Worth a Thousand Words: O'Toole Reads

O'Toole Reads
via Awesome People Reading

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a strangely fascinating tale and you can easily see why it was so popular in its day. The poverty-stricken Nell and her grandfather escaping the villainous dwarf Quilp has all the makings of The Fugitive. Everyone suspects that the grandfather is wealthy and it would be worth while to clap him into the insane asylum while marrying Nell when she comes of age. (A brief note here, Nell is continually called "the child" so I was surprised to find that she is actually 14 years old. This makes much more believable her dual innocence and ingenuity in escaping ill wishers.)

Charles Dickens' early novels often included a road trip, but adding the element of penniless escape from a determined hunt for such innocent figures had me on the edge of my seat. Who would they encounter next? Would chance acquaintances really help Nell and Grandfather or would they try to turn them in for a reward? Adding to that is the grandfather's mysterious problem which leads the fugitives the brink of disaster when it is revealed. This leaves the reader with a gripping sense of peril.

As is always the case, Dickens treats us to a host of memorable characters. Touring the countryside leads to encounters with sideshow type performers, a wax museum, and many other oddities of the time. In this sense The Old Curiosity Shop could be taken to refer to the journey itself, replete with eccentricities that will either move or startle the viewer.

My favorite character was that charming ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller. Thinking it over, I realized that he is the only character in the book who shows growth and moral development. That is unusual for such a minor character, but as we follow Dick's path through the book we see that he has a talent for discerning the truth, treating others considerately, and for taking action when needed. All this is done without ever making him sentimental or annoying. His story is almost always told through behind-the-scenes action such as when we see him playing cards with the Marchioness. This is a foreshadowing of Dickens' talent which will bloom greatly in his later books.

The audiobook was performed by veteran narrator and actor Anton Lesser. Lesser brings his acting background to more than just voice performances. Sometimes a world of meaning is conveyed through a sigh, a pregnant pause, coy delivery, or deliberate pacing. It left me always eager to return to the book even though I'd read it before.

The Old Curiosity Shop is very enjoyable and not just the soppy, sentimental book we all think we "know" because it is common knowledge that Nell dies in the end.

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Review copy of audiobook provided by SFFaudio.

Worth a Thousand Words: Gray Seal

Gray Seal
taken by the brilliant Remo Savisaar

Well Said: The quality of someone's life

We never know the quality of someone else's life, though we seldom resist the temptation to assume and pass judgment.

Tami Hoag, Dark Horse

Ain't that the truth!

Worth a Thousand Words: Burnt Matches and a Tree

Burnt Matches and a Tree
by Owen Swain

Well Said: Making heroes of ourselves

Do you think,’ said Tom, with a grave smile, ‘that even if she had never seen him, it is very likely she would have fallen in love with Me?’

‘Why not, dear Tom?’

Tom shook his head, and smiled again.

‘You think of me, Ruth,’ said Tom, ‘and it is very natural that you should, as if I were a character in a book; and you make it a sort of poetical justice that I should, by some impossible means or other, come, at last, to marry the person I love. But there is a much higher justice than poetical justice, my dear, and it does not order events upon the same principle. Accordingly, people who read about heroes in books, and choose to make heroes of themselves out of books, consider it a very fine thing to be discontented and gloomy, and misanthropical, and perhaps a little blasphemous, because they cannot have everything ordered for their individual accommodation. Would you like me to become one of that sort of people?’

Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit

This really struck me since it applies just as much in our own time, if not more. How many of us allow ourselves to be discontented because it isn't "ordered for our individual accommodation?" This is heavily influenced by the "way things should be" in books, movies, social media, and more; all without the balance of any sort of grounding in "higher justice."

Worth a Thousand Words: Whimsical Numbers

Whimsical Numbers
by Melissa B. Tubbs

Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I didn't expect to like this book very much. It is almost unknown, it is an earlier book, and it has a section savagely satirizing Americans. I was, therefore, quite surprised to find myself really enjoying it and picking it up whenever possible, especially toward the end which had a lot of surprising twists. It really struck me as a bridging work between the "road trip" early novels where the protagonist doesn't change much and the later, greater works which are greatly satisfying as complete stories.

Reading G.K. Chesterton's commentary on it afterward, I thought it was funny that he thought the novel didn't come alive until Martin got to America, while that was the part I most disliked. I could take the attacks on the American character. After all, what are many of Dickens' most well known characters, if not attacks on aspects of the British character? It was that Dickens hit one note and one note only in America, with none of the more complete humor and development that he gives to those like Mrs. Gamp or Mr. Pecksniff. So it became boring. The saving grace for that section was Martin's growth and Mark Tapley, who, as the Sam Weller of the novel, I could read about all day.

There are two Martin Chuzzlewits in this book, the grandfather and the grandson. The question I carried throughout the book was which one the book is named after? By the end, I feel as if I had my answer, though it is left open for the reader to decide.

