I love Little Dorrit! I think it’s probably my second favourite Dickens after Our Mutual Friend. It’s definitely time for a reread so thanks for the audiobook recommendation - I’m off to buy it now.
I did not know about the readalong but I just started reading it last night! How timely! I won't be joining the Discord people. I really appreciate today's review! Thank you!
Circumlocution department is a lot of fun. It really reads like an early forerunner of British political satire like "Yes Minister". The circumlocution people really are a whole bunch of Sir Humphreys.
Outstanding intro of Little Dorrit without giving away anything for those who haven’t read it yet! I love this book and, as always, Dickens has such a wonderful array of characters! Enjoy, all.
This is PERFECT TIMING!! I haven't read Little Dorrit in 7 years, probably when you last had a read a long 😁, and I just finished another audio book last night and didn't know what to choose next. So thank you!! I'll start it TODAY! happy reading!!
Oh, I want to read this one so much! But I finally picked up Bleak House, mostly because I'm intrigued by your playlist about it and didn't manage to read it during December and January. Perhaps, if I got super excited by Dickens, I could read Bleak House in March and Little Dorrit in April 😅. If not, I'll read it eventually because all those seem to be excellent reasons to read it 😃
One of my favorite Dickensian lines that has stuck with me for several decades has Little Doris saying... "If you please, I was born here, sir." Thanks for another insightful video about our good and mutual friend, Charles Dickens.
I am persuaded! I read and enjoyed Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities back in the day and would like to re read them so now I have an expanding Dickens TBR. Thank you.
I'm only about 7 chapters in and already loving it. This is my 8th Dickens book and it has the most intriguing setup so far. Not a dull moment with the writing, the characters, or the plot!
Hello! Last week, I was contemplating whether I should buy four Dickens novels (A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and Oliver Twist) because they were on sale at the pre-loved bookstore where I usually buy my books. I came across your video 'What the Dickens,' and it definitely convinced me to buy them! 😭 I was just wondering if you've read any of D. H. Lawrence's books, and if so, could you share some of your thoughts or reviews? It's so hard to find reviews or critiques of his work on this app, and I would really appreciate it. I'm thinking of buying his books along with Little Dorrit, which is why I came across this video. 😅
Wonderful intro to Little Dorrit--and yes, totally agree with Reason #2--it is my 2nd favorite after David Copperfield. I have already started listening on audio (my 4th re-read--last read in 2021), which I do mainly in the car. And I am making MANY unnecessary car trips just to listen because I adore this book. I do love Amy, but I think Arthur is my favorite character; he is so nuanced. And of course Young John and Pancks and Doyce and Mrs Plornish and even Flora, with her nonstop chatter and yet very good heart, who goes up in my opinion on each re-read.❤️
Really looking forward to this because as with Bleak House I gave up on it a few years ago even though I'd loved teh TV adaptation I'd just watched! Pretty certain now though that my increased understanding and overall enjoyment of Dickens is going to make it, like BH, a new favourite.
Am currently reading Great Expectations but I also have Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend in my to read stack. Wonder if I'll have the time to read LD by April and take part in the group.
I would really like to join you for this one, but I’m also reading Les Miserables in a read-along in April. I don’t know if this the time to take on Little Dorrit too. You are making it sound very tempting, though!
When I started reading Dickens this and Mutual Friend were some of the first ones - Great Expectations was the other. Little Dorrit was my favorite until I read Mutual Friend. I so agree with your comment about it being the most clear love story, probably why I picked it as a place to begin with Dickens. I think Mutual Friend wins out as my fav dickens as the villain is so awful and complex in Mutual Friend.
For a lot of people if there is a tv series it encourages them to read the book. For me it is the opposite. If I have seen a film or tv program it puts me off the book (maybe because there is so little time and so many books?). For a long time this has put me off reading The Count of Monte Cristo but going to give it a read this year. Best wishes.
