Learning English literature

[mosaix]

I remember reading Moonfleet at school, our English teacher was a very dramatic reader and there was a scene were the hero leaps through a window and we half expected our teacher to do the same.

We read it at school as well. I remember the noise made by the coffins moving around in the flooded crypt...

 

[Vladd67]

We read it at school as well. I remember the noise made by the coffins moving around in the flooded crypt...

Maybe I'll get a copy and give it another read. I know I enjoyed it at school.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I have a few of those on my shelf, and some I've read. Journey to the Centre of the Earth was possibly my first exposure to SF when I was bought a big illustrated edition when I was 10 or 11. And I still have it! I suspect its abridged though. It would be fun to read it again!
Also I have Stapledon's First and Last Men in penguin classics on my shelf, but not read it yet. I imagine it to be hard going

Have you listened to Rick Wakeman's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. It's a bit like Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, but with more music and less singing. Well worth a look.

 

[AE35Unit]

Can anyone explain the use of the word Woof in this sentence from The Chimes by Dickens? I can't get anywhere with google.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Can anyone explain the use of the word Woof in this sentence from The Chimes by Dickens? I can't get anywhere with google.

View attachment 84836

I think that this is a combination of archaic expressions and colloquialisms based on 19th Century England (or perhaps even London).

A quick Google and some guesswork, and I would assume that unless the Bells refers to a particular church or pub, it may mean that he became more familiar with religious beliefs. And that woof could mean a more confident, deeper understanding.

Then again I could be totally wrong!

 

[AE35Unit]

I think that this is a combination of archaic expressions and colloquialisms based on 19th Century England (or perhaps even London).

A quick Google and some guesswork, and I would assume that unless the Bells refers to a particular church or pub, it may mean that he became more familiar with religious beliefs. And that woof could mean a more confident, deeper understanding.

Then again I could be totally wrong!

The chimes concerns a character, Trotty Veck who, being poor, is a letter porter, and who's station is to stand outside the church awaiting jobs. In the meantime he takes solace in the chimes of the bells above.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Can anyone explain the use of the word Woof in this sentence from The Chimes by Dickens? I can't get anywhere with google.

View attachment 84836

On a weaver's loom, the Warp are the cross threads and the Woof are the lengthwise threads. (or vice versa, shrug)

Perhaps knitting has similar terminology, or it's a mixed metaphor.

 

[AE35Unit]

On a weaver's loom, the Warp are the cross threads and the Woof are the lengthwise threads.

Yea I got that from Google, but it isn't relevant to the scene

 

[Alex The G and T]

Sure it does. The whole bit is a reckless mash-up of mixed metaphor.

A finer woof means that the fabric has a tighter mesh; smaller holes in it. Thus he means that his understanding of the Bells becomes more complete.

 

[The Judge]

It is to do with weaving and is a relevant as a continuation of his fabric/crafting metaphor (though I'm with Alex in thinking it's not a particularly cohesive metaphor since weaving and knitting are very different) -- not only is it a synonym for weft but also for the woven fabric itself and its texture. So he's contrasting Toby's first acquaintance with the bells as being something coarse and loose -- rough both in the not-smooth sense but also yet to be finished -- which he "knits" up into something which is more closely woven, so a finer weave/more delicate texture.

EDIT: just pipped at the post by Alex!

 

[paranoid marvin]

Yea I got that from Google, but it isn't relevant to the scene

The chimes concerns a character, Trotty Veck who, being poor, is a letter porter, and who's station is to stand outside the church awaiting jobs. In the meantime he takes solace in the chimes of the bells above.

Ah , now this makes more sense in context with the sentence, and I do think Alex is onto something as well.

'Woof' can refer to a woven fabric, so 'knitting his first rough acquaintance' (ie getting to know someone/thing) compared to his later 'closer and more delicate woof' (ie a more complex, familiar, intimate relationship).

I suppose today we would refer to it as a close-knit relationship


*edit* looks like I've just been beaten to this conclusion by Alex and The Judge.

 

[Alex The G and T]

It occurs to me that he must be talking about listening to the bell ringers ringing "The Changes."

The Changes are a mathematically complex series of phrases in which each of the six or more tuned bells is rung once but in an ever changing order.

And there are many different sets of Changes based on different formulae.


Trying to grok how that works, just by standing on the street listening for hours at a time, would be a challenging puzzle, indeed.

 

[AE35Unit]

Ah well I put the book to one side. I might come back to it one day...

 

[Extollager]

Here's a favorite short Dickens work of mine:

The Charles Dickens Page - Night Walks

www.charlesdickenspage.com

 

[paranoid marvin]

I've not read the book, but Dickens' television adaptation of 'The Signalman' is a very atmospheric short ghost story.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Btw I think of all the classic authors, Dickens' stories are some of the most entertaining but least accessible to fully understand. They were contemporary stories of England (more specifically usually London) and his meanings and phrases of day-today life would have been acknowledged and understood by his readership (who ranged from the lowly pickpocket up to Queen Victoria herself). The problem is that much of the phrases and terminology are well past their point of understanding now.

As I think I mentioned earlier, it can be fun to find out the meanings of some of the terminology used in his writing, but a lack of knowledge can make passages (such as the one you referred to earlier) largely unintelligible.

I do think that for classic authors that will give you an 'easier read', (but are just as compelling) HG Wells, the Brontes, Jane Austin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyles' Sherlock Holmes' adventures are a better place to start.

 

[AE35Unit]

I've not read the book, but Dickens' television adaptation of 'The Signalman' is a very atmospheric short ghost story.

Yes that is a good one. Its on this year somewhere (also an adaptation of The Mezzotint by M. R. James)

 

[AE35Unit]

I do think that for classic authors that will give you an 'easier read', (but are just as compelling) HG Wells, the Brontes, Jane Austin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyles' Sherlock Holmes' adventures are a better place to start.

Yes I have a few Conan Doyle book and stories, including a truly massive book of stories. A veritable door stop that one! Also I've read his Professor Challenger books.

 

[Extollager]

I've not read the book, but Dickens' television adaptation of 'The Signalman' is a very atmospheric short ghost story.

It's a short story, readable here:

The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens

A ghostly thriller revolving around a railway worker with supernatural visions.

www.dickens-online.info

The BBC version from 1976, here:

 

[AE35Unit]

Video unavailable