Author Topic: Last Dickens, The ~ Matthew Pearl ~ October Book Club Online (Read 68108 times)

serenesheila · « **Reply #240 on:** October 16, 2009, 12:26:19 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 ~ June, 1870
October 15-17: Fourth Installment ~ Chapters 23-26
*October 18-23: Fifth Installment ~ Chapters 27-29
Oct. 24-28: Fifth Installment cont. - Chapters 30 - 39
October 29-31: Sixth Installment ~ Chapter 40/Historical note

Discussion Leaders: JoanP, Andy

Dickens' Gadshill estate, Kent

Some topics for discussion Oct. 18-23: Chapters 27-29 ~ Kent, London ~ July. 1870

1. What had happened to James Osgood that night in Sally's opium den? Why was he taken to jail? Do you have any reason not to trust the respected Marcus Wakefield - other than the way he looks at Rebecca?

2. Given Dickens habit of using actual names and characters in his novels, is it far-fetched that he would include his neighbors in Kent and Rochester as he wrote his last novel?

3. How does the relationship between Eddie Trood and his uncle Nathan resemble or differ Edwin Drood and Jasper John? Why do you think Dickens would portray the relationship one way and Matthew another?

4. Why would do you think Dickens' last words would be to call for Forster, Georgy, one of his daughters - or Ellen Ternan?

5. When you consider Dickens' interest in the George Hartman murder case and the incriminating forensic evidence when in America, do you think Dickens could have intended to reopen a real murder case in this novel?

6. Had Dickens actually hypnotized Datchery? Why did Osgood decide to give him another chance, even after Tom Branagan revealed his disguise?

7. Why does Datchery/Rogers believe that Osgood is in danger?

8. Does Yahee's revelation of Herman's childhood experience explain his cold-blooded behavior now? How would Dickens have veiwed this character? Why would Herman be following Osgood?

9. Do you think Dickens may have planned his Mystery of Edwin Drood backwards, with the second half in mind as he wrote the first six episodes? If he had actually written the second half first, where is it? Did he leave a clue with someone?

10. Why does the note that Forster received from Christie's Auction House cause Osgood to start packing to go home?

Readers' Guide Questions from FIRST - FOURTH INSTALLMENTS

Related Links : SeniorLearn's 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 , Listen to Matthew's Interview at the Parker House in Boston; Dickens in America - by Matthew Pearl

Some Recent Questions for Matthew:http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/lastdickens/lastdickens_q_a.html

Sheila: I,too was struck by the "water boarding". I wonder when it was first used?

On Wednesday, the 21st, on the History Channel, a documentary will be shown. It is called "Hooked". I saw it two weeks ago, and was fascinated by it. Three deadly derivatives of the poppy plant are Opium, Morphine, and Heroin. If I remember correctly, it includes the story of GB's involvement, with these drugs, in India.

IMO, not allowing the Indian people to plant food, was strictly born of greed. The other reason, I suspect, was the native people used the drugs which left them more manageable.

Sheila

marcie · « **Reply #241 on:** October 16, 2009, 12:59:39 PM »

Annie, that last one is a link to the article that Matthew wrote and provided in his post #235. He sure did do a lot of research and incorporated it into the book in a believable way as the stories unfold.

marcie · « **Reply #242 on:** October 16, 2009, 01:04:29 PM »

Sheila, thanks for the information about the History channel program on opium.

There is an article here that describes the history of waterboarding: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15886834. Apparently it was first documented in the 14th Century.

serenesheila · « **Reply #243 on:** October 16, 2009, 04:29:48 PM »

Marcie, thank you for that link. I am going to check it out, now.

Sheila

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #244 on:** October 16, 2009, 08:05:11 PM »

What drama! What exciting chapters! Matthew does it every bit as good as Charles Dickens himself and I am sure Dickens would be pleased to read the tale of his own American tours.

But he should have stayed in England and not tried the last one. It undoubtedly cotributed to an earlier death, don't you all agree?

As ALF has said all along, Mrs. Barton was mad, poor woman, but she could have killed Dickens and nearly killed Tom. But one of the devils was at peace, at last, as Dickens said.

