2014: New Statue Erected in Dickens's birthplace city of Portsmouth
At the unveiling in 2014 a boy was encouraged to have his picture taken with an author who had written about children with such understanding.
(HIs name is Oliver, and he is pictured with the statue of his great-great... grandfather.)
Dickens was always to preserve that two-fold character of a man who has seen much, and has viewed things with the eyes of a child. ~~ Andre Maurois
Since 2000: Dickens into Film
Dickens’s continuing presence in the twenty-first century world is surely reflected in the ongoing films and television shows – some of them versions of his novels, some of them making use of some aspects of a novel and putting it in a different modern context, and some of them biographical on various aspects of Dickens's life. Below is an interactive list of such from the new century, 2000-2015. This listing is obviously not complete, as for instance the movie “The Invisible Woman” (about Dickens and Ellen Ternan) is missing.
Filmography
2015/II A Christmas Carol (novel: "A Christmas Carol") (filming)
2015 Fitoor (announced)
The Guns of Christmas Past (novel "A Christmas Carol") (announced)
Twist (characters) (announced)
2014 A Nintendo Christmas Carol (Short) (based on the novel by)
2014 Olivia Twist (novel)
2013 Great Expectations
The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby (TV Mini-Series) (book: 'The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby' - 4 episodes, 2012) (book The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby - 1 episode, 2012)
2012 Great Expectations (novel)
2012 Magwitch (Short) (additional material)
2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 2 episodes)
- 2011 Great Expectations (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 3 episodes)
- 2011 The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (Short) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - uncredited)
2010 Canto di Natale (Short) (novel)
2009 Atop the Fourth Wall (TV Series) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - 1 episode)
- 2009 A Tale of Two Cities: In Concert (TV Movie documentary) (novel)
2009 A Christmas Carol (novel)
2009 Charles Dickens's England (Documentary) (writer)
2009 David Copperfield (TV Movie) (novel)
2008 Little Dorrit (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 14 episodes)
2008 Barbie in 'A Christmas Carol' (Video) (based on the story by)
2007 The Old Curiosity Shop (TV Movie) (novel)
2007 The Angry Video Game Nerd (TV Series) (original novel - 2 episodes)
- An Angry Nerd Christmas Carol: Part 2 (2007) ... (original novel)
- An Angry Nerd Christmas Carol: Part 1 (2007) ... (original novel)
2007 Oliver Twist (TV Mini-Series) (novel)
2007 Oliver Twink (Video) (novel)
2007 Humphrey and Renshaw - Warning: May Contain Nuts (Video) (additional material)
2007 Dombais et fils (TV Movie) (novel "Dombey and Son")
2007 The Nutcracker: A Christmas Story (Video) (story "A Christmas Carol")
2006 Bah Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas (Video) (novel - uncredited)
2006 A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Ghostly Tale (novella "A Christmas Carol")
2005 Bleak House (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 15 episodes)
- 2005 Oliver Twist (novel)
2004 Karroll's Christmas (TV Movie) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - suggestion)
2004 A Christmas Carol (tale)
2004 A Christmas Carol: The Musical (TV Movie) (novel)
2004 Boy Called Twist (novel)
2004 Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez (TV Series) (characters - 1 episode)
- 2004 El guardavías (novel)
2003 Twist (novel "Oliver Twist")
2002 Nicholas Nickleby (novel)
2002 Feliz navidad mamá (TV Mini-Series)
2001-2002 Micawber (TV Series) (character - 4 episodes)
2001 Scrooge and Marley (TV Movie) (novel "A Christmas Carol")
2001 Escape of the Artful Dodger (TV Series) (characters - 5 episodes)
2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie (book)
2001 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (TV Movie) (novel)
2000 Christmas Glory 2000 (TV Special documentary) (short story "A Christmas Carol")
2000 Adventures from the Book of Virtues (TV Series) (book "A Christmas Carol" - 2 episodes)
2000 David Copperfield (TV Movie) (novel)
2000 South Park (TV Series) (novel "Great Expectations" - 1 episode)
2000 A Christmas Carol (TV Movie) (short story)
2000 The Mystery of Charles Dickens (TV Movie) (works)
Dickens’s continuing presence in the twenty-first century world is surely reflected in the ongoing films and television shows – some of them versions of his novels, some of them making use of some aspects of a novel and putting it in a different modern context, and some of them biographical on various aspects of Dickens's life. Below is an interactive list of such from the new century, 2000-2015. This listing is obviously not complete, as for instance the movie “The Invisible Woman” (about Dickens and Ellen Ternan) is missing.
