The Obscure Reading Group discussion

Dickens? Anything but obscure. Master Humphrey's Clock? Pretty darn obscure.

Hope you have TIME for finding a copy and clocking some hours in the upcoming February discussion of one of Dickens' lesser-known classics.

I'm in! Thanks Ken!

Dianne wrote: "I'm in! Thanks Ken!"

Excellent! Hopefully the Chuck Dickens Groupies show up (almost as big as the Taylor Swift Groupies, I hear).

I took my two girls to Taylor this past May and .... I doubt it!

Dianne wrote: "I took my two girls to Taylor this past May and .... I doubt it!"

Yeah, I know. A joke, is all. My daughter is also a fan.

Me, I think a lot of her songs sound the same. And that she "talks" as much as sings in her songs.

But I'm a philistine of the first order.

I'm definitely not a Swiftie, but I do like a good Dickens, so I'm in too!

The edition on Gutenberg has illustrations! That will help. I'll try to find time to give Dickens another chance. I never have been able to understand his appeal, but I might be missing something.

Well, I love his warm Humanity. That's one reason I fell in step with Master Humphrey - he shows us here the aches, pains and very human failings of this lovable senior citizen. I don't believe in Grey Power - nor would Humphrey - he and I prefer natural aging!

Me too!

(Nice to see you here, Arcata!)👍

Fergus, Quondam Happy Face wrote: "Well, I love his warm Humanity. That's one reason I fell in step with Master Humphrey - he shows us here the aches, pains and very human failings of this lovable senior citizen. I don't believe in ..."

You mean this aging thing is natural? For 2024, I'm considering a mirror-free life! ;-)

Yeah, Ken - it Does play havoc with the morale!

I just checked out various editions of the book here at GR and am somewhat amazed to find that they vary from around 100 pages to over 500. Perhaps I’ll look for a shorter edition!

Well surprise for me. My kindle collection of Dickens short stories has well over 100 pages of Master Humphrey tales!

The copy at archive.org is 306 pp.

It gets confusing when you look into it because the book came out as a serial in a magazine. Well THAT'S not confusing, but apparently elements of The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge intermingled with Master Humphrey's Clock as the magazine came out each month.

In my searches I've found copies of only 100 pp. too because it's a mix of stories and novels. Perhaps shorter versions are de-Curiositied and de-Rudged?

I'm no Dickens expert, alas.

Heya! 👋I’m new here! Master Humphrey’s Clock—I’m in! Looking forward to it!

I found an Andrews UK edition ebook through EBSCO that clocks in at 109 pages. I'll try to keep up with y'all, though I'm not great at reading off a screen. We'll see how my comprehension goes with this one.

So, re:discussion, you said the first 1/3 for Feb. 1? Right?

Hi, Freedom. Welcome to the group!

Sara, yes that was the plan, but I do see a problem here with all these versions out there. Many are between 100-150 pp. only. Some are 300-400 pp. because they include chapters from (?) or previewing (?) The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.

Does anyone have a physical copy in front of them already?

Probably the crew planning to participate will have to agree in advance on a copy. Either it's a one-week discussion of the shorter MASTER HUMPHREY or it's a divided in 3 weeks discussion of the longer.

Please discuss here, Dickens fans!

Fergus, you nominated this book. Do you have a physical copy? Is it the long version or the short?

Welcome, Freedom--glad to have you here!

I should have my library copy Monday or Tuesday, and will report back. It's the Oxford Illustrated, and it's 531 pages, but the volume also includes A Child's History of England, so I'm guessing this Master Humphrey is about 300 pages.

I had a laugh at your comment, Ginny--glad you're going to give it a try, and I hope the illustrations help!

Maybe we can take the first week for the shorter version, and the second (and third if needed) for those reading the whole thing?

The Project Gutenberg looks like the short version, and here's the contents:

MASTER HUMPHREY’S CHAMBER - 215
FRIENDLY RECOGNITIONS -217
GOG AND MAGOG -228
A GALLANT CAVALIER - 232
DEATH OF MASTER GRAHAM - 237
A CHARMING FELLOW - 240
THE TWO FRIENDS - 246
HUNTED DOWN - 254
MR. PICKWICK INTRODUCES HIMSELF TO MASTER HUMPHREY - 259
WILL MARKS READING THE NEWS CONCERNING WITCHES - 266
WILL MARKS TAKES UP HIS POSITION FOR THE NIGHT - 270
WILL MARKS ARRIVES AT THE CHURCH - 277
TONY WELLER AND HIS GRANDSON - 282
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB - 288
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM BLINDER - 292
A RIVAL CLUB - 297
A CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK - 302
MASTER HUMPHREY’S VISIONARY FRIENDS - 311
THE DESERTED CHAMBER - 318

I found an edition on iBooks which was free, and consisted of Chapters I-VI over 249 pages.

Yikes! What the Dickens was the good of Serializing it? No end of headaches for us, with various Victorian periodicals publishing whatever stories seemed suitable for their readers, from the looks of it. There must be a Variorum Dickens just for this purpose!

