Re: questions

Charles Dickens (cdickens@rmplc.co.uk)
Thu, 27 Nov 1997 15:23:50 -0100 

My dear Miss Juli,

  So many questions!  I'm tempted to say, with Mrs Joe, that people who do
all sorts of bad things always begin by asking questions.  But no!  I shall
not discourage curiosity in the young.
  Do I enjoy writing, you ask.  Writing is what I do, I can only reply, and
for the most part I enjoy it.  Enjoy it hugely, indeed.  But there are
moments, I have to say, not far short of agony - when a publisher's deadline
is to be met, the words come slow, and the creatures of my imagination
stubbornly refuse to do what I want them to do.  These moments pass,
however, and only rarely am I not pleased with the result.
  You will find when you become a matronly creature, advanced in years, that
you no longer have a favourite story or book.  So much reading, so much
experience, so many changes in taste - all these things leave you with a
list of favourites, with none predominant.  Perhaps the book that was
longest my favourite, in my green and tender youth, was the "Arabian
Nights," but to that must be added "Tom Jones," "Roderick Random," a dozen
or so novels by Sir Walter Scott - and that is to think only of fiction.  I
dare not begin to think of drama, though of course Shakespeare reigns there.
  You find "Great Expectations" confusing, you say.  What do I advise?  The
book is meant to be confusing.  There are mysteries to be exposed.  If it
were transparent to begin with, there would be no surprises.  That's the way
I designed it, and I am pleased with it.  For all that, I do have advice.
Go to a good library, and find a reference book with a good summary of the
plot.  There is a brief one in the "Oxford Companion to English Literature,"
but there are also a number of books devoted entirely (ahem!) to the works
of the Inimitable.  In these you can also look up entries on the individual
characters.  A recent one is Mr Newlin's mighty work, "Everyone in Dickens."
  Nothing could please me more than your enjoyment of "A Christmas Carol,"
over which I laughed and cried, as I wrote it.


Faithfully yours,



Charles Dickens
____________________________________________________________________________
________


>   Dear Mr. Charles Dickens,
>
>       Hello, how are you?  Do you enjoy writing?  What is your favorite story or
>book.  Did you have any influences to write what you do?  Our class is
>reading "Great Expectations".  I find the book quite confusing.  I'm having
>trouble understanding it.  Do you have any advice?  What do you think of
>the book.  Is it one of your favorites?  I like the story "A Christmas
>Carol".  Its a really great story.  Here in Illinois, at the theatre, they
>put on a play "The Christmas Carol."  It was very good.  I think that you
>are a very great writer.  You have many talents that make you what you are
>and puts meaning into your work.
>
>
>                                            Always,
>
>                                                Juli
>
>

======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author