Marsha’s Master Page for #DickensChallenge 2023
***Add your link (or comment) HERE to join #2023 Dickens Challenge***
- Please post or comment from June 9th to June 16th
- Raffle winners will be announced on June 20th
Brief review:
- The 2023 #DickensChallenge is to read one (or more) of Dickens’ novellas between February 7th and June 9th, 2023 (the dates for the challenge align with Dickens’ date of birth and date of death). Here are the five to consider:
- A Christmas Carol (1843)
- The Chimes (1844)
- The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
- The Battle of Life (1846)
- The Haunted Man & The Ghost’s Bargain (1848)
- Share about your reading in a post or via comments on this master post (from June 9th until June 16th )- or on one of the host blogs: Trent and Yvette.
- Posts and comments will be shared from June 9th until June 16th – and then we will raffle off the gift cards by entering the names of participants into a raffle.
- Raffle winners announced on June 20th, 2023
- Use this #Dickenschallenge hashtag
- This challenge is about community and celebrating literature together.
My Posts
I have closed comments on these posts. Between June 9-June 16th, leave all your comments for my posts on this master page.
- Master Page – here for comments
- Dickens Challenge Intro
- The Chimes
- The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain
- Battle of Life Part 1
- Battle of Life Part 2
- Battle of Life Part 3
- The Christmas Carol
Trent’s Posts
- Trent’s Main Page
- Challenge Update
- A Christmas Carol
- The Chimes
- Cricket on the Hearth
- The Battle of Life
- The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain
Yvette’s Posts
Your Posts
- Keep It Alive – The Battle of Life
- No Facilities – The Haunted Man & The Cricket on the Hearth
- Retirement Reflections – The Christmas Carol
- Retirement Reflections – The Chimes
- Retirement Reflections – The Cricket on the Hearth
- Retirement Reflections – The Battle of Life
- Retirement Reflections – The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain
- Roberta Writes – The Christmas Carol
- Roberta Writes – The Cricket on the Hearth
- Roberta Writes – The Chimes
- Roberta Writes – The Battle of Life
Reminder:
If you are joining in with the 2023 #Dickenschallenge, add your link to a comment below – or comment or add a link over at Yvette’s, Trent’s or this post.
If you did not make a post, you can join in through the comments on any of the host blogs.
Posts and comments will be exchanged and shared from June 9th until June 16th, 2023 – raffle winners announced on June 20th.
Marsha Ingrao Always Write 
74 responses to “#2023 Dickens Challenge Ending Soon”
It is almost raffle time.
I am enjoying catching up on the posts that have unfolded.
🙂
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I’m glad. There is a lot of great discussion material in those posts.
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Hi, Marsha – I enjoyed reading your thoughts on “The Cricket on the Hearth.” I agree that Dickens masterfully created a feel-good tale set in Victorian England, capturing the cozy atmosphere of John and Dot Peerybingle’s home. The description you provided of the jolly blaze and the Haymaker on the Dutch clock paints a vivid picture of that. I also agree that this tale was not as heavily moralistic as the others. Still,
the themes and character arcs subtly convey his belief in the power of love, honesty, forgiveness, and the perils of greed. The novella ultimately invites readers to reflect on these values and encourages them to embrace kindness, compassion, and a sense of community in their own lives.
Thank you for being a wonderful cohost. I greatly appreciate your dedication in reviewing each of the novellas and commenting on all of the post of others who have joined in this challenge. ❤
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Thank you, Donna. It was a great pleasure. Terri and I were talking about you on the phone this morning and I told her about your great reviews. If you two ever meet up again, I definitely want to join you!!! It would be so fun to meet you.
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It’s a date! I would LOVE that! ❤
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I know, wouldn’t that be fun?
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Absolutely!
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🙂
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[…] are important posts by Yvette and MarshaMarsha’s Master PostMarsha – Comments on The Battle of LifeMarsh – The Haunted ManYvette’s Main […]
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Hi, Marsha –
I agree with your positive review of “A Christmas Carol.” It remains a timeless classic that captivate readers with its powerful message and engaging storytelling. I appreciate how you highlighted the use of ghosts as a literary technique in the novella. This technique not only adds an element of intrigue and suspense but also serves as a powerful tool for teaching moral lessons and provoking self-reflection.
Your rating of 5 stars is well-deserved. “A Christmas Carol” stands as a testament to Dickens’s remarkable storytelling prowess and his ability to touch the hearts of readers across generations. It’s a tale that reminds us of the true spirit of Christmas and the power of redemption. Great post!
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Thank you so much, Donna. This has been a fun challenge thanks to the stimulating conversations we’ve had.
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Thank you! You have been a truly awesome cohost!