Just found this absolute gem of a social crystallization and I am very much in. Question: is it at all discussed by the group? A call or so ~ or do we all just submit our reviews in unison

Walter wrote: "Just found this absolute gem of a social crystallization and I am very much in. Question: is it at all discussed by the group? A call or so ~ or do we all just submit our reviews in unison"

Hey, Walter. We're only at semi-precious stone status, so there's work to do. That said, we take compliments as they are, so thanks.

If you look at some of the past books we've read, you can see it's all by discussion thread. Give and take. Ask and answer. Offer hosannahs or jeers. Like a conversation.

If I may offer a suggestion: if we have a look at wikipedia or other websites, we'll see how other Dickens Humphrey stories intertwine with the basic one, if there is one. I think if we have a passing familiarity with the generalities of the related stories and later on, Humphrey 's death, we'll see that bigger picture better, and avoid being surprised by the discussion.

Fergus, Quondam Happy Face wrote: "If I may offer a suggestion: if we have a look at wikipedia or other websites, we'll see how other Dickens Humphrey stories intertwine with the basic one, if there is one. I think if we have a pass..."

Yes, in a sense this will be like reading a collection of short stories. Perhaps, though onerous, it might be helpful to define discussion weeks (if they be more than one) by chapter titles, which Dickens provided.

Oh, you guys. This is so funny. The contents I posted above is actually the list of illustrations! Ha--what a dummy. Sorry about that.

The good news is, I got my copy and it matches Project Gutenberg. Here's the contents:

Section I
-Master Humphrey, from his Clock-side in the Chimney-corner
-The Clock-Case
-Introduction to the GianT Chronicles
-First Night of the Giant Chronicles
-Correspondence

Section II
-Master Humphrey, From his Clock-side in the Chimney-Corner
-The Clock-Case. A Confession Found in Prison in the Time of Charles the Second
-Correspondence

Section III
-Master Humphrey's Visitor
-Mr. Pickwick's Tale
-Further Particulars of Master Humphrey's Visitor

Section IV
The Clock

Section V
Mr. Weller's Watch

Section VI
Master Humphrey, from his Clock-side in the Chimney-Corner
The Deaf Gentleman from his own Apartment

According to some info I found, the original volume included The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, but they were later taken out. So this is supposed to be what's left with the novels removed.

Interesting article: https://readingproject.neocities.org/...

So Fergus, does the contents I posted match yours? What about anyone else? If so, it seems like we could read Sections 1-3 the first week and 4-6 the second? Should be light and fun? My copy is only about 118 pages.

What do you all think?

Interesting that Dickens brings back crowd favorites Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller. I quite enjoyed The Pickwick Papers, one of the first Dickens books I read (on my own, vs. at the schoolboard's command... that would be the dreaded Tale of Two Cities).

Kathleen: That plan looks great. Light and breezy = two weeks for 118 pp.

I just checked and my collection of Charles Dickens stories does have all that you listed, Kathleen, as well as a preface of intention which I haven’t read yet. So I am all set.

Sue wrote: "I just checked and my collection of Charles Dickens stories does have all that you listed, Kathleen, as well as a preface of intention which I haven’t read yet. So I am all set."

Great, Sue--thanks for confirming! My copy doesn't have a preface of intention, but I think it's on the Project Gutenberg version, if anyone is interested in reading it.

I have the Oxford Illustrated Dickens version, which is 118 pages and matches the contents Kathleen posted. :)

My iBook version seems to match up as well. Thanks.

Wonderful, Kathleen! This is good news. I will get one of these versions (no problem, cuz as a picky senior I upgrade my Kindle library all the time)!

Hi all- I too have the 118 page Oxford edition.. looking forward to digging in ..

This is great--thanks everyone! Tomorrow I'll post the reading schedule and two threads to spread the discussion over the first two weeks of February. Fergus, if you want anything different, just let me know!

I love it when problems resolve themselves (with a little help from concerned friends). The magic number is 118.

Ken wrote: "I love it when problems resolve themselves (with a little help from concerned friends). The magic number is 118."
😊

The reading schedule is up: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The first week's discussion thread is ready for us, to be unlocked when the discussion begins February 1.

Happy reading everyone!

Thanks to you all! I now have a ebook of the proper length. Naturally, Kathleen, I think you are doing a wonderful job!

Ah, thanks, Fergus!

Has anyone else started reading? I'm quite enjoying it so far.

The discussion thread will open on Thursday. A reminder we're hoping to have read through "Further Particulars of Master Humphrey's Visitor" by then so we can begin discussing the first three sections. Looking forward to it!

I have begun and I’m enjoying this. The narrative voice is really nice and seems different from other Dickens’ creations though I can’t say why at this point. I have more to read before Thursday but this is a pleasant read so far.

I have started and it is very good so far! I haven't read Dicken's since high school. I may have to start!
Sherri