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Realism and Reality in Dickens's Characters:
Dickens Seen through the Eyes of Dutch Writers1
Jan Lokin
had audience with him in a turn-up bedstead, with a cut in his forehead or a black
eye, bearing witness to his excesses overnight, 1 am afraid he was very quarrelsome
in his drink".
Last month I read Graham Green's "Travels with my Aunt". This confession rules
me out of the 'strictly Dickens department', you'll understand that. The father of one
of the leading characters, Henry Pulling, confined himself to the works of Sir Walter
Scott. His theory was that once he had finished with the last novel he had forgotten
what was in the first and could easily start all over again. So why bother with other
writers. The man was what you may call 'a ladies man', and if you read about all his
adventures, one can wonder how he had time left to read at all, let alone the
complete works of Scott and then start reading it all over again.
And there is that short story of Evelyn Waugh, called "The man who loved
Dickens". Set in the Amazon, where the lost traveller Mr. Hasty finds refuge with a
Mr. McMaster, who lives in the jungle. The only books McMaster has are the
complete works of Dickens. The problem for him is that he can't read. So he
suggests to Hasty that he reads Dickens to him while they wait for the search party
that Hasty trusts, will come some day. But as time goes by, Hasty is still reading
Dickens to McMaster. One day he finds a scrap of paper between the pages of one of
the books with the single word "Help". Left there by his predecessor. And when the
search party finally arrives, Hasty is drugged by McMaster, who tells them that
Hasty has tragically died, shows them the grave of Hasty's predecessor and gives
them Hasty's watch as a remembrance. When Hasty awakes, he is left with
McMaster and a strict diet of Dickens. Without his watch, but then again, who
needs a watch when one isn't going anywhere. Who needs a watch when reading
Dickens. Just read on!
Now should we answer that question that 1 put up, about if it is wise to read just
Dickens.
No, let's not answer it. Not tonight at least. For tonight it isn't really a relevant
question. We are the Dickens Fellowship, the Haarlem Branch, in its two hundred
and twenty second meeting, and with us here it is all about Dickens, and Dickens
alone. Let's honour the man who gave as so much joy when we've read his novels
for the first time and equally for the second, third and who knows how many times
we read them. It is therefore ladies and gentlemen, dear Dickensians, that 1 may
invite you, with great pleasure, to fill your glasses, to stand up and drink to the
Immortal Memory of Charles Dickens.
Dit artikel is eerder gepubliceerd in The Dickensian, Spring 2009 No. 477 Vol. 105
Part. Met dank aan Jan Lokin en Malcolm Andrews, editor of the The Dickensian, is
het nu te lezen in the Dutch Dickensian.
