Little Dorrit

This. Is. Incredible. I genuinely loved every minute of it! I started it on holiday and although it isn't your typical holiday read, it was lovely to read it when I was in Italy, seeing as some of the story is set around where we were staying. All very exciting stuff...

Perhaps not Dickens's most comprehensible of works at some points, it is partly autobiographical; Dickens's father spent some years in the Marshalsea prison, and Dickens, at a very young age, had to start working in order to get money together to get him out. This clearly had a rather significant effect on Dickens, as he is very clear on the effect that the Marshalsea has on William Dorrit - it eventually drives him mad. There are constant references to the "shadow of the Marshalsea walls" that affects everything from the weather to the moods of the inmates.

I utterly adored Little Dorrit, or to call her by her proper name, Amy. Being the Child of the Marshalsea obviously means that she has strong connections with it, and so it is ever present in her personality and is at the forefront of her thoughts and actions. She is eternally sweet and unassuming, particularly towards her father, who she dotes on and who is very disapproving of her behaviour towards him in their new-found fortune. His pride and utter awareness of their new social standing makes him slightly repellant towards her. Such treatment of her makes him the most disgusting character in the book, maybe excepting his elder daughter Fanny. At one particularly poignant point during the story, William Dorrit is having a crisis and is reduced to tears over it. Amy, who consistently thinks of him, tries to comfort him, even though she herself is in emotional turmoil, and he takes no notice of her troubles and urges her to fix his problems. At that point, every nerve in my body was strained against William. Anyone who could mistreat dear Amy must be pure evil...

Apart from the Dorrit storyline, there is also a sub-storyline about Arthur Clennam and his prospects, and his mother's business dealings with a shady wrongdoer named Rigaud (or Lagnier, or Blandois) which adds colour and a darker feel to the slightly sugary and pity-mongering story of the Dorrits. The overall product is just fantastic; it makes for a bloody good read (yes, it's true, Dickens really could write a page-turner!) and I really would recommend it looking to read a book that appears to be intellectual, but is actually little more than an extended written soap opera...! Next I'll be reading By The Pricking Of My Thumbs, by Agatha Christie, so look out for the next post!