling killer addicted to another substance -or is this the same - is this Jasper John from Dickens' Edwin Drood? Her man - Rosa's man? Or is that "over the top?"

PatH · « **Reply #102 on:** October 06, 2009, 12:02:57 PM »

I certainly hope we meet some of the characters from Drood here. If Drood was supposed to take place earlier than the time Dickens was writing it, we might find out how they turned out.

But I don't think Herman is Jasper in disguise, because Herman is six feet tall. Jasper is described as well-made, but isn't called tall, and isn't taller than the others in the pictures. He could dye his skin and shave his head, but he couldn't grow 5 inches.

JoanP · « **Reply #103 on:** October 06, 2009, 12:09:35 PM »

Oh yes, tall. Everyone comments how tall this guy is. Well, it was quite late. I still like "her man" for Herman though. Don't think his name is really Herman.

One thing we know - Rebecca is definitely not Rosa. I was interested to know what sort of books she'd been devouring as a child on the farm - Were they popular novels of the day? I remember Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist were mentioned by name. The books had belonged to an elderly man - his "boxed up library" - so she very well could have been "devouring" classics as well. She certainly doesn't resemble the other young girls on the ship - in much the same financial circumstances. Would she be more like they are if she hadn't been married before? Somehow, I don't think so.

She had a line in the book that really stopped me - Rebecca was talking to one of the young girls on the ship about the meaning of love - romance. "An unspoken glance when someone looks into your eyes and knows exactly who you are, what you need." Wow! Where did she learn about romance? From the books she read - or from experience...

pedln · « **Reply #104 on:** October 06, 2009, 12:20:33 PM »

What's the name of that South Pacific song with the words -- "She is always chewing betel nuts?" Bloody Mary, Dirty Mary? But what a gross picture.

It really surprised me to find that Daniel was only about 14 years old when he became his sister's protector. A boy of fourteen could be seen as acceptable as a sort of guardian for a "loose" woman (not my words, just what society thought). As it was, it was Rebecca who was the protector, helping her young alcoholic brother become sober.

I think that Herman somehow made those marks on Daniel to make it look like he was an opium user.

thunderstorms here, and I must leave Panera as the lunchtime crowd is coming in.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #105 on:** October 06, 2009, 01:21:12 PM »

Today is publication day for the paperback of The Last Dickens!

I know you all--obviously--have copies. If there's anyone else you think might enjoy it, please consider it as a gift or a recommendation.

Plus our companion edition of Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood is out today, too, from Modern Library.

That has my introduction, and scholarly endnotes in the back.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

matthewpearl · « **Reply #106 on:** October 06, 2009, 01:32:58 PM »

"2.Matthew do you really believe that Dickens was a ripe genius,as Osgood believed? Do you believe that the Mystery of Edwin Drood would have been Dickens' greatest masterpiece?"

I know many of you have just read The Mystery of Edwin Drood for your online discussion--and as I say what a treat that is to have you join here, too (not that it's required, as I've stressed!). MED (as I abbreviate it) was a very different type of book for Dickens, much more economical and efficient in its structure and prose. In that sense, it would have been a milestone, perhaps a turning point, for Dickens--although I leave it to Osgood to judge whether it would have been a masterpiece.

"3. I'd be interested to know from you, Matthew, if you were able to learn anything about the personal character of J R O (I too love that monogram of his initials!) that you used in your book to describe him. "

I'll tell you more about this as I go on, but Osgood was the key to my writing this novel. When I first thought of doing something with Dickens and MED I thought of it from the perspective of the London publishers and was instantly bored. There just wasn't enough beyond an incomplete book. So having the story turn out to be about an American publisher (among other things), put into a very tough position of depending on this last book, made the concept click for me. I related to Osgood right away, if superficially, because we were around the same age. I just turned 34 this past Friday, and Osgood was about the same age when the novel is set. I read anything I could get my hands on about or by Osgood, including his letters in the archives of the Boston Public Library. He was very proper, especially with women, I noticed. In one letter he related an anecdote that involved the word "damned" being used a few times, and Osgood wrote at the end:
“You must pardon the expletives—I am only a faithful reporter”

The letters let me in a little bit, as did references and descriptions of Osgood by writers who worked with him, including William Dean Howells and Mark Twain (whose interaction with Osgood came after the time period of my novel).