Filmography
2015/II A Christmas Carol (novel: "A Christmas Carol") (filming)
2015 Fitoor (announced)
The Guns of Christmas Past (novel "A Christmas Carol") (announced)
Twist (characters) (announced)
2014 A Nintendo Christmas Carol (Short) (based on the novel by)
2014 Olivia Twist (novel)
2013 Great Expectations
The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby (TV Mini-Series) (book: 'The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby' - 4 episodes, 2012) (book The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby - 1 episode, 2012)
2012 Great Expectations (novel)
2012 Magwitch (Short) (additional material)
2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 2 episodes)
- 2011 Great Expectations (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 3 episodes)
- 2011 The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (Short) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - uncredited)
2010 Canto di Natale (Short) (novel)
2009 Atop the Fourth Wall (TV Series) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - 1 episode)
- 2009 A Tale of Two Cities: In Concert (TV Movie documentary) (novel)
2009 A Christmas Carol (novel)
2009 Charles Dickens's England (Documentary) (writer)
2009 David Copperfield (TV Movie) (novel)
2008 Little Dorrit (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 14 episodes)
2008 Barbie in 'A Christmas Carol' (Video) (based on the story by)
2007 The Old Curiosity Shop (TV Movie) (novel)
2007 The Angry Video Game Nerd (TV Series) (original novel - 2 episodes)
- An Angry Nerd Christmas Carol: Part 2 (2007) ... (original novel)
- An Angry Nerd Christmas Carol: Part 1 (2007) ... (original novel)
2007 Oliver Twist (TV Mini-Series) (novel)
2007 Oliver Twink (Video) (novel)
2007 Humphrey and Renshaw - Warning: May Contain Nuts (Video) (additional material)
2007 Dombais et fils (TV Movie) (novel "Dombey and Son")
2007 The Nutcracker: A Christmas Story (Video) (story "A Christmas Carol")
2006 Bah Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas (Video) (novel - uncredited)
2006 A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Ghostly Tale (novella "A Christmas Carol")
2005 Bleak House (TV Mini-Series) (novel - 15 episodes)
- 2005 Oliver Twist (novel)
2004 Karroll's Christmas (TV Movie) (novel "A Christmas Carol" - suggestion)
2004 A Christmas Carol (tale)
2004 A Christmas Carol: The Musical (TV Movie) (novel)
2004 Boy Called Twist (novel)
2004 Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez (TV Series) (characters - 1 episode)
- 2004 El guardavías (novel)
2003 Twist (novel "Oliver Twist")
2002 Nicholas Nickleby (novel)
2002 Feliz navidad mamá (TV Mini-Series)
2001-2002 Micawber (TV Series) (character - 4 episodes)
2001 Scrooge and Marley (TV Movie) (novel "A Christmas Carol")
2001 Escape of the Artful Dodger (TV Series) (characters - 5 episodes)
2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie (book)
2001 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (TV Movie) (novel)
2000 Christmas Glory 2000 (TV Special documentary) (short story "A Christmas Carol")
2000 Adventures from the Book of Virtues (TV Series) (book "A Christmas Carol" - 2 episodes)
2000 David Copperfield (TV Movie) (novel)
2000 South Park (TV Series) (novel "Great Expectations" - 1 episode)
2000 A Christmas Carol (TV Movie) (short story)
2000 The Mystery of Charles Dickens (TV Movie) (works)
Building New Fiction on Dickens's Back
In the list above are many examples of modern screen writers attempting to build new fiction from Dickens's novels. While this is testament to the continuing attraction of CD's creations for the imaginations of other creators, these works seem rarely to achieve the force of their originals. Modern novelists as well are tempted to build on Dickens. Here is a recent example:
Other editions
Enlarge cover
Top of Form
Bottom of Form by Ronald Frame
Havisham IN THE TRADITION OF WIDE SARGASSO SEA, HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the...more IN THE TRADITION OF WIDE SARGASSO SEA, HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS. ~~ publisher's blurb.
Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters on the brewhouse wall—HAVISHAM—a reminder of all she owes to the family name and the family business.
Sent by her father to stay with the Chadwycks, Catherine discovers elegant pastimes to remove the taint of her family's new money. But for all her growing sophistication, Catherine is anything but worldly, and when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything—her heart, her future, the very Havisham name—is vulnerable.
