Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, one of the greatest writers of all time, was born on this day in 1812.  I admire his writing tremendously and need to read a lot more of his work than I have so far, he was a genius.  His stories rise and fall in a whirlwind of drama, joy, sadness, silliness, seriousness, cruelty, tenderness, and much eccentricity and whimsicality.
Here I'll share some photos of my collection of his books, starting with the Oxford set: 

And various others:

The Man Who Invented Christmas

I've been to the cinema to see the utterly wonderful film 'The Man Who Invented Christmas', and am in Victorian mode (even more so after finishing the Christmas decorating the night before too). I recommend this film to everyone, a very fine story with excellent acting and such lavishly splendid sets and costumes, it was a treasure to watch and I didn't want it to end, it's beautiful. It is about Charles Dickens writing 'A Christmas Carol', with the fantastical device of each character coming to life as he creates them and gives them a name. It has happy bits, sad bits, funny bits, it's touching and fascinating and is a visual feast. Give yourself a treat and make sure to see it before Christmas, you will be so glad you did. It will make you want to don a paisley dressing gown and settle down by a crackling fire with an enormous Victorian novel and a hot mulled drink...