Quote:
Originally Posted by fantasyfan
I'm going to try something different in my reading of Bleak House. Dickens originally wrote this novel for publication in monthly installments, over 19 months. What I'll try to do is read each monthly "issue" in one day. that is usually 3-4 chapters until the final installment which was a double issue of 8 chapters. To finish by the 17th, of course, I'll have to get a couple units at least twice. Naturally, if the book grabs me, I may well do a few months in a day.
The point of this is that Dickens frequently organised plot developments in the installment sequence to keep readers interested and to create various critical moments. Sometimes he even changed the plot if he felt that the sales weren't going well enough {Martin Chuzzlewit is an example} So, in this way one will get into the flow of the book much as the original readers did.
Now, this is purely a personal experiment on my part. If anyone else feels like trying it, here are the installment sections:
Inst 1: ch 1-4
Inst 2-8 three chapters each up to and including ch. 25
Inst 9 ch 26-29
Inst 10-12 chs 30-38 {3 each}
Inst 13-14 chs 39-46 {4 each}
Inst 15 chs 47-49
Inst 16 chs 50-53
Inst17 chs 54-56
Inst 18 chs 57-58
Inst 19 {A double Issue} cha 60-67
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That is so a cool idea! I knew that Dickens published his novels in installments but had not thought of reading them that way. I think I am going to give it a go.