I love the history behind the story. Here is Delmonico's restaurant (where the New Uork Press gave Dickens a celebratory dinner before his departure); I cannot tell if it is the same building, but it has the date of 1837 at the top.

http://www.delmonicosny.com/

JoanP · « **Reply #245 on:** October 16, 2009, 08:23:18 PM »

Oh, Ella, isn't it elegant! We need to go - it's still open! Do you suppose this is where the name, "Delmonico Steak" came from? (what is a Demonico steak?) Dickens must have enjoyed travelling in such company to such places as this!

That chase scene - Dickens kidnapped - Tom Branagan jumping on the cart horse, (was he riding bareback?) ...and then the drama with Mrs. Barton in the theater. What did she want Dickens to do? Have a private reading just for her? And she ended up....dead? Let me tell you what I thought happened, JoanK. (And I'm sure we'll hear from Matthew at some point. It's fun having him with us for comment, isn't it? I think it strains the imagination to think this woman really lived - and died like this!)

Why did Dickens go out - was it insomnia? Did you notice all the "soporifics" he took to get to sleep? Nothing worked. I guess even the Laudanum
failed this time. Here'a what I see happening: It's late - Tom goes into Dickens" bed so he can catch Mrs. Barton whom he expects to make an appearance. Dickens went to Dolby's room. Tom waits and waits, it's late. He falls asleep - and dreams...the whole chase scene. What do you think?

JoanP · « **Reply #246 on:** October 16, 2009, 08:43:43 PM »

Matthew, I want to echo Marcie in thanking you for answering our questions - while on a busy, exhausting tour of your own in Texas! Nothing like being in upstate New York in the middle of winter, though - Albany, Ithaca, Syracuse! Annie knows - right Ann? Collllllll-Gate! Thanks for the link to your article on second tour, Matthew. (Ann, did you notice in the link you provided, that Henry Ward Beecher, brother of Harriet B. Stowe, gave the eulogy for Dickens? I assume he did so in the Baltimore Church - not in England.)
Did Dickens know how long the tour was going to be when he started out? It seems there were so many incidents, accidents, storms, etc. that slowed the tour - perhaps extended it. I can see where it exhausted the poor man. ESPECIALLY when he went into the freezing river to save the livestock.

Let's extend our discussion of Installment Four for one more day - that way we can look a little closer at the George Parkman murder case - and also William Godwin's novel - Caleb Williams - I think I see some ideas that Dickens may have incorporated in his Mystery of Edwin Drood when he gets home.
(PatH - I've noted your skepticism concerning Dickens' quill pen, said to be the one with which he wrote the six installments of his novel.

And you will all have time to begin to get into the long, long Installment #5 - which is essentially Matthew's own creative imagination at work!

Sheila, I've just marked my calendar for the History Channel's production on opium - will you please remind us again on Wednesday?

matthewpearl · « **Reply #247 on:** October 16, 2009, 08:57:37 PM »

Just back from Texas, and since you're mostly completed the Fourth Installment I can now give you a link to another article I wrote that I'm pretty sure you'll find interesting:

Read the article here.

Why is it I don't get a private dresser like Henry Scott when I travel??

PatH · « **Reply #248 on:** October 16, 2009, 09:34:48 PM »

Thanks for the article, Matthew. That answers my question about Mrs. Barton nicely.

Quote from: matthewpearl on October 16, 2009, 08:57:37 PM

Why is it I don't get a private dresser like Henry Scott when I travel??

Times are rough; guess you'll have to pull on your own boots.

PatH · « **Reply #249 on:** October 16, 2009, 09:48:01 PM »

I'm fine with discussing this installment one more day, but there's no way I'm going to hold off reading the next one. It was bad enough waiting this long.

PatH · « **Reply #250 on:** October 16, 2009, 10:01:51 PM »

Just for the record, I probably have more experience--perfectly legal--than any of you with opium, but not in a way useful for this discussion.

I started my professional career as a natural products chemist at the National Institutes of Health. At one point in the early 1960s our lab was exploring the then-new technique of gas chromatography. One thing we did, in collaboration with some experts in the narcotics field, was to analyze a number of opium samples to see if you could tell the country of origin by the percentages of the different alkaloids. It turned out you couldn't, so the work wasn't much use, but I do know what's in opium and have handled it. Nasty-looking gunky brown goo--none of us was even slightly tempted to try to figure out how to sample it.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #251 on:** October 16, 2009, 10:15:16 PM »

Hi again.

