A Toast to Charles Dickens
Mr. Chairman, Honourable Guest Mr. Woolf, Ladies and Gentlemen!
To day I feel obliged to propose a toast to Charles Dickens!
Why? Not only because we have an opportunity to celebrate Christmas with our friends of the
Dickens Fellowship in the Dickensian way, but for two special reasons.
The first one: thanks to Him and the encouragement by The Dickens Fellowship to read or
reread one of his novels as book af study, every year, we enjoy much pleasure from reading.
But the second reason is that by doing so we are able to protect Dickens.
You are probably as astonished as I was when realizing, that even He, The Famous One, who
was amused and influenced many generations until now needs protection. I'll tell you why. A
few weeks ago I happened to read a story in a weekly paper, called Libelle - for our English
guest it does not mean Libel, but Dragon fly - (I am embarrassed having to confess I have
taken a subscription to this weekly) and this story drew my attention to its author being Ruth
Rendell, as far as I know a well-known author of detective stories.
The story was called "Verwachtingen", "Expectations"! So I started reading with great
expectations, but to my utter amazement the dramatic personae were: "A Miss Havisham,
owner of a brewery, married to a man called George Compeyson, with a daughter Estella, a
treacherous brother, Arthur, making common cause with Compeyson and the location was:
satis House. Even the ideas of going on wearing her wedding dress and leaving the table with
the wedding cake untouched, covered with cobwebs, and dust for ever etc. were introduced.
Nevertheless, the marriage took place; fortunately George was killed after twenty years,
leaving the widow, "Miss Havisham", with enough money to live happily even after and give
her daughter a bridal gift of20.000 pounds. I was horrified. For, thanks to our book of study
of this year, "Great Expectations", I immediately spotted this flagrant case of plagiarism from
our revered Charles Dickens. I wrote to the Publishers at once and I'm anxiously waiting for
an answer which may never come. Therefore, I wonder wheter the national and international
Dickens Fellowship could support my letter by a burning protest of their own.
So you'll agree that Charles Dickens not only needs our adoration, but also our continuous
attention and alertness to protect him against such brutal attacks from an ignorant outside
world. With that in mind I am proud to be allowed to propose a toast to the memory of The
Irreplaceble and Immortal Charles Dickens.
Roos Andringa-Blok
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