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Thank you for your kind words. It’s been an honor to have been asked.
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[…] From this point on, comments will be closed on these posts, please comment and attach links on my Master Page found HERE. […]
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Your thoughts are so insightful, Trent. What a mind you have. 🙂
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Hi, Marsha – I’ve now read all of your Dickens’ challenge posts and wanted to pop back here to commend you on them. They are all thorough, well-written and engaging. One of my favourite things about discussing books is that we all see things differently. For example, The Chimes. It was interesting to me how you didn’t love it on your first reading, but it grew on you a bit on your next reading. I really enjoyed it. Although the majority of this tale is sombre, meant to provoke both apprehension and rage, I believe that the reader is given a choice at the end. I could definitely be naive here, but I chose to take the side of optimism (and ignore other niggling facts).
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I appreciate your thorough reviews as well. Dickens missed the boat if it was designed to evoke rage and apprehension. I think I felt pity. I’d have to read it again to remember my emotions, LOL. 🤗
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Hi, Marsha – My take on this novella is that Dickens was evoking our rage by the outrageous treatment of the poor by upper class society – acting like the poor did not deserve to exist.
I believe that the key lesson that Toby learns from the spirits of the Chimes is that the poor man’s spirit can only ultimately be destroyed by submitting to the arrogant, downputting ideas perpetuated by Alderman Cute, Sir Joseph Bowley and the like.
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Yes, he did have to “die” and see what happened to his family by submitting to the bad attitudes. And did support that low view, even of his daughter, at first. I think instead of rage, though, I felt hatred and somewhat helpless in their place. I might have been more like Toby feeling like I just needed to go along – stay under their radar, so to speak. It’s kind of hard, though when someone comes up and starts eating your supper. I can’t imagine someone in that position even wanting to eat someone’s meal. I mean, can you imagine going up to a homeless person, and just taking away their food as they are eating it and finishing it? It’s sort of out of my realm of experience or belief. Yuck! I think an elitist has taken on a different look in the 21st century – more distance between the two classes of society. I believe the classes are still there. I read somewhere that people can only jump one or two class levels at the most and still be comfortable. People in Toby’s position would not be envious of the Alderman or Sir Joseph because of how they had to live their lives – many times lonely. Most of Dicken’s characters who had money were lonely and miserable. Did the have nots miss that? Not in every story. That’s one of the good things than came out of The Haunted Man. He dropped his haughtiness and got in return friends and lost his loneliness.
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This is an excellent analysis, Marsha, and the prime reason that I joined this challenge. Your thoughtfulness, dedication and amazing communication skills are greatly appreciated (and admired).
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What a wonderful compliment, Donna. I feel the same way about you and your wonderful reviews. 🙂 You inspire me to think, and that makes life so much fun. 🙂
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[…] Marsha’s Main Post […]
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Hi Marsha, here is my last post which I published this morning: https://roberta-writes.com/2023/06/11/roberta-writes-dickens-reading-challenge-the-battle-of-life-a-love-story/
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Hi Marsha, here are my contributions for this page: https://roberta-writes.com/2023/02/21/roberta-writes-dickens-novella-challenge-a-christmas-carol-dickenschallenge-readingcommunity/
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Hi Marsha – you sure made a great post here and I have ideas for next year – when the other website is hopefully up and running
but in the the meantime I think we are all doing a good job of co-hosting
and my post will go out on June 15th – I read three of the five novellas and will post recaps and takeaways from my reading
in the meantime, I will try and visit various posts that come in
have a nice day
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I look forward to your post. This was a lot of fun. I like the pace of it.
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Marsha – you are awesome – 🙂
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Well, you just made my day! I read Cindy’s post today, and I think there are a couple of people, one in particular I need to chat with about my chapter. It’s a great post and we all should read it.
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🙂
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HI Yvette, I’ll look out for your post on the 15th.
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[…] Marsha’s closing post is here: https://alwayswrite.blog/2023/06/09/2023-dickens-challenge-ending-soon/ […]
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looks like a good turn out and so great you did this Marsha! 💗
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So far, I think the turnout has been great. This week is the greatest push.
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I set out to finish three (as per the original post) but I only managed two. I posted reviews in this post: https://nofacilities.com/2023/05/30/two-by-dickens-dickenschallenge/ I’m still reading “A Christmas Carol” but I won’t finish it today. This was fun. Thanks for the challenge.
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Dan you are awesome! You don’t have to finish until the 16th, so that gives you a week. 🙂
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I might just make that 🙂
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Like you said, Good luck to both of us!”
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Hi, Marsha – Thank you for cohosting this challenge and for your very kind and thoughtful shoutouts and link sharing. I honestly do not know how you do it all!