Here is a guest blog post I've written on the scene when Dickens helps rescue the stranded animals.

ANNIE · « **Reply #252 on:** October 16, 2009, 10:39:03 PM »

Waterboarding happened in "People of the Book" when the Inquisition was occurring. When a young Jewish man, living in Spain, was tortured (by waterboarding) so he would confess that he was not a Christian, as he claimed, but a practicing Jew. During his imprisonment, his wife delivered their baby helped by his sister, who found his wife in a cave where she, the sister, had come to secretly meet her brother. The wife died and the sister and the baby left Spain and didn't the Book go with them???

And yes, Joan P, I do know that area of New York, quite well and have been in many of those towns visited by Dickens. This can be their last mild month until next June!

And if Ward Beecher gave the eulogy for Dickens, I would think that it would be in Plymouth Church, where Dickens first appeared in NYC, since Beecher was pastor there.

ALF43 · « **Reply #253 on:** October 17, 2009, 09:49:12 AM »

Annie- bite your tongue!!!
I will be in that area of upstate NY next week in celebration of MY birthday and my 11 year old grand-daughters. It was 34 there yesterday and I do NOT own a pair of boots any longer.

ALF43 · « **Reply #254 on:** October 17, 2009, 10:04:29 AM »

AHA Matthew, that's where you conjured up our whacko Mrs. Barton. She walked right out of the page of history. Do you know when we first began reading of her, the story of a woman slapping a prince rang true to me. I dismissed the familiar story to "reading ahead" in my assignment but here, now, you tell us in that wonderful article how true this story really was. I love fact intermingled with fiction. You absolutely shine in that field, Matthew.

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Mrs. Fields recorded in her diary that Dickens had "the deepest sympathy for men who are unfitly married and has really taken an especial fancy I think to John Bigelow, our late minister to Paris who is here, because his wife is such an incubus."

[/i]

Isn't it strange how we often picture celebrities being much different than they are?

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"his external appearance did not answer to our puritanical notions of a literary man."

[/i]

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A Dickens fan could surpass Dickens himself for a fee of $5 an hour.

What would that be worth in today's standard $500/hour?
Thanks so much for that link Matthew, I really enjoyed it.

ALF43 · « **Reply #255 on:** October 17, 2009, 10:06:53 AM »

PatH- good one, Matt will have to pull on his own boots. If you're in upstate NY next week Matthew, I will pull them up for you.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #256 on:** October 17, 2009, 10:10:30 AM »

THANK YOU, MATTHEW for the articles. Most interesting! So there was a real stalker; an unusual one I would gather in that she was a woman? But she didn't kill herself in public I daresay.

And the animal stories; how very nice of you to do that for the animal shelter. My daughter got a kitty recently who all thought was abused as the poor little thing was very frightened of everything and still is after months of being pampered. When I think of publishing stories of animals I think of the very well liked book DEWEY. Now I must confess I have not read it yet, but my sister who, to my knowledge, has never cared for pets, cried at the end of the book and now thinks she wants a cat.

I've been meaning to mention Dickens' pet raven as it seemed to be such a strange thing to have around. The mention of the bird always makes me shudder as it reminds me of the terrifying Edgar Allan Poe's poem THE RAVEN:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-raven/

Terrifying to me, anyway, as all his poetry is. And the name of Dickens' pet bird - GRIP! Get a grip, couldn't he have thought of something a bit more pleasant.

I do think Dickens is an eccentric man; perhaps all writers are - NO, NO, JUST SOME WRITERS, MATTHEW!

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #257 on:** October 17, 2009, 10:14:06 AM »

And didn't our grandmothers call a piece of luggage a "grip?"

marcie · « **Reply #258 on:** October 17, 2009, 12:35:09 PM »

Matthew, Thanks for sharing your interesting article about the beginnings of modern celebrity. Dickens and some of the over-the-top characters he created in his novels seem ripe for branding. It seems he didn't even have to encourage entrepreneurs to create games, cigars, food, etc with the names of his characters. Of course, he didn't directly benefit from the sales of those items either.

marcie · « **Reply #259 on:** October 17, 2009, 12:51:05 PM »

Ella, I read somewhere that Dickens' raven could hold a hammer in his beak. Perhaps his strong clamping power is why he was called "Grip."