Only 10 reasons? Well I suppose Maggy would concur with you given the fact she's only 10 years old.😜 Apparently George Gissing believed Little Dorrit to be perhaps Dickens' best novel.
Wishing all prospective readers joy of it ... of all Dickens' novels I can categorically state that this is the one that I'll never read again. There's plenty of good stuff in it though, so enjoy. In the unlikely event that anyone has time on their hands, The Great Fire Of London by Peter Ackroyd would be an interesting companion piece: no spoilers but it's intimately related to Little Dorrit.
Thankyou for Introducing Little Dorrit. I have read Little Dorrit just once and I took about 8 to 9 months to complete the Entire Book. All I understood that Little Dorrit was under immense burden of Responsibilities and into a Cage.....I would like to read it again Actually I prefer and love to read Books instead of listening 🎧 to Audio Book I want to know on an average how many times should a Student who is keen to learn English Literature and also a student who wants to write a Paper 📜 for project under English Literature should read the Books of Sir Charles Dickens and Madam Jane Austen......It would be really help me.😊😊😊😊 couldn't find better voclarbaries and grammar to put across my question to you if you could consider me as Student of English Literature 😊
Well done and succinct. LD is my wife's favorite Dickens. I've seen the mini-series but have never read it. It is an amazing story. But I'm curious. Because I pretty much have a one-track mind, I've always been leery of listening to books. My mind WILL wander and I'd miss too much. Do you sit quietly when you listen or double- or even multi-task? And Nick, does he listen to audio books or just engage with physical copy?
No, I very rarely sit and just listen to audiobooks - usually, I listen to audiobooks while exercising, cooking, cleaning, walking, doing puzzles, playing storyless computer games, going to the supermarket, etc., or just generally doing anything that gives me brain space to spare for audiobooks. I also listen to audiobooks while driving, though usually only rereads. Nick listens to audiobooks more than he reads physically, and we sometimes listen to audiobooks together.
Thanks. I was wondering if it was just me, or could I point to a gender bias? Alas, it's just me. When first married, my spouse and I used to alternately read a chapter from a novel and discuss as we went along. That was back in the day of crank telephones and hand-cranked ice cream makers, long before audiobooks.@@katiejlumsden
I also want to discover Dickens and am thinking of purchasing the Penguin edition. But I would like to know whether the text in the penguin editions is abridged or complete? (I apologize if this question has already been asked, I might not have seen it😅)
Despite what it's become, The American Experiment, which began in July 1776, decisively defied for the first time in human history the idea that might is right. However, it was limited to a few former British colonies thousands of miles away from the civilized world of market capitalism. So, while it's easy for us today to bash continental capitalism and its gold-based money, while Dickens was writing it seemed reasonable to put people in jail - a poor man's exile - simply because they had nothing to contribute for the greater good, Here though people started expressing the idea that everyone has a natural, innate, and inalienable right to breathe the free air and drink the running waters. Well, I've ranted long enough - Thx Katie!
I can't tell from your post whether you're running down market capitalism or the opposite. Debtors prison is a bad idea, and if you're stating that the US has wisely not (generally) pursued that path, I'm with you. A system that promotes private contributions to charity and basic assistance to the disadvantaged is not a bad thing UNLESS it's yoked to the social and financial system that currently exists in the US. Many of our bureaucracies are bloated and cheered on by blank-check funding and have no reason to solve or even reduce poverty. And if you want to discuss the merits of fiat money versus commodity money, and favor the former, I'm not with you. Monetary inflation (the chase of the value of the unit of exchange to the vanishing point) unfairly taxes the poor and PROMOTES a much greater split between the poor (a growing group) and the very rich.
@@kevinrussell1144 No, I didn't really want to discuss it here and now, on Kate's channel. First of all, my degrees are in History and Law so philosophy and Economics are side interests only which I can't argue properly. The only real point I wanted to make was that the American Revolution was founded on a notion of inalienable human rights - regardless what's become of them today - which was a radical departure from the more severe continental systems. Sometimes we forget how radical that revolution was, to the degree that 80 years later England was still using debtor's prisons. And as a postscript from me, possibly we should consider that the American Revolution represented a limit from which the pendulum could only swing back from.
