Victorians! discussion

I’ve found this titled as “No. 5 Branchline: The Engineer” and “An Engineer’s Story” depending on the collection. It was titled as the former in Mugby Junction, a collection of railway stories originally published in All The Year Round, edited by Charles Dickens.

Links to The Engineer:

Project Gutenberg : https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/060...

Librivox: https://librivox.org/short-ghost-and-...
https://librivox.org/mugby-junction-b...

YouTube: https://youtu.be/02IYwaJfztQ?si=xNjjP...

Summary of “The Engineer”…

An Engineer’s Story

The narrator introduces himself as Benjamin Hardy, and begins the story of his great friendship with Matthew Price. From their time in a small village through their work with an English railway company and into their employment in Italy, where they meet the beautiful Gianetta Coneglia and vie for her love. Their desire for her eats away at their friendship until the day they hear she has become the mistress of the Marchese Loredano. Because Benjamin believes Matthew is lying, the friends come to blows and Matthew ends up in a hospital at the edge of death for weeks.

Knowing that his friend will never fully recover, Benjamin takes him to convalesce at a little village on the coast of the Riviera, where friendship returns but health never does. Matthew has forgiven Benjamin and on his deathbed asks that he convey his forgiveness to Gianetta, as well. However at the burial, Benjamin conceives a great hatred for the woman he blames for everything. But when he cannot reach her, he goes on to travel the world, occasionally returning to his friend’s grave.

Finally, he finds himself back in Italy, tasked with driving a special train to Venice. A train which carries the Duca Loredano and Gianetta, the mistress he has married. As he prepares to depart, Benjamin is approached by a stranger with a plan to murder the duke and his entourage by runaway train.

Having decided to kill himself along with Gianetta and the others, Benjamin calls for as much steam as possible to be produced as they hurtle toward the embankment where the tracks have been swept away by storm. Faster and faster, until the stoker refuses to add more fuel. Tearing toward a smash up, until a third man appears within the engine. A man who calmly turns off the steam as Benjamin falls before him. Matthew Price!

He has returned from the dead to save the soul of his friend.

Love her cadence and turns of phrases. She spares few corners of the world imbuing this one with her love and knowledge of travel (as you mentioned last story was her life's work).

What a mad romp that was.

I do hope she has a different literary device up her sleeve in future stories though. The "I'm certain this happened and you can't change my mind" narrator feels thoroughly explored.

Haha! I’ve only read a few, but that does seem to be her favorite opening. I suspect that she saw short stories as an income source rather than her life’s work. She seems to have penned them about once a year for the Dickens publication, then went back to her exploring. At least, that’s what I envision. :D

This one reminded me of EA Poe. Something about the language and the flow. Not as grisly, of course. Edgar could pen some serious yuck. But, perhaps in the way it built toward the climax.

Mercenary writing for financial stability is understandably at the cost of more inventiveness or creativity.

Definitely (re: EA Poe), the rush to the moment of ghostly climax had a very Poe-ish drama / reveal.

Somehow I think that the ending of the story today would be different, such is the appetite for the sweet taste of revenge no matter what the cost.

However, I am glad that the author decided to end it the way she did, it only reminds me why I enjoy and admire the writings of the Victorian novelists.

The story could probably have been told just as well without such a long lead in to the goings on in Genoa. The plot line of jealousy breaking apart a lifelong bond of friendship has been used since the times of the Ancient Greek myths. It was no real surprise when the dark beauty sold herself to the highest bidder. I can think of some ‘celebrities’ (especially ‘reality stars’) doing exactly the same today.

I wondered if the author had a background knowledge of the technical side of railways, ie through her family etc. Considering Dickens was involved in a railway accident with his lover and her mother in 1865, when the carriages derailed and fell down an embankment, Edward‘s story may have had a very sobering effect on him. Apparently Dickens never fully recovered from that accident, both physically and mentally.

Trev wrote: "Somehow I think that the ending of the story today would be different, such is the appetite for the sweet taste of revenge no matter what the cost.

However, I am glad that the author decided to e..."

You are reminding me of Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin which was a fascinating read on the subject of CD. I also very much enjoyed Drood, which made delightful use of facts to enhance its fiction. :)

You’re also making me wonder when the well published short story, The Signalman was written in comparison to that fateful railway accident. Based on GR information, it looks like it was about a year later. With 1865 for the event and 1866 for the first publication of the story, as part of Mugby Junction. Pretty hard core! Within a year of that traumatic experience, Dickens was turning it into craft, and, not only penning it into a story of his own, but encouraging other writers to produce railway stories for a thematic collection.

Kinda gives me chills!

Any story that reminds me of Mr. Dickens is a good story! I did find this story a little tedious at times, mainly because the outcome of the so-called romance was so easily predicted.

Edwards definitely telegraphed the outcome of their infatuation with the Italian beauty. But it was the bromance that was key to the story.

That dastardly Gianeta coming between two friends!
It's a good thing that Matthew's ghost stopped the train and saved innocent lives!

Matthew was probably the saner of the two. Even in death.

I think so too. He was ready to forgive even back then.