JoanK · « **Reply #260 on:** October 17, 2009, 01:30:11 PM »

That is, indeed a fascinating article. I'm especially interested in the description of "American Notes", as we were considering it for discussion. " "American Notes" was a dry account of divergent aspects of American life, but harsh on slavery and outraged by the “abject state” of the press". Ken Burns quoted some of it in his PBS series on National Parks, and indeed the tone of it would be very irritating to us Americans.

I was also interested in Dickens attempt to get an international copyright law. My father was a patent atterney who helped negotiate the international patent law, and I remember him, in the 70s, praising the international copyright law. Matthew, would you agree?

JoanP · « **Reply #261 on:** October 17, 2009, 02:59:20 PM »

Whoooeee, there is so much left to talk about in the 4th Installment! Thank you all for the great posts! So there was in fact a Mrs. Barton - Jane Bigelow. Thank you for this information, Matthew. I'd begun to think she might be a "he" - she was a strong woman to drag poor Dickens into the theater to read for her. I honestly believed it was all Tom's dream!

I've been thinking about all the "soporifics" - the medications that he'd been taking in an attempt to get to sleep. Do you suppose this is what made him so whoozy and easy to drag around. Poor guy! Matthew, did Jane Bigelow actually take her own life - or try to?

Before we talk more about the 4th Installment, I'd like to make a change in our discussion of the 5th Installment starting tomorrow. The 5th is long - and important. I hate to lump it all into one big 10 day discussion. Can we concentrate on the chapters ~~30 - 39~~ 27-29 this coming week - and then next Saturday, pick up chapters 30 - 39 to finish the discussion of the 5th Installment? Is that all right with everyone?

I've changed the heading -and will send you all a note to remind you. That means less reading for tomorrow's discussion.

October 15-17: Fourth Installment ~ Chapters 23-26

Be right back...
October 18-23: Fifth Installment ~ Chapters 27-29
Oct. 24-28: Fifth Installment cont. - Chapters 30 - 39
October 29-31: Sixth Installment ~ Chapter 40/Historical note

I'll be right back - such interesting posts here today!

JoanP · « **Reply #262 on:** October 17, 2009, 04:03:24 PM »

Really fascinating information here today -

Pat H - I loved reading about your attempt to trace the origin of the opium plants.

Quote

Nasty-looking gunky brown goo--none of us was even slightly tempted to try to figure out how to sample it.

Too bad you hadn't been reading Edwin Drood at the time - you might have learned to heat and mix it until it was the right consistancy to put in your pipes and smoke it!

I gather it is now illegal to do such a thing - even in the name of science?

Andy - pack warm duds for upstate NY next week. I still can't figure why Dickens would have risked his life in that freezing cold river outside of Albany in the winter - to save the drowning livestock. What does this say about him? He loves animals? I do too, but wouldn't risk my own life for even one sheep. Well, maybe to save my little Gaela - but these were sheep and pigs!

We know Dickens had some dogs - and of course his pet raven, Grip. I think a raven is a weird pet too, Ella. Thanks for Poe's poem - it was good to read it again. Matthew mentions Poe's conversation with Dickens - concerning William Godwin's novel - in which he wrote the second half of Caleb Williams before writing the first part?
I noted it, thinking there was some reason for bringing it up here - and sure enough, I see it again in the Fifth Installment, so I won't go into it more here. The whole idea of writing the second half of a novel, before writing the first part caught my attention though. Why mention it here? Did Dickens like this idea - and return to America to write the second half, the ending of Edwin Drood BEFORE he wrote the 6 installments that we consider the first part?
Matthew, is it a fact that this is how William Godwin wrote his novel? And is it a fact that Dickens spoke to Poe about this - or is this part of your storytelling?

JoanK - you've got me interested in reading Dickens' American Notes now. Of course he'd be interested in "the abject state of the press" and the lack of International copyright law in America. He's losing a lot of money. It seems he was more interested in this subject during his first trip - by 1867 he seems to have given it up as a lost cause, wouldn't you say? As Marcie says, he wasn't seeing any of the profit from the sale of all those products based on his characters - like the Dickens' Christmas game.