I have been greatly looking forward to the discussion. I have read all five of the novellas (the last four of them I read recently for this challenge, A Christmas Carol I traditionally read each Christmas, including this past January). I have posted reviews for each novella on Goodreads and on my blog. Although I enjoyed all of these novellas, ironically, my preference for them was in their order written. My links are below. I look forward to chiming in on the discussions.
A Christmas Carol (1843) https://retirementreflections.com/2021/12/16/top-ten-reasons-to-read-and-love-a-christmas-carol-plus-other-great-books. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4357147439
The Chimes (1844) https://retirementreflections.com/2023/05/18/whats-on-your-bookshelf-may-2023. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5512875989
The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) https://retirementreflections.com/2023/03/16/whats-on-your-bookshelf-march-2023. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5406356991
The Battle of Life (1846) https://retirementreflections.com/2023/02/16/whats-on-your-bookshelf-february-2023. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5347257286
The Haunted Man (1848) https://retirementreflections.com/2023/05/18/whats-on-your-bookshelf-may-2023. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5510640833
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Donna, thanks so much for posting your reviews and sharing in this challenge. It’s been fun. I still need to read the Cricket on the Hearth, and I may skip the Christmas Carol because it’s so famous. But if you all can do it, I should too! 🙂
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Thanks, Marsha – What I love most about this challenge is that it was so accessible without a lot of ‘shoulds’. I believe the same applies to the hosts. If you get a chance to read ‘A Cricket on the Hearth,’ I found it to be a heartwarming tale that was full of magic and whimsy. But if you don’t get around to it, you have already done so much for this challenge and that has been greatly appreciated!
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You inspire me to do more, Donna!
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[…] are important posts by Yvette and MarshaMarsha’s Master PostMarsha – Comments on The Battle of LifeMarsh – The Haunted […]
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I have one last post to publish and I’ll do that on Sunday with links to the other three posts I’ve done. I just can’t get into The haunted man and life’s just to short for such a struggle 💗
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Hi, Robbie- The Haunted Man was my least favourite of Dickens’ Christmas novellas as well!
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I wasn’t crazy about it either. I think on my second or third read, I finally found some things to appreciate. LOL
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Hi, Marsha – I completely agree. I found Haunted Man to be tedious read. While Dickens’s impressive prose and positive outcome remain, the overall story felt dark, and many of the comic elements were too absurd for my taste (humour bypass, I realize). Moreover, the story’s themes were often presented in a heavy-handed, preachy, and repetitive manner, leading to an excruciatingly slow pace.
Despite its shortcomings, it’s still a thought-provoking piece. Once I finally finished reading and reflected on the overall story, I found its exploration of the importance of memory and the dangers of forgetting one’s past to be compelling.
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I agree 100%, Donna. It’s a story of forgiving yourself because you have been forgiven already. There is also the idea of making amends for wrongs done. Often people don’t remember the wrongs you have lost sleep over. (even without a ghost’s bargain.) This speaks to carrying grudges, too and how damaging that is. All in all, I thought the message had value even though the book was as enjoyable as most of his works. 🙂
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That is interesting to know. My favourites were A Christmas Carol and The Chimes. I loved the beginning of The Battle of life.
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We had a great discussion about the Battle of Life and came to some big agreements, I think! 🙂
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I shared my post about it this morning.
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Awesome! I’m off to read it now!
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Do you have a link, Robbie? I couldn’t find it.
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Thanks, Donna. I was in the wrong blog. 🤓🔎🔎
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Hi Marsha, I posted the links to all for if my reviews on your Master Page.
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I found it, I was in the wrong blog. LOL! Do you have trouble maintaining more than one blog? I struggle with that when I try it.
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Honestly, it is not hard for me, but my brain is like a honeycomb, full of little compartments 😂
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Good for you. I like having everything in one place, even though I don’t have. I haven’t touched Manny’s blog for a LONG time. 🙂
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I didn’t know you had a second blog.
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I have several. I rarely post on them.
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Hi, Robbie – Those were my favourites as well. I liked them best in the order that they were written. Somehow, that frequently happens with series and me.
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I don’t often read a series. Even for novels, I usually chose the most famous ones by an author to read and leave it at that. I have followed you blog from my adult literature blog, Roberta Writes. That is where I share my thoughts on classic and other adult novels 😊
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Hi, Robbie – Me too!! I seldom read a full series. Like you, I usually select a single book from a series and leave it there, even if I enjoyed it. So many great books and never enough reading time!
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amen to that! my tbr list is bigger than I am, and I’m pretty big! 🙂
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It is a major struggle to get into it, for sure. I got sleepy every time I picked it up. 🙂
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😉
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