Publishers Weekly said of him, a short time after my novel's setting: "No man in the business is more popular, more efficient, more able and energetic than he, and he unites business capacity with literary ability and judgment to a remarkable degree”

I also searched for Osgood's memoirs that he reportedly wrote--which I'll tell more about later.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #107 on:** October 06, 2009, 02:04:02 PM »

A rare portrait of Osgood.

marcie · « **Reply #108 on:** October 06, 2009, 02:08:16 PM »

Happy belated birthday, Matthew!

Thanks very much for your responses to our questions. Many thanks, also, for plugging our discussion here in your email about the two handsome editions of your books that are available today. They'll make great holiday gifts.

I'll look forward to more information about Osgood from you. It's interesting to know how he came to be the focus of your book. I love that portrait of him! He looks open and handsome.

Deems · « **Reply #109 on:** October 06, 2009, 02:39:13 PM »

As Matthew has already announced, the paperback of The Last Dickens is out today. Thank heaven! I was getting further and further behind with no book. I like the paperback cover better than the hardcover, Matthew. I love the twine around the installment, real fan of twine here. And for those of you worried about where Matthew's name was, above or below the title, please know that although it is below the title, it is the same font AND size as the title.

Anyway, I still have to catch up, but I have read the first four chapters and have noted:

1. In chapter 1, there's a not-so-subtle hit at Imperialism on the (probably unconscious) part of Turner who tells the younger policeman, "Be assured, the natives in India do not value life. Not even as the poorest Englishman does." A few pages later he tells Mason, " Never lose sight of the true blessings of public service. Each one of us is here to turn out a better civilization in the end, and for that reason alone."

He talks nation-building talk, but how ironic that he obviously pushes Narain out the window while Mason is sleeping, and he clearly doesn't think there's anything wrong with the opium business. If a captive like Narain dies now and again, well, it's all in the greater interest of ~~England~~ his people. O, the irony.

I also like the omnibus part. Small touches of Drood are appearing now and again. There's an ominbus in Drood too; it delivers that awful Mr. Honeythunder to Cloisterham and takes him away again after he has bored everyone silly at dinner.

There's also the disdain Turner feels for everyone whose skin isn't the color of his which reminds me of the rough time Neville Landless has in Drood. I'm seeing echoes all over the place here.

PatH · « **Reply #110 on:** October 06, 2009, 04:45:45 PM »

I've now got my own book, too; I'd been making do with a library copy until today.

JoanP · « **Reply #111 on:** October 06, 2009, 08:27:44 PM »

Good! You've got your own copies to catch up, to mark up , to do whatever, just in time for the Second Installment! Maryal, you have noted some of the class differences - and racial bias too. I expect we'll find more of that in the coming installments. Dickens was always the champion of the poor and the downtrodden. Glad you're with us, fresh from the Drood discussion!

Matthew, thank you for your insights - your comments add so much to this discussion - without spoiling anything. You've been avoiding giving anything away as we put our heads together, attempting to unravel the plot - the plots within plots.

Before we turn pick up the Second Installment in the morning, let's see where we are. The London publisher sent the Advance copies of the last installment Dickens wrote. These were sent to the American publisher, Fields and Osgood, who have an exclusive agreement with Dickens. No one else can publish these installments. These advance copies were taken from Daniel Sand by Sylvanus Bendall - who seemed to know exactly what they were, though he had no plans to sell them or to profit from them. Now "Herman" has them. Herman has killed two people to get his hands on them. Dickens has died and the exclusive contract no longer exists.

Osgood and Fields plan to publish the six completed installments - before the other publishers beat them to it. James Osgood is hurriedly sent off to England to find out how Dickens planned to finish his book - and then they will quickly publish a more complete book, before the others get their hands on the completed episodes. I never understood why Fields didn't go. He wanted to...

Is that how you all see it? And if so, why do you think Herman is following James to England? He has the final episode in his possession. Does he know what James is up to? Why the silly prank on the ship - spilling the water, causing James to fall and taking his watch and wallet? Does that make sense to you? If he's following James, wouldn't he be more discreet?

