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We chatted to Prof. John Mullan earlier about Dickens, and he CONFIRMED all of your wonderful Dickens facts. He also added one of this own...
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First, a small addition to the point a couple of you made about Dickens' pet raven, Grip.
While Dickens *did* have a beloved raven called Grip, there were actually *three* such birds, only the first of which was stuffed and kept on Dickens' writing desk.
While Dickens *did* have a beloved raven called Grip, there were actually *three* such birds, only the first of which was stuffed and kept on Dickens' writing desk.
John's own Dickens' fact concerns the relationship between Dickens and the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, author of 'Anna Karenina' and 'War and Peace'.
First, however, we have to go to Russia – to a country house about 120 miles south of Moscow – to a place called Yasnaya Polyana ('Bright Glade'). This is Tolstoy's house.
In fact, it's more than just his house. Tolstoy was born here, lived here his entire life, wrote both 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina' in the study here, and died here in 1910. All thirteen of his children were also born here – on exactly the same sofa on which he was born.
Yasnaya Polyana has been left pretty much completely untouched since Tolstoy died. If you go into the study, you can see the leather sofa that Tolstoy was born on, and you can also see his writing desk where he wrote those great novels. An on the wall above the writing desk is...
... a giant portrait of Charles Dickens.
So Dickens was to Tolstoy what Grip was to Dickens, his literary 'patronus' if you will.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...
In March 1861, a 32-year-old Tolstoy visited London. One thing he did on his visit was attend one of Dickens' famous book-readings – in this case a reading of A Christmas Carol, which was held on Thursday 14th March at St James' Hall, Piccadilly.
After the reading, the young-ish Tolstoy was offered the chance to meet Dickens – but he refused because he felt he wasn't worthy of meeting his literary hero.
I'm going to repeat that last point. Leo Tolstoy – perhaps the greatest novelist of all time, author of 'Anna Karenina' and 'War and Peace' – thought he WASN'T WORTHY of meeting Dickens.
Real conclusion: Isn't it amazing to think that even the most gigantic of literary giants themselves had literary heroes who made them go weak at the knees?
(Credit to Prof. John Mullan for that brilliant little anecdote.)
MOST IMPORTANTLY: John's set of lectures on 'A Christmas Carol' (which we filmed today) will (hopefully) be available before Christmas.
