Saturday, March 01, 2014

The Trials and Tribulations of Mr Pickwick

It's 1830 in Dickensian London, so it's the language, manners, and humour of another time. And that is a large part of the appeal of this production. How often do you hear such quaint phrases as 'a token of outward satisfaction' or 'murmured a bashful acceptance'? If as a contemporary citizen you can cope with utterances of more than 140 characters (!) you'll appreciate the richness of the vocabulary used here. Nigel Nevinson delivers a deft portrayal of multiple characters that is polished and entertaining. OK - some of the jokes which may have been very funny nearly 200 years ago now seem a bit twee, but there's a charm at work here that tells an interesting moral tale, and also has something to say about the slippery nature of lawyers - not everything's changed! A wonderful way of becoming familiar with the background to a classic of English literature. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

No comments:

Online Teaching - the Very Early Days

  EFI – English for Internet In its early days study.com went by the name English for Internet (EFI). I first discovered the site sometime e...