I’m on a Dickens kick. I figure it will carry me for the next year or so, and I’m deeply grateful for that; I know my late-nights will be filled with meaning and delight.
But here’s something that irritates me no end. I’m reading Penguin editions because I figure they’re the best; and I like to read the endnotes– to get a feeling for London geography; for what the workhouse meant; for the history of the Gordon Riots, and so forth.
I was reading this edition of Oliver Twist, when in Chapter 9, Oliver falls into the evil grasp of Fagin and his ring. Fagin asks the Artful Dodger “whether there had been much of crowd at the execution that morning.” The editor offered a footnote. I turned to the back, and read:
Executions were held in public in England until 1868; at the end of Chapter 52 Dickens describes briefly the crowds gathering for Fagin’s own execution.
Huh! So Fagin will be killed at the end of the book. I didn’t know that!
I put this down as an aberration, till I was reading Martin Chuzzlewit, and the famous American chapters of the book. In Chapter 22, young Martin Chuzzlewit has a bad night: “he had a sense of a terrible oppression on his mind; an imperfect dream that he had murdered a particular friend, and couldn’t get rid of the body.”
Another footnote. I turned to the back:
“Perhaps a proleptic reference to Jonas’s murder of Montague Tigg.”
Jonas Chuzzlewit murders Montague Tigg near the end of the book. P.S. Martin Chuzzlewit’s not a very compelling story; and the dark characters of Jonas Chuzzlewit and Montague Tigg are two of the only ones I cared about in the book. Just as I cared about the Jew Fagin more than any other character in Oliver Twist.
The art of storytelling of course involves the disclosure of the right information at the right moment. But Charles Dickens was evidently wrong in two novels to put off the killings of Montague Tigg and Fagin till the ends of the books.
I think the first editor is Peter Fairclough. The second one is Patricia Ingham. Theirs is a special place in the literary fundament.
So, Phil Weiss, what should we make about your preferences within Dickens’ work? You said nothing about the Dickens story most Americans ponder, enjoy every Xmas as a part of their Christian upbringing. I suggest you consult your wife, and add a supplement to this article–don’t bother to consult with Chevy Chase.
I read Oliver Twist so long ago that I’ve forgotten everything.
Fortunately, there’s Wikipedia, whose plot summary includes the execution of Fagin.
Those are annoying footnotes, which will make you skip them altogether.
They should preclude them with a warning.
Maybe you’d enjoy The Mumbai Chuzzlewits? India’s been having a Dickens love affair (or, reportedly was last year).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018z7pl
Good for you Phil. Hope that Our Mutual Friend will be on your list at some point. So many great characters to meet, especially the strong and inspiring Lizzie Hexam and Jenny Wren. Not to mention numerous rascals and London’s nouveaux-riches whom Dickens skewers so well.