Essay Dickens in his time By Benjamin Woodward	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ディケンズの時代再び イギリスのビクトリア朝時代（1837〜1901）を代表する小説家、チャールズ・ディケンズ。来年の2月7日はその生誕200年に当たる。世界中でディケンズブームの到来が予想されるが、これを機会に彼の作品に不案内の向きは、時節に合った『クリスマスキャロル』から手に取ってみては？

February 7, 2012, will be the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, and so you can expect a certain degree of Dickens mania to overtake the English-reading world next year. Whether or not you place much importance on these occasions, it's still a good excuse to revisit the Victorian master, or if you're new to Dickens, to have a shot at one of his novels or stories. You don't have to read him in the original as his style is difficult by modern standards, but maybe you could try him in translation, through television and film adaptations, or even through comics. A good place to start — and perfect for the season — is A Christmas Carol.

Dickens was phenomenally popular during his lifetime — a literary superstar. He has had his detractors, who point to his sentimentality or the many unbelievable plot twists. But the engaging stories, the colorful characters, his humor, and his social conscience have led later generations to return again and again to his work.

Reading habits have changed since Dickens' time, and one aspect of his novels that has always fascinated me is their serialization. The novels first appeared in monthly installments, each carefully crafted with a cliffhanger to leave readers wanting more. The result was something like some TV dramas today. Indeed, it's often said that if Dickens was living now, he would probably be writing for television.

So what was it like to have to wait for each new section? To wait two months before finding out what happened to Oliver Twist after he was shot? To join the crowds at the New York docks as readers waited for the ship carrying the latest episode of The Old Curiosity Shop? I wanted to find out. So I bought a copy of one of the novels I wasn't familiar with, Bleak House. And, with a rare discipline that would probably have been better employed elsewhere, I then read it following the original publishing schedule and kept away from all spoilers. It took me one year and eight months but I loved it.

Living with a novel for such a long time is an unusual experience. Not only was there the delicious suspense of not knowing what was going to happen, but over the months this alternate world of 19th-century London came to life, its inhabitants taking up residence in my imagination as they grew as familiar as old acquaintances. The plot progressed over those 20 months, things changed in my own life, and it's hard now to completely divorce one from the other.

No doubt it's similar to the way people might have read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series or Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books over many years. Reading Bleak House has left me hungering for more. I wonder if it's possible — particularly in this age of the e-book — to revive this very entertaining format outside the realms of fantasy. Until then, though, I have plenty of Dickens to keep me occupied.

Shukan ST: DECEMBER 9, 2011

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