THE FOUNDER November 2021
LITERARY REVIEW 15
Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens LIAM ELVISH | LITERARY REVIEW EDITOR
T
he compilation of Charles Dickens’s early writings, first published in 1836 by Chapman and Hall, has often been overlooked by casual observers of the author’s oeuvre, perhaps more familiar with the escapades of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Artful Dodger, Mr. Micawber, et al. Yet no serious reader engaged with nineteenth century literature could possibly dispute the essentiality of Sketches by Boz. The book charmingly encapsulates all that we admire about England’s most famous novelist, whilst displaying much of the freshness and youthful precocity he possessed prior to his elevation to the heights of literary prominence. There are four separate sections – ‘Seven Sketches from Our Parish’, ‘Scenes’, ‘Characters’, and ‘Tales’- containing an array of fragmentary stories, previously printed in various periodicals such as the Monthly Magazine, and each exemplary of Dickens’s colourfully descriptive prose.
The reader is blessed with a multitude of entertaining episodes, many based on reminiscences of past incidents, and, despite its form as fiction, Sketches is nonetheless a valuable historical document of social commentary, detailing many of the figures and events which Dickens himself witnessed in and around the London of the late Georgian and early Victorian periods. Dickens is both recorder and participant of what is, according to the scholar Denis Walder, a metropolis in which ‘everyone is watching everyone else’. At the very heart of the text is the author’s acute, almost obsessive, observation of everyday life, highlighting the highs and lows of human behaviour and those moments of being with which we can all relate. Who could possibly disagree, for example, with the writer’s masterly assertion that ‘if there be one thing in existence more miserable than another, it most unquestionably is the being compelled to rise by candle-light’?
What Are We Fighting For?: New Poems About War by Brian Moses and Roger Steven MILLIE GARRAWAY | CONTENT WRITER
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1am, on the 11th day, of the 11th month.
Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day. All different names, yet with the same weighted meaning. The day we remember the lost soldiers of the First World War, and all conflicts that have followed. November is the month that we spend remembering and thanking those who served and lost their lives. It is shocking that many Britons are not aware of the weighted history surrounding the day that marks the day this war ended in 1918. Brian Moses and Roger Stevens, through their poetry collection published one hundred years after the outbreak of war, have honoured Remembrance Day graciously while simultaneously providing an anthology which teaches those who read it of the importance of the 11th of November.
Alongside the irreverent, there come moments of great poignancy too – ‘A Visit to Newgate’, for example, depicts the brutal realities of the English penal system and all its horrifying consequences, exemplifying Dickens’s capacity for exhibiting both light and dark with equal punch. The wonderful illustrations by George Cruickshank, who would later provide the artwork for Oliver Twist, complement the text beautifully, bringing to life the extraordinary array of eccentrics and grotesques prevalent in many of the stories. Dickens would go on to publish his first ‘novel’, The Pickwick Papers, in 1837 (really a collection of serialised picaresque adventures) prior to his soaring fame in the 1840’s, yet it is Sketches which should be rightfully regarded as his foremost masterpiece. The collection incidentally includes Dickens’s first ever fictional work, ‘Mr Minns and His Cousin’/ ‘A Dinner at Poplar Walk’ (initially published in 1833 when Dickens was only 21), acting as an excellent example of his early talent as a writer and wit.
Source: Dickens Fellowship
The poems are dedicated to soldiers and animals alike, who fought bravely in 1914 - 1918 to protect and serve Britain. Individual and universal experiences are voiced in a delicate array of poetry which beautifully envelopes the meaning of remembrance. Famous figureheads and the unusual discourse within the war are explored to encourage understanding and compassion for those no longer with us on Remembrance Day. These poems are delicate in their discussion of such a harrowing time, helping those who read them to understand the importance of never letting the fighters’ spirits die. Winston Churchill, The Angel of Mons, the Christmas Truce of World War 1 (when soldiers from both sides played an uplifting game of football in a time of terror), and war time propaganda are all beautifully honoured through humour and humility in What Are We Fighting For?. The amalgamation of poems allows for readers to understand why remembering during this month is so crucial to our way of life and country. Mingled throughout the historical truths is an undertone of light-heartedness which has allowed Stevens and Moses’ collection to be a less daunting read and more of an encouraging learning platform.