Definitely recommended. I'd have given it 3-1/2 stars if GoodReads allowed it, but the surprise of having so much more to the book than I expected prompted me to go higher since I was forced to choose.

Well Said: Dealing out death in judgment

Flipping through my first quote journal, this seemed eerily appropriate to this day.

Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Worth a Thousand Words: Dogs from Europe

Dogs from Europe, Hashimoto Kansetsu
via Arts Everyday Living

There is something wonderful about these Russian dogs painted Japanese style.

Worth a Thousand Words: Mother Figure

Mother Figure
by Karin Jurick

Karin Jurick's museum series is a favorite of mine and I encourage you to look around at her site to find more. Also, she's got great insights and information about Whistler's Mother, so don't miss those.

The March for Life in Canada, Ireland, Italy, England, Peru, Mexico ...

The March for Life in Washington, D.C. has inspired a worldwide March for Life movement.

I had no idea. We are not alone. Take a look.

Intimate Graces: How Practicing the Works of Mercy Brings Out the Best in Marriage by Teresa Tomeo

Intimate Graces: How Practicing the Works of Mercy Brings Out the Best in Marriage by Teresa Tomeo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Catholic Church encourages believers to perform Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, tangible actions that show charity toward others. In Intimate Graces, Teresa Tomeo and her husband, Dominick Pastore, demonstrate how applying the fourteen traditional virtues of Catholic spirituality can foster deeper intimacy in any marriage. The couple uses personal stories and reflections, as well as the experiences of other Catholic couples, to show how a husband and wife can become, in a real way, a haven of compassion and virtue for each other. Tomeo and Pastore each write in their own voice and include reflection questions, practical suggestions, and a prayer at the end of each chapter.

This is the sort of book that I'd give to any couple experiencing a bit of strain. Actually, I suppose that is everyone as even good marriages are always a balancing act.

It can sound a bit academic or offputting when reading that the basic concept of the book "demonstrates how applying the fourteen traditional virtues of Catholic spirituality" leads to a better marriage. However, Tomeo's warm personal style and the couple's many stories about their marriage take the forefront. The virtues are woven throughout in ways that make a lot of sense and don't club you over the head.

Worth a Thousand Words: On the Heights

Charles Courtney Curran, On the Heights, c. 1909
via Arts Everyday Living

Well Said: Laden with rites and rituals, lousy with saints and scapulars

Another good 'un found by idly paging through my first quote journal.

When I took my first look at you, my church, I fell madly in love. You were creaky with history, rejuvenated by change, laden with rites and rituals, lousy with saints and scapulars. You dressed gaudily with bells and smells, charms and mysteries. You were deep. You had style. I chose you. You were the kind of lover to make a mother say, "Stay away from that one! Trouble!"

Carol Bonomo

Well Said: The droplet of water and God's mercy

Still dipping into my first quote journal.

Suddenly the wave crashed at my feet. … When I looked up, I noticed that a tiny droplet of water had hit the top of my hand. It was so beautiful. It glistened like a diamond in the sun.

The droplet affected me so deeply with its beauty that I felt unworthy of it, and to my own surprise, as I stood there, I threw it back into the ocean.

My odd little peace was broken when I felt the Lord say to me, "Angelica?"

I said, "Yes, Lord?"

"Did you see the drop?"

I said, "Yes, Lord."

"That drop is like all of your sins, your weaknesses, your frailties and your imperfections. And the ocean is like My Mercy. If you looked for that drop, could yu find it?"

I said, "No, Lord."

"If you looked and looked, could you find it?"

I said, "No, Lord."

And then He said to me, ever so quietly. "So why do you keep looking?"

Mother Angelica

Worth a Thousand Words: Just So Stories

Just So frontispiece
by Himmapaan

‘…he was a small ‘Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way’

Worth a Thousand Word: Exotic lunch!

Taken by my brother and posted to Facebook. Too good not to share.

Well Said: what we are at this moment, is planned to be like that

I've been dipping into my very first quote journal and have been enjoying it so much that I'm taking y'all with me. After all, that's the point of a quote journal, right? To revisit the quotes because they were so good.

There is one big thing we can do with God's help, that is, we can trust God's plan, we can put aside any quibbling or bitterness about ourselves and what we are.

We can accept and seize upon the fact that what we are at this moment, young or old, strong or weak, mild or passionate, beautiful or ugly, clever or stupid, is planned to be like that. Whatever we are gives form to the emptiness in us which can only be filled by God, and which God is even now waiting to fill.

Caryll Houselander

This not only reassures me about qualities that I perceive as failings, but makes me ponder the nature of God (ineffable as that is). What does it show me about God, that all these variables are part of His plan? And what does it say about me that I am continually surprised by this idea?

Worth a Thousand Words: A Night of Lights

A Night of Lights
by the talented Edward B. Gordon