@@jamesduggan7200 I'm not really sure how debtor's prisons figures into an idea of inalienable human rights. Is it just that freedom unless you are convicted of a crime is a part of those rights? I mean, in the way that you are citing them as a clear instance of something that is against the spirit of the American revolution.
Well, tbh I'm not sure if you've something to say or are interested only in critiquing me. If it is the former, I've really no time so I'll assume you're trying to say that liberty is only a qualified right. I would say that liberty is at the essence of the American experiment, whether we look to the 1776 Declaration or the 1788 Constitution. In both of those we find extreme sensitivity to arbitrary imprisonment, from limitations on judges and fettering the police to the difficulty of proving a punishable crime, in so many ways such as the grand jury rule or the trial by jury of peers. Beyond that I'm not really sure what the rest of your argument is, sorry. But if I am able to flesh it out later, I'll add a postscript.
You are so good at selling books to people. I love to see your love of the books you read.
I love Little Dorrit! I think it’s probably my second favourite Dickens after Our Mutual Friend. It’s definitely time for a reread so thanks for the audiobook recommendation - I’m off to buy it now.
I went to buy it and discovered it’s free! What a bonus!
OK, you’ve convinced me. I can’t do your read along, but after I finish David Copperfield, I will read it next.
I did not know about the readalong but I just started reading it last night! How timely! I won't be joining the Discord people. I really appreciate today's review! Thank you!
I remember laughing so much at some of the stuff around the circumlocution (?) department. It reminded me of a company I used to work for! Haha.
Circumlocution department is a lot of fun. It really reads like an early forerunner of British political satire like "Yes Minister". The circumlocution people really are a whole bunch of Sir Humphreys.
@@paulhammond6978 So true! Very Sir Humphrey.
You are great. I love your enthusiasm.
Outstanding intro of Little Dorrit without giving away anything for those who haven’t read it yet! I love this book and, as always, Dickens has such a wonderful array of characters! Enjoy, all.
This is PERFECT TIMING!! I haven't read Little Dorrit in 7 years, probably when you last had a read a long 😁, and I just finished another audio book last night and didn't know what to choose next. So thank you!! I'll start it TODAY! happy reading!!
Oh, I want to read this one so much! But I finally picked up Bleak House, mostly because I'm intrigued by your playlist about it and didn't manage to read it during December and January. Perhaps, if I got super excited by Dickens, I could read Bleak House in March and Little Dorrit in April 😅. If not, I'll read it eventually because all those seem to be excellent reasons to read it 😃
I can't wait to read Little Dorrit, this and Dombey & Son were the 2 I was most excited to get to in this readalong.
Another great video
I might join this readalong in April, this book sounds super interesting!
One of my favorite Dickensian lines that has stuck with me for several decades has Little Doris saying... "If you please, I was born here, sir." Thanks for another insightful video about our good and mutual friend, Charles Dickens.
Oops! Little Dorrit! Not Little Doris!!!
I am persuaded! I read and enjoyed Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities back in the day and would like to re read them so now I have an expanding Dickens TBR. Thank you.
I'm only about 7 chapters in and already loving it. This is my 8th Dickens book and it has the most intriguing setup so far. Not a dull moment with the writing, the characters, or the plot!
I think I will join in, for the first time. I’ve been thinking recently that I should read more Dickens and Little Dorrit sounds really interesting.
I am really excited to read this one day!
Hello! Last week, I was contemplating whether I should buy four Dickens novels (A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and Oliver Twist) because they were on sale at the pre-loved bookstore where I usually buy my books. I came across your video 'What the Dickens,' and it definitely convinced me to buy them! 😭 I was just wondering if you've read any of D. H. Lawrence's books, and if so, could you share some of your thoughts or reviews? It's so hard to find reviews or critiques of his work on this app, and I would really appreciate it.