ALF43 · « **Reply #112 on:** October 07, 2009, 09:12:08 AM »

I echo the belated brithday wishes for you Matthew. All good people were born in October. AHEM!!!

Joan, I quite agree with the puzzling behavior of Herman aboard the ship. Why steal the guys wallet? Did he know who James was or was he looking for verification of his identity?

Betal palm or not theis guy is diabolical, the devil incarnate, dripping blood et al.

ANNIE · « **Reply #113 on:** October 07, 2009, 10:26:41 AM »

Well we have two BD's to celebrate this month according to Alf. Hers and Matthew's! Good grief, 34! I have shoes that are older than that. Anyway,
Happy Birthday to you both!!

While reading the link to Osgood and his publishing firm that has failed in 1885, I found another well known author of that time who was Osgood's only big money maker and I looked for, W.D. Howells, who can be found here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/howells/hbio.html
D
Also, I noticed that Osgood's firm had offered what we call paperbacks(Daniel Sand's suggestion) but they weren't popular at that time and didn't sell well.

JoanP · « **Reply #114 on:** October 07, 2009, 03:29:44 PM »

Can someone refresh my memory? Do we know for sure that Herman chewed betel nuts, which would explain those bright red teeth and lips - or is this one possible explanation supplied by our PatH? I'm thinking of the ivory toothpick he always seem to have in his mouth. Don't you think that betel juice would have stained the ivory?

Well, the second installment is in - and the mustachioed monster is nowhere in sight. We've stepped back in time two or three years - to 1867 - Dickens is in America in this installmetn. I'm expecting to meet up with the American publishers, Osgood and Fields, aren't you? This is quite a well publicized tour . -Is Dickens promoting a new book? Does anyone know which book he had published before the Mystery of Edwin Drood?

I've been trying to think of another author who created such a stir - ever! Can you?

Deems · « **Reply #115 on:** October 07, 2009, 03:37:51 PM »

I am caught up. Yes! I won't comment yet because what I want to write about is at the end of this installment. I can't think of another author who caused such a commotion--the Beetles did, of course, and other pop starts I'm sure.

Off to see if the Bookaneers are invented (I tend to think so given the punning name)--that is, I think the name is invented, but there was a good deal of literary piracy going on at the time--and remember no American copyright laws yet, so an American publisher could steal from another (as Harper seems to have in mind) and publish whatever he could get his hands on. I have no doubt that since Dickens improvised during his readings, there may have been people who took down what he said in shorthand. We met some of those Bookaneers earlier in the novel.

Dickens did the American readings because there was nothing he could do about the copyright problem, and it was a good way to earn some of the money he really was owed. He was enormously popular in the States as the commotion over his readings shows.

Nearly forgot--Happy Belated Birthday, Matthew. And Happy Birthday to you as well, Andy. My mother's birthday was October 9, a good month indeed.

Deems · « **Reply #116 on:** October 07, 2009, 03:42:50 PM »

There are Bookaneers on, of all places, Sesame Street!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf8Ucg31LcA

But they sure do seem a lot friendlier than the ones in the book. Tina Fey as a Pirate!

And, if you type bookaneers and dickens into Google, you will find an interview with Matthew Pearl on NPR.

serenesheila · « **Reply #117 on:** October 07, 2009, 04:17:59 PM »

How on earth, do you think that man escaped from his cell on the ship? I cannot imagine how that was done. I hope that we will solve that mystery, later in our book.

I think that Hermann was actually from India. Immigrents from other countries were often given English and American names.

Belated birthday wishes for you, Matthew. Happy birthday to Andy. What is the date of your birthday, Andy?

Sheila

ALF43 · « **Reply #118 on:** October 07, 2009, 04:23:06 PM »

Well I sure can not claim to be 34 but I turn 66 (double digits again) on the 23rd of October. Thank you all ofor the bday wishes.

Joan- I think that Pat came up with the betel nuts or berries, I do not rmeember reading about him chewing on them but it would be a good explanation for his 'devil incarnate" description.

What about Mark Twain, wasn't he considered a great prolific writer of that time?

serenesheila · « **Reply #119 on:** October 07, 2009, 04:55:45 PM »

Yes, Andy, I thought of Mark Twain, also. He also gave public readings. Many of his books are still popular. Many have been made into plays.

Sheila

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