Marsha

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#DickensChallenge Novella #4 – The Battle of Life

The Battle of Life (1846)

I picked the 51-page story, The Battle of Life as my first novella to read and had it delivered free of charge on my Kindle. This is my first post about the novel, and I’ll post two more posts because it is a three-part story.

Feel free to read along with the posts or speed ahead. It doesn’t take long to finish. If you create a post about the novella, I will list the links to my next post. For this post, I created links to each person who commented along with a portion of their comment.

Part One

These pictures are free to copy from Project Gutenberg.

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

The Characters

Meet sisters, Grace & Marion and father, Dr. Jeddler

In Part One we meet the main characters, and there are only a few:

What do the names of the characters suggest to you? Do any of the names have meaning? Can you guess their personalities or character?

two sisters, Grace & Marion
their father, Dr. Jeddler
their two servants, Clemency Newcome and Ben Britain
their father’s ward, Alfred Heathfield,
two attorneys, Snitchey and Craggs
another client of the attorneys, Michael Warden.

Dickens is famous for his ability to name his characters with appropriate, even funny names.

How would you rate his character names for this book?

Solicitors Snitchey and Craggs and client Michael Warden

The Setting

“The setting is an English village that stands on the site of an historic battle.”
Wikiipedia

In 1846 when the novella was published it was adapted into a play. I found no records of any other plays or movies. Dickens spent a lot of space describing the setting, only to say that it was covered up and all but forgotten as a village eventually stood in its place. The setting provides the muse for the title.

How does Dickens draw from the setting and the title in the plot of the story?

Comments on Intro Post

During Story Chat, I loved the interaction that took place in the comment section. Often it got so busy there, I couldn’t capture it. Doing a summary post with a quote from each person who participated was my way to thank everyone. Continuing in that tradition, here are portions of quotes from all the participants in the intro post.

“I am totally IN for the Dickens Challenge. Greatly looking forward to it!” “Retirement Reflections
“I already have all the novellas and short stories written by Mr. Dickens and am nearly finished reading my second one. I will start posting them soon.” Roberta Writes
“That’s a good challenge. I’ll try to take part.” Keep It Alive
“Sounds like a great challenge, Marsha. I read a few of Dickens’ books a while ago.” Natalie the Explorer
“We’re reading Great Expectations next for our online book club so will definitely join in!” Deb’s World
“Does listening count? I adore Richard Armitage as a reader (film fans and/or fantasy fans might know him as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy) – apparently, he is known as “ear candy”. He has read “David Copperfield” for audible and it is magnificent. But that’s not a novella, by all means. He has, however, also read “The Chimes” which might qualify.” Pictures Imperfect
“I still have to pick mine, so let me know what you choose. I’ll join you!” This That and The Other Thing
“I am so amazed by your contribution and their continued admiration for this most loved man!” Uniquely Fit
“As for Dickens, when I was in junior school I read Oliver Twist, it took a good few pages before I found the rhythm of Dickens’ writing, it was a set book I had to read, otherwise, I might have left it before I reached that point. Once I had got to that point I couldn’t put it down, I loved it.” Fenland Phil
“I work in a school, and have read Romeo and Juliet, Midsomer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth.” Writer Ravenclaw

The Challenge

The hosts are Trent, Yvette, and me.

Year One: 2021 – Little Dorrit
Year Two: 2022 – Bleak House
Year Three: 2023 – One of the Five Novellas of Your Choice

Get to Know Charles Dickens

Learn more about Charles Dickens from the Charles Dicken’s Museum

This Year’s Invitation:

For the 2023 #DickensChallenge we invite you to read ANY ONE of Dickens’ five novellas between February 7th and June 9th, 2023 (the dates for the challenge align with Dickens’ date of birth and date of death). Then share about your reading in a post or via comments on one or all of the host blogs.
Use this hashtag: #Dickenschallenge if you link a post so we don’t miss you.
We will be making a master page with info – coming soon
Readers can find a nice list of Dickens’s works here:
Readers can access some of Dickens’s works on Project Gutenberg here

Don’t forget!

You can also link to What’s on your Bookshelf for even more interactions. Remember that there are four places to link for that challenge.

I also like to list what I’m reading each week to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share and read about what others are doing as well.

See you in two days for WQ (Wednesday Quotes). There’s still time to post your link for Ready, Set, Love.

WQ Page
WQ #7: February 15: GRID/GRIDLOCK/LINES
WQ #8: February 22: BELOW/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES/WOTY

Happy Reading!

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