I'm thinking of buying his books along with Little Dorrit, which is why I came across this video. 😅
I adore Little Dorrit! I haven’t read all of Dickens’s novels, but from the 12th that I’ve read it might be my 2nd favourite! 🖤
Wonderful intro to Little Dorrit--and yes, totally agree with Reason #2--it is my 2nd favorite after David Copperfield. I have already started listening on audio (my 4th re-read--last read in 2021), which I do mainly in the car. And I am making MANY unnecessary car trips just to listen because I adore this book. I do love Amy, but I think Arthur is my favorite character; he is so nuanced. And of course Young John and Pancks and Doyce and Mrs Plornish and even Flora, with her nonstop chatter and yet very good heart, who goes up in my opinion on each re-read.❤️
Arthur is great, isn't he? I've also been listening to Little Dorrit while driving :)
Really looking forward to this because as with Bleak House I gave up on it a few years ago even though I'd loved teh TV adaptation I'd just watched! Pretty certain now though that my increased understanding and overall enjoyment of Dickens is going to make it, like BH, a new favourite.
I’ll be reading this for the first time and I haven’t seen an adaptation of it. It’s going to be completely new to me.
One of my favorite Dickens novels.
Am currently reading Great Expectations but I also have Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend in my to read stack. Wonder if I'll have the time to read LD by April and take part in the group.
Wonderful intro to Little Dorrit, Katie!😊
I would really like to join you for this one, but I’m also reading Les Miserables in a read-along in April. I don’t know if this the time to take on Little Dorrit too. You are making it sound very tempting, though!
When I started reading Dickens this and Mutual Friend were some of the first ones - Great Expectations was the other. Little Dorrit was my favorite until I read Mutual Friend. I so agree with your comment about it being the most clear love story, probably why I picked it as a place to begin with Dickens. I think Mutual Friend wins out as my fav dickens as the villain is so awful and complex in Mutual Friend.
Our Mutual Friend is just the best.
For a lot of people if there is a tv series it encourages them to read the book. For me it is the opposite. If I have seen a film or tv program it puts me off the book (maybe because there is so little time and so many books?). For a long time this has put me off reading The Count of Monte Cristo but going to give it a read this year. Best wishes.
Only 10 reasons? Well I suppose Maggy would concur with you given the fact she's only 10 years old.😜 Apparently George Gissing believed Little Dorrit to be perhaps Dickens' best novel.
Wishing all prospective readers joy of it ... of all Dickens' novels I can categorically state that this is the one that I'll never read again. There's plenty of good stuff in it though, so enjoy. In the unlikely event that anyone has time on their hands, The Great Fire Of London by Peter Ackroyd would be an interesting companion piece: no spoilers but it's intimately related to Little Dorrit.
Some of the video versions change the ending. (Please nobody give any spoilers about how it winds down near the end).
Can you speak slower, pleaseee?😭 people who are not familiar with English can't understand it very well, I'm Brazilian and I love your videos ❤️
Katie does speak fast doesn't she? :) Sometimes I go into settings and change the playback speed to 0.75 ;)
I turn the speed down too, love Katie's videos but at normal speed it's like being verbally run over by a train.@@warrengilson1835
Thankyou for Introducing Little Dorrit.
I have read Little Dorrit just once and I took about 8 to 9 months to complete the Entire Book. All I understood that Little Dorrit was under immense burden of Responsibilities and into a Cage.....I would like to read it again
Actually I prefer and love to read Books instead of listening 🎧 to Audio Book
I want to know on an average how many times should a Student who is keen to learn English Literature and also a student who wants to write a Paper 📜 for project under English Literature should read the Books of Sir Charles Dickens and Madam Jane Austen......It would be really help me.😊😊😊😊 couldn't find better voclarbaries and grammar to put across my question to you if you could consider me as Student of English Literature 😊
Well done and succinct. LD is my wife's favorite Dickens. I've seen the mini-series but have never read it. It is an amazing story.
