The Old Curiosity Shop

      For the past few years, I have been a big fan of BBC productions and costume dramas. There is simply something mystical that surrounds these tales of woe, strife and romance in Old England. And so here I am prompted by love of film, about to embark on the expedition of reading my first Charles Dickens novel.

     Though I do love reading novels which I have already seen on television or on the big screen, I have to admit there is something fundamentally special about reading a book before you've seen the Hollywod or BBC version. When you read the book first, you get to form your own version of how characters look and what sort of scenery the tale is set against. So, I figured that as I have not yet seen the BBC production of The Old Curiosity Shop, I thought it would be a perfect candidate for my first Dickens Novel.

    I'm only on page 15 so far so I can't really give much of an opinion on the characters or plot just yet. However I can say that I'm filled with intrigue as to who this grandfather is. He seems awfully suspicius to me, sneaking out in the middle of the night and leaving his 'granddaughter' if she really is of his blood, to fend for herself alone. And who is the young waif, Kit who appears for a short moment for dinner and then dissappears laughing to himsel? I do find myself rather endeared to the narrator so far, he is so keen to protect this young girl who stumbles upon him in the middle of the night. I'm really excited about this novel, the mystery of it is so intoxicating I think I shall have to go read some more right now!