Daniel Quilp - perhaps the only man who can maker Uriah Heep seem an attractive proposition. Dickens really does manage to make him seem totally sinister even before we get to the really creepy side of him. I think it's partly that we don't know what he does or his connections to Little Nell's family, but we can see the power he has over them.
The conversation between the women is (almost) a delight. We see the women scoring points off each other and it is rather funny (you'd want to cast good comic actors for that), but the sense of menace is still there, and that takes the edge off it a bit.
As it moves to Quilps's workplace, it becomes a bit blurry. The young lad (did I miss his name?) doesn't really seem that bothered by Quilp, and goes back to standing on his hands. Even though Quilp is violent towards him, the boy seems almost able to shrug it off. Somehow, I don't think he will be one to provide any help if Quilp finds himself in trouble. (And the same goes for Mrs Quilp, her mother and, probably, everybody else.)
What I'm finding interesting about the book is that, up to now, we've had a lot of atmosphere but not really a lot of plot - although I'd bet that a lot of the groundwork is being laid for the plotlines. Money, I would hazard a guess, is going to be a significant factor.
And, yes, I'm desperate to know why Little Nell has turned up!
This continues to be in David Lean black and white to me (and I say that as a definite positive).
Growing up I loved a miniseries adaptation of this novel where the grandfather was played by Sir Peter Ustinov and Quilp by Tom Courtenay. I can’t help but hear his voice while I read and I was surprised to recognize some of the screen dialogue actually came straight from the book. In that series the acrobatic crony scared me a bit and that sense of unease about his walking on his hands remains for me on this first read nearly 20 years later…
Yes, Quilp... What a bizarre character. The breakfast scene reminded me of Denethor in the Lord of the Rings movie... :) So, what drives Quilp, we wonder... He's vile to his wife, but seems to greet Little Nell quite civilly, and as Bren commented, there's this "strange kind of mutual liking" between him and "the boy". Intriguing.
I also loved the descriptions of the river and the ships in this episode: "Coming slowly on through the forests of masts was a great steamship, beating the water in short impatient strokes with her heavy paddles as though she wanted room to breathe, and advancing in her huge bulk like a sea monster among the minnows of the Thames. On either hand were long black tiers of colliers; between them vessels slowly working out of harbour with sails glistening in the sun, and creaking noise on board, re-echoed from a hundred quarters. The water and all upon it was in active motion, dancing and buoyant and bubbling up; while the old grey Tower and piles of building on the shore, with many a church-spire shooting up between, looked coldly on, and seemed to disdain their chafing, restless neighbour."
As a modest reader of Charles Dickens, I’ve heard of Quilp and am happy to finally meet him, though he’s quite a rogue. Should be the memorable character I’ve heard him to be.
On a related note, it was also interesting to see what Dickens did with the framing narrative of Master Humphrey’s Clock as it sort of ran its course. After our next reading, I’ve looked ahead and there are only two more installments of Master Humphrey, once after the end of
The Old Curiosity Shop as a lead in to Barnaby Rudge and again at the end of Barnaby Rudge, as the club comes to an end.
Daniel Quilp - perhaps the only man who can maker Uriah Heep seem an attractive proposition. Dickens really does manage to make him seem totally sinister even before we get to the really creepy side of him. I think it's partly that we don't know what he does or his connections to Little Nell's family, but we can see the power he has over them.
The conversation between the women is (almost) a delight. We see the women scoring points off each other and it is rather funny (you'd want to cast good comic actors for that), but the sense of menace is still there, and that takes the edge off it a bit.
As it moves to Quilps's workplace, it becomes a bit blurry. The young lad (did I miss his name?) doesn't really seem that bothered by Quilp, and goes back to standing on his hands. Even though Quilp is violent towards him, the boy seems almost able to shrug it off. Somehow, I don't think he will be one to provide any help if Quilp finds himself in trouble. (And the same goes for Mrs Quilp, her mother and, probably, everybody else.)
What I'm finding interesting about the book is that, up to now, we've had a lot of atmosphere but not really a lot of plot - although I'd bet that a lot of the groundwork is being laid for the plotlines. Money, I would hazard a guess, is going to be a significant factor.
And, yes, I'm desperate to know why Little Nell has turned up!
This continues to be in David Lean black and white to me (and I say that as a definite positive).
Growing up I loved a miniseries adaptation of this novel where the grandfather was played by Sir Peter Ustinov and Quilp by Tom Courtenay. I can’t help but hear his voice while I read and I was surprised to recognize some of the screen dialogue actually came straight from the book. In that series the acrobatic crony scared me a bit and that sense of unease about his walking on his hands remains for me on this first read nearly 20 years later…
Yes, Quilp... What a bizarre character. The breakfast scene reminded me of Denethor in the Lord of the Rings movie... :) So, what drives Quilp, we wonder... He's vile to his wife, but seems to greet Little Nell quite civilly, and as Bren commented, there's this "strange kind of mutual liking" between him and "the boy". Intriguing.
I also loved the descriptions of the river and the ships in this episode: "Coming slowly on through the forests of masts was a great steamship, beating the water in short impatient strokes with her heavy paddles as though she wanted room to breathe, and advancing in her huge bulk like a sea monster among the minnows of the Thames. On either hand were long black tiers of colliers; between them vessels slowly working out of harbour with sails glistening in the sun, and creaking noise on board, re-echoed from a hundred quarters. The water and all upon it was in active motion, dancing and buoyant and bubbling up; while the old grey Tower and piles of building on the shore, with many a church-spire shooting up between, looked coldly on, and seemed to disdain their chafing, restless neighbour."
Very evocative.
As a modest reader of Charles Dickens, I’ve heard of Quilp and am happy to finally meet him, though he’s quite a rogue. Should be the memorable character I’ve heard him to be.
On a related note, it was also interesting to see what Dickens did with the framing narrative of Master Humphrey’s Clock as it sort of ran its course. After our next reading, I’ve looked ahead and there are only two more installments of Master Humphrey, once after the end of
The Old Curiosity Shop as a lead in to Barnaby Rudge and again at the end of Barnaby Rudge, as the club comes to an end.