In Havisham, Ronald Frame unfurls the psychological trauma that made young Catherine into Miss Havisham and cursed her to a life alone, roaming the halls of the mansion in the tatters of the dress she wore for the wedding she was never to have.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013
Clear rating Havisham
Friends of the Dickens Forum,
Some ten years ago the novelist Jane Smiley, who had written a
delightful small book on Dickens, won us all when she gave a principal
address at the Dickens Universe. A tall, lithe figure, quick and charming
in manner, she knew her Dickens down to the ground and answered questions
from the roomful of Dickens lovers with delightful ease.
Last Sunday hers was the first item in the NYT Book Review that we
turned to. Her subject was a 357-page book by Ronald Frame entitled
*Havisham.* Her review is generous and of course well conceived and
written, but it illustrates the problem we inevitably find when a writer
like Mr. Frame tries to build a story based on a Dickens figure. How go
about "fitting [his fictional Miss Havisham] into the world of *Great
Expectations*"? The Havisham we know is fixed. She is a cruel
narcissist who misleads Pip into thinking that Estella is meant for him,
and in her reaction to the treacherous Compeyson has fixed herself to the
hour of betrayal.
To quote Smiley, "Frame is more successful at augmenting
Catherine's back story than at fitting her into the world of *Great
Expectations.*" [Catherine is the first name he gives her.] He has a
predicament. How write "not a version of an earlier great work but an
addendum to an earlier great work"? He has tried not without some
success to render Miss Havisham "believable and sympathetic as a
young woman." Frame's back story for Catherine, as Smiley recounts it, is
well thought out, enough to make Smiley think of analogies to Trollope.
Our point, however, remains. Dickens's creations are so special
to themselves that any attempt to build on them, to make us think of them
as having a life outside his fiction, is a task that almost surely falls
short.
Cordially, your editor,
Patrick McCarthy
In the list above are many examples of modern screen writers attempting to build new fiction from Dickens's novels. While this is testament to the continuing attraction of CD's creations for the imaginations of other creators, these works seem rarely to achieve the force of their originals. Modern novelists as well are tempted to build on Dickens. Here is a recent example:
Other editions
Enlarge cover
Top of Form
Bottom of Form by Ronald Frame
Havisham IN THE TRADITION OF WIDE SARGASSO SEA, HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the...more IN THE TRADITION OF WIDE SARGASSO SEA, HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS. ~~ publisher's blurb.
Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters on the brewhouse wall—HAVISHAM—a reminder of all she owes to the family name and the family business.
Sent by her father to stay with the Chadwycks, Catherine discovers elegant pastimes to remove the taint of her family's new money. But for all her growing sophistication, Catherine is anything but worldly, and when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything—her heart, her future, the very Havisham name—is vulnerable.
In Havisham, Ronald Frame unfurls the psychological trauma that made young Catherine into Miss Havisham and cursed her to a life alone, roaming the halls of the mansion in the tatters of the dress she wore for the wedding she was never to have.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013
Clear rating Havisham
Friends of the Dickens Forum,
Some ten years ago the novelist Jane Smiley, who had written a
delightful small book on Dickens, won us all when she gave a principal
address at the Dickens Universe. A tall, lithe figure, quick and charming
in manner, she knew her Dickens down to the ground and answered questions
from the roomful of Dickens lovers with delightful ease.
Last Sunday hers was the first item in the NYT Book Review that we
turned to. Her subject was a 357-page book by Ronald Frame entitled
*Havisham.* Her review is generous and of course well conceived and
written, but it illustrates the problem we inevitably find when a writer
like Mr. Frame tries to build a story based on a Dickens figure. How go
about "fitting [his fictional Miss Havisham] into the world of *Great
Expectations*"? The Havisham we know is fixed. She is a cruel
narcissist who misleads Pip into thinking that Estella is meant for him,
and in her reaction to the treacherous Compeyson has fixed herself to the
hour of betrayal.
To quote Smiley, "Frame is more successful at augmenting
Catherine's back story than at fitting her into the world of *Great
Expectations.*" [Catherine is the first name he gives her.] He has a
predicament. How write "not a version of an earlier great work but an
addendum to an earlier great work"? He has tried not without some
success to render Miss Havisham "believable and sympathetic as a
young woman." Frame's back story for Catherine, as Smiley recounts it, is
well thought out, enough to make Smiley think of analogies to Trollope.
Our point, however, remains. Dickens's creations are so special
to themselves that any attempt to build on them, to make us think of them
as having a life outside his fiction, is a task that almost surely falls
short.