Also on my desk top I see a note regarding the George Parkman murder case - Andy brought us a link describing the trial and how Parkman's body was identified and his murderer convicted - from his dentures. DIckens was quite interested in this case as related by Oliver Wendal Holmes - it seems to have had an effect on Dickens own story, though we never did see anything about Edwin Drood being identified by the ring in his pocket that did not dissolve in the lime pit. I'm wondering whether any of this conversation with Holmes is fact - and if Holmes really did accompany Dickens to the basement of the Medical College....

PatH · « **Reply #263 on:** October 17, 2009, 08:59:58 PM »

Andy's link to the Parkman-Webster case says: "When Charles Dickens visited Boston in 1867, among his first requests was to see the room where Dr. Parkman had been murdered." But it doesn't say who went with him.

JoanP · « **Reply #264 on:** October 18, 2009, 08:39:07 AM »

Wouldn't you think that since Parkman's body is hidden in Dr. Holmes' medical college basement, the good doctor would have accompanied his curious friend to the basement, Pat? Or, wait a minute, do we know for a fact that this IS the building where Dr. Holmes teaches? Hard to distinguish fact from fiction, isn't it?

Are you ready to delve into the Fifth Installment? - Matthew's turn to shine take off with his own fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed reading of the Troods and the Droods. We'll have to discuss the nephew-uncle relationships in each. Edwin Drood, that nice young man Dicken's protrayed. He seemed not quite fleshed out - you didn't really know much about him, did you?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this...

matthewpearl · « **Reply #265 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:06:00 AM »

Hi everyone! Back to Texas tomorrow for another event for The Poe Shadow. Later in the month I will be in Old Greenwich, CT for a luncheon about The Last Dickens, if any of you are near that neck of the woods.

"1. Am I right in presuming that the incident of rescuing the animals on the train actually happened?"

Yes indeed, this really happened. I love moments like that, and wish someone would do an illustration portraying that scene! (In case anyone wants to read more about it and missed my post above, here is a guest blog post I wrote in part about that scene).

"2. And what about Mrs. Barton? I presume she was a real person, but how much of what she does here really happened?"

Barton is a fictionalized/composite character--there were several stalker-ish people Dickens encountered in his two visits to the U.S., and I've incorporated elements from them, but I've also crafted the character from my imagination (thus giving her a new name). If anyone wants to read about the real female stalker, see the article that I had also posted above.

"3. Matthew, is it a fact that this is how William Godwin wrote his novel, second half first? And is it a fact that Dickens spoke to Poe about this - or is this part of your storytelling?"

Yes, what they talk about Godwin was true (at least it is what Godwin claimed), and, though we do not know exactly what was said in Dickens and Poe's private meeting, I strongly suspect they really spoke about it because of a letter between Dickens and Poe before their meeting. I can't remember if I already posted my blog post on Red Room about Dickens and Poe meeting?

"4. I'm wondering whether any of this conversation with Holmes is fact - and if Holmes really did accompany Dickens to the basement of the Medical College"

Here is the building where Parkman's body was found, as shown in 1878:

Holmes did indeed bring Dickens to the site of Parkman's murder, and through my research I compiled as much as possible of their actual conversation and used it in the scene. For those who read The Dante Club, you might remember Holmes taking about the Parkman case in that novel, too.

ALF43 · « **Reply #266 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:16:08 AM »

I love this. I subscribe to The Week- The best of the U.S. and International Media magazine and LO and behold I found this small article:

"When a destitute Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore in 1849, barely anyone attended his hastily assembled funeral. But this week, hundreds gathered to give the writer a proper send-off, 200 years after his birth. The mourners- some in the 19th century costume, some in 'EVERMORE!" T-shirts accompanied a horse-drawn hearse bearing a coffin containing a mock Poe corpse to Westminster Hall, the converted church next to his actual grave.
Inside, speakers portraying Poe's acquaintances and colleagues eulogized him; the emcee was actor John Austin who toured witha one year Poe show for years. "

I wonder if Mr Dickens was amongst the honored guests.

JoanP · « **Reply #267 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:31:46 AM »

I wonder if Mr. Pearl was there, Andy!

Thanks for your responses to these important questions, Matthew! Be back later to address them - as they have an impact on the story that you write in the Fifth Installment!

matthewpearl · « **Reply #268 on:** October 18, 2009, 12:13:23 PM »

I was invited to give a eulogy at the Poe re-burial/funeral, but unfortunately my travel schedule was already very booked up. I get a little claustrophic, though, so it might have been too crowded for my taste: which is a good thing for Poe!