But I'm curious. Because I pretty much have a one-track mind, I've always been leery of listening to books. My mind WILL wander and I'd miss too much.
Do you sit quietly when you listen or double- or even multi-task? And Nick, does he listen to audio books or just engage with physical copy?
No, I very rarely sit and just listen to audiobooks - usually, I listen to audiobooks while exercising, cooking, cleaning, walking, doing puzzles, playing storyless computer games, going to the supermarket, etc., or just generally doing anything that gives me brain space to spare for audiobooks. I also listen to audiobooks while driving, though usually only rereads. Nick listens to audiobooks more than he reads physically, and we sometimes listen to audiobooks together.
Thanks.
I was wondering if it was just me, or could I point to a gender bias? Alas, it's just me.
When first married, my spouse and I used to alternately read a chapter from a novel and discuss as we went along. That was back in the day of crank telephones and hand-cranked ice cream makers, long before audiobooks.@@katiejlumsden
I also want to discover Dickens and am thinking of purchasing the Penguin edition. But I would like to know whether the text in the penguin editions is abridged or complete? (I apologize if this question has already been asked, I might not have seen it😅)
Yes, the Penguin editions are unabridged and complete.
@@katiejlumsden Thanks!
Despite what it's become, The American Experiment, which began in July 1776, decisively defied for the first time in human history the idea that might is right. However, it was limited to a few former British colonies thousands of miles away from the civilized world of market capitalism. So, while it's easy for us today to bash continental capitalism and its gold-based money, while Dickens was writing it seemed reasonable to put people in jail - a poor man's exile - simply because they had nothing to contribute for the greater good, Here though people started expressing the idea that everyone has a natural, innate, and inalienable right to breathe the free air and drink the running waters. Well, I've ranted long enough - Thx Katie!
I can't tell from your post whether you're running down market capitalism or the opposite. Debtors prison is a bad idea, and if you're stating that the US has wisely not (generally) pursued that path, I'm with you. A system that promotes private contributions to charity and basic assistance to the disadvantaged is not a bad thing UNLESS it's yoked to the social and financial system that currently exists in the US. Many of our bureaucracies are bloated and cheered on by blank-check funding and have no reason to solve or even reduce poverty.
And if you want to discuss the merits of fiat money versus commodity money, and favor the former, I'm not with you. Monetary inflation (the chase of the value of the unit of exchange to the vanishing point) unfairly taxes the poor and PROMOTES a much greater split between the poor (a growing group) and the very rich.
@@kevinrussell1144 No, I didn't really want to discuss it here and now, on Kate's channel. First of all, my degrees are in History and Law so philosophy and Economics are side interests only which I can't argue properly. The only real point I wanted to make was that the American Revolution was founded on a notion of inalienable human rights - regardless what's become of them today - which was a radical departure from the more severe continental systems. Sometimes we forget how radical that revolution was, to the degree that 80 years later England was still using debtor's prisons. And as a postscript from me, possibly we should consider that the American Revolution represented a limit from which the pendulum could only swing back from.
I'm with you. Thanks.@@jamesduggan7200
@@jamesduggan7200 I'm not really sure how debtor's prisons figures into an idea of inalienable human rights. Is it just that freedom unless you are convicted of a crime is a part of those rights? I mean, in the way that you are citing them as a clear instance of something that is against the spirit of the American revolution.
Well, tbh I'm not sure if you've something to say or are interested only in critiquing me. If it is the former, I've really no time so I'll assume you're trying to say that liberty is only a qualified right. I would say that liberty is at the essence of the American experiment, whether we look to the 1776 Declaration or the 1788 Constitution. In both of those we find extreme sensitivity to arbitrary imprisonment, from limitations on judges and fettering the police to the difficulty of proving a punishable crime, in so many ways such as the grand jury rule or the trial by jury of peers. Beyond that I'm not really sure what the rest of your argument is, sorry. But if I am able to flesh it out later, I'll add a postscript.