Cordially, your editor,
Patrick McCarthy
Dickens in Contemporary Public Life
From the website of the Allegheny County Health Department (Pittsburgh, PA
“A major outbreak of shigellosis — an intestinal illness often associated with poor handwashing practices — prompted ACHD and a local ad agency to develop a series of restroom posters that were based on the works of famous authors like Charles Dickens.” Once the posters were put up in restrooms, “Shigellosis cases dropped dramatically and surveys found handwashing rates to be much higher in restrooms where the posters were displayed.” Poster below
From the website of the Allegheny County Health Department (Pittsburgh, PA
“A major outbreak of shigellosis — an intestinal illness often associated with poor handwashing practices — prompted ACHD and a local ad agency to develop a series of restroom posters that were based on the works of famous authors like Charles Dickens.” Once the posters were put up in restrooms, “Shigellosis cases dropped dramatically and surveys found handwashing rates to be much higher in restrooms where the posters were displayed.” Poster below
From a 2008 law professor’s review of Bleak House as “the one indispensable book” for law students to read.
2008 Review by R. B. Bernstein, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School, on Norton's re-issue of its 1977 Critical Edition of Bleak House.
The first time that I encountered Charles Dickens’s BLEAK HOUSE was in the spring of 1978, in my first-year civil procedure course at Harvard Law School. The grand master of procedure, Professor Arthur R. Miller, was stalking the lecture hall, discussing an issue of complex litigation, holding us in rapt attention. In passing, he mentioned “a real Jarndyce and Jarndyce situation.” Suddenly the spell broke, and he was aware of it. He looked at his 150 confused students and repeated, with emphasis, “Jarndyce and Jarndyce,” hoping to jog our memories. Then he demanded, “How may of you have read BLEAK HOUSE?” Only a handful of students raised their hands; I was not among them. He raised his hands like Moses getting ready to part the Red Sea in “The Ten Commandments” and proclaimed, “All of you should read BLEAK HOUSE. Anyone engaged with law should read BLEAK HOUSE. It is the one indispensable book.” As an obedient law student, I marched to Harvard Square, bought a Penguin Classics edition of BLEAK HOUSE, and started to read. Three days later, I finished the book, dazed and awed. I understood why Professor Miller had been so insistent.
(Now) for fifteen years, I have taught that course, concluding each semester with a close reading of BLEAK HOUSE. This vast, somber book serves a vital purpose in the course as I’ve structured it. …
My use of BLEAK HOUSE is not an exercise in intellectual nihilism. Rather, throughout the course I make clear that, when my students become practitioners, they will have to cope with the lawyer-hatred that has pervaded Western culture… as what the eminent legal historian John Phillip Reid calls law-mindedness. In that light, Arthur R. Miller remains as right now as he was in that classroom in 1978--BLEAK HOUSE is the one indispensable book. It is the ultimate indictment of law, lawyers, and the legal system in the English language.
…
2008 Review by R. B. Bernstein, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School, on Norton's re-issue of its 1977 Critical Edition of Bleak House.
The first time that I encountered Charles Dickens’s BLEAK HOUSE was in the spring of 1978, in my first-year civil procedure course at Harvard Law School. The grand master of procedure, Professor Arthur R. Miller, was stalking the lecture hall, discussing an issue of complex litigation, holding us in rapt attention. In passing, he mentioned “a real Jarndyce and Jarndyce situation.” Suddenly the spell broke, and he was aware of it. He looked at his 150 confused students and repeated, with emphasis, “Jarndyce and Jarndyce,” hoping to jog our memories. Then he demanded, “How may of you have read BLEAK HOUSE?” Only a handful of students raised their hands; I was not among them. He raised his hands like Moses getting ready to part the Red Sea in “The Ten Commandments” and proclaimed, “All of you should read BLEAK HOUSE. Anyone engaged with law should read BLEAK HOUSE. It is the one indispensable book.” As an obedient law student, I marched to Harvard Square, bought a Penguin Classics edition of BLEAK HOUSE, and started to read. Three days later, I finished the book, dazed and awed. I understood why Professor Miller had been so insistent.
(Now) for fifteen years, I have taught that course, concluding each semester with a close reading of BLEAK HOUSE. This vast, somber book serves a vital purpose in the course as I’ve structured it. …
My use of BLEAK HOUSE is not an exercise in intellectual nihilism. Rather, throughout the course I make clear that, when my students become practitioners, they will have to cope with the lawyer-hatred that has pervaded Western culture… as what the eminent legal historian John Phillip Reid calls law-mindedness. In that light, Arthur R. Miller remains as right now as he was in that classroom in 1978--BLEAK HOUSE is the one indispensable book. It is the ultimate indictment of law, lawyers, and the legal system in the English language.
…