For any of you Poe fans, and/or readers of The Poe Shadow, you might be interested in a recent post I did for my Red Room blog, Was Edgar Allan Poe really an alcoholic?

ALF43 · « **Reply #269 on:** October 18, 2009, 12:57:39 PM »

wow- wee! Matthew, you were actually invited to give a eulogy at this event? I am impressed and delighted that we are fortunate enough to have you with us.

The eulogies were given, apparently, inside this church. I would imagine that it is a small enclosed, old church not condusive to claustrophobia.

I do not wish to cast aspersions on Mr. Poe's character but, Matthew, could Poe's reaction to alcohol be something else other than a recoil from the alcohol itself ?
Did Poe indulge in drugs, do you know? Many times the ingestion of drugs will potentiate such a strong reaction to alcohol.

Thank you so much for sharing your Red Room blog with us. You always add great questions to our strong dilemmas and existing confusion.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #270 on:** October 18, 2009, 01:33:58 PM »

Thanks Andy. Actually, the only evidence about Poe and drug use is evidence that he was not a drug user. He tried to commit suicide with a very small amount of laudanum, which if he were a drug user would have been pretty meaningless.

A bit of a tangent, I guess--although we can tie things with the changing role of opium we see in The Last Dickens.

ALF43 · « **Reply #271 on:** October 18, 2009, 01:54:51 PM »

Thanks Matthew, it was just a thought.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #272 on:** October 18, 2009, 02:18:47 PM »

And a good one, Andy! It's tough to figure out what was going on with Poe, mentally and physically. I have scraped together some evidence that shows a possible brain tumor, although nothing is certain with EAP.

ALF43 · « **Reply #273 on:** October 18, 2009, 02:55:41 PM »

Strange that you should mention that because that was my next question.
Could it have been an undiagnosed tumor or something neurological? Well of course andy, it is neurological but WHY remains the mystery?
Perhaps we are in the middle of a developing a plot for another story, Matthew.

JoanK · « **Reply #274 on:** October 18, 2009, 03:24:26 PM »

Matthew's already done that in "The Poe Shadow". Matthew, it sounds like you're having a lot of fun as a historical detective.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #275 on:** October 18, 2009, 04:08:01 PM »

It's true Joan, I get to be--in my mind at least--like one of my characters!

JoanK · « **Reply #276 on:** October 18, 2009, 06:03:14 PM »

I can relate to that!!

matthewpearl · « **Reply #277 on:** October 19, 2009, 08:43:20 AM »

For those who like reading some of the external posts, here is another guest blog post I wrote, this one on the role of my editor in writing The Last Dickens. Doesn't give anything away, I promise.

pedln · « **Reply #278 on:** October 19, 2009, 10:09:32 AM »

Matthew, thanks so much for the "external" articles. I've explored some and look forward to the others. The amount of research you do and have done continues to be mind boggling.

But my most recent WOW moment -- Annie Fields was the one who first used the term "incubus" when writing about Jane Bigelow! Amazing. In trying to conjure up any recent spouses (famous/infamous) who made life a bit difficult for their prestigious mates, the only one I can think of is Martha Mitchell (Mrs John -- attorney general back in the 50's? 60's?)

I keep thinking back to The Dante Club whenever the Parkman/Webster case is mentioned. My memory fails me, but did someone involved in that case (not judge Shaw) meet his demise by murder in TDC?

Matthew, in your animal article you mentioned how Dickens could be a hard man, and how his concern for animals showed another side. I thought, too, that his seeking out Poe's mother-in-law and making an effort to visit her, was another example of his compassionate side.

matthewpearl · « **Reply #279 on:** October 19, 2009, 10:14:53 AM »

Ann, you're right about Dickens's contribution to Poe's mother-in-law/aunt, which was one of the reasons I wanted to include that (as well as a further connection to Poe and, of course, to The Poe Shadow). Good memory! in The Dante Club, the fictional judge was based on Judge Lemuel Shaw (Herman Melville's father in law), who presided over the Webster trial.

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Author Topic: Last Dickens, The ~ Matthew Pearl ~ October Book Club Online (Read 68108 times)