BUY IT Overall Package ����Charles Dickens wrote 14 complete novels between Pickwick Papers in 1836 and Our Mutual Friend in 1865. He charted the social course of Great Britain and played a part in bringing the injustices of the system to light. His works were revered by critics and the public alike. Released in serial form they were priced cheaply enough to be bought by the poorest labourer ensuring that his genius was recognised across class barriers. ����Seven of Dickens novels and his short novel A Christmas Carol are gathered in their mini-series form in the Dickens Collection . These comprise a formidable 33 hours of blacksmiths and orphans, toffs and conmen. Whilst this may present a serious challenge to the sanity of a reviewer charged with analysing the films within a timeframe, for the dedicated Dickens fan this is a collection to be treasured and watched at leisure with a guarantee of many hours of enjoyment. ����There are no duds amongst this collection. I found A Tale of Two Cities to be perhaps the most dated in style although it is not without its charms.

It was good to get a chance to see the rare dramatisation of Our Mutual Friend although the transfer was a little poor by comparison with the others in the collection, judged by the year of production. ����There are some moments that I will treasure from the collection. One is seeing young Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, as David Copperfield. Another is seeing a little known book like Martin Chuzzlewit elevated in status by some exceptional performances from Tom Wilkinson and Paul Schofield. Despite its faults the final moments of A Tale of Two Cities are unforgettable. ����Suitable for casual dipping as well as a dedicated Dickens Weekend this is a collection destined to bring joy into many a household. Search My Ancestry: Causes of Death: Ancestors who Died by Drowning Causes of Death: Ancestors who Died by Drowning A Watery Grave [This article first appeared in the now obsolete Practical Family History magazine] When I first found out that three of my ancestors drowned – in separate incidents - in the same piece of water, the Leeds-Liverpool Canal in Wigan, Lancashire, I was rather shocked at the macabre coincidence and determined to find out more. Commerical Inn and the Leeds Liverpool canal at Aspull, Wigan.

Enoch Fletcher was drinking here on the night of his death and it is here that his body was brought for the inquest. Unfortunately, it turns out that death by drowning was an all too common feature of life in industrial towns in the nineteenth century. Canals and rivers could be death traps in more ways than one. Towpaths, which ran beside pubs and hostelries, were often unpaved and slippery late at night; they provided a conveniently ill-lit venue for drunken fights, robberies and muggings. Local waterways also proved a popular repository for unwanted babies (some aborted, and some the victims of infanticide), and last but not least, there was a significant rise in the number of suicides by drowning in Britain in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Charles Dickens’s novel, Our Mutual Friend (1865) famously opens with the unsavoury character, Gaffer Hexam, and his daughter ‘Lizzie,’ sculling along the dark river Thames in a small boat looking for the bodies of the dead.

Hexam describes the results of his recent trawls dispassionately as a mixed bunch: a sailor with tattoos on his arm, a young woman in grey boots and wearing linen marked with a cross, a man with a nasty cut over his eye, two sisters who tied themselves together with a handkerchief, and a drunken old chap in a pair of slippers and a nightcap who had drowned because he had entered into a bet to ‘make a hole in the water for a quart of rum.’ I don’t know what my great-great-grandfather Enoch Fletcher was wearing when the Leeds-Liverpool canal claimed his life in February 1869. What I do know is that after a night out, the unfortunate fellow, was making his usual early morning trip home from the Commercial Inn at Top Lock, in the district of Aspull, when he, apparently, stumbled and fell into the water. His death certificate records ‘Drowning in the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. Fell in accidentally while intoxicated.’ Drowned bodies, in the first instance, I have discovered, drop to the bottom of canals. If the weather is cold, as I am sure it was in Wigan that February, they can remain below for sometime.

From the date of Enoch’s death certificate, however (just a week later), it is obvious that his body was raised to the surface pretty quickly, probably with a ‘keb’ - or iron rake - normally used to retrieve coal and other articles from the canal bed. His swollen corpse would then have been brought back to the Commercial Inn for identification and for the inquest. Records of such inquests often turn up a few days after the date of death in local papers and I was satisfied to find a record of the inquest for Enoch on the relevant microfiche of The Wigan Observer and District Advertiser. Wigan Observer and District Advertiser, Saturday February 20th 1869 CASE OF DROWNING An inquest was held at the house of Mr Nathan Tyrer, Commercial Inn, near Top Lock, Aspull on Tuesday last, by F. Price Esq., deputy coroner for the district, on the body of Enoch Fletcher, engine fitter, employed at the Wigan Coal and Iron Company’s Works. Deceased fell into the canal on Saturday evening, near the Top Lock, and was quite dead when taken out. He was 54 years of age, and leaves a wife and family.

A verdict of ‘accidentally drowned while intoxicated’ was returned by the jury. The drowning of Enoch led me to ask questions about the easy availability of alcohol in Wigan in the latter half of the nineteenth century. By 1889, the Commercial Inn was one of 139 public houses, 62 beer houses and eight breweries in the town. A lot of men (and women too) probably stumbled home dangerously drunk at around that time. Even today, approximately two thirds of all adult males found drowning have consumed alcohol, and safety advice in swimming pools and around lakes warns that alcohol impairs the judgement, balance and co-ordination that are essential for swimming well and for avoiding hazards in water. By strange co-incidence, just over a decade after Enoch’s death, in 1881, another of my great –great – grandfathers, Lawrence Cooke, a 77 year old cotton spinner and journeyman, met his end in similar circumstances in the same canal. Lawrence drowned in the Westwood Park area of Wigan and the death certificate says simply, ‘Found Drowned.’ I don’t know the real reason why Lawrence died.

Like all victims of drowning, he would have been lying face down in the water with his head hanging and it is likely that his corpse would have been bruised and discoloured. Nowadays, it is possible to tell from forensic tests whether a drowned person stopped breathing before or after they entered the water, but in the nineteenth century, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain whether Lawrence’s injuries were the result of buffeting by the water, or by injuries sustained before death. A recent study by the Economic and Social Research Council on Violence in the North West suggests that official homicide figures in the nineteenth century grossly underestimated the actual amount of murder, manslaughter and infanticide in the second half of the nineteenth century. The study suggests that open verdicts were often returned ‘in the case of adults who had died under suspicious circumstances, especially those fished out of canals or the River Mersey.’ The phrase ‘Found drowned’ on a nineteenth-century death certificate is really just a convenient catch-all for a multitude of possible circumstances of death - it simply means that the body was found in water.

Providing the bodies of the drowned reached the hands of the Victorian police quickly, the pockets of any clothing would be searched, and details of the contents would be recorded in the local newspaper account of the death. In the case of unidentified persons, significant aspects of appearance and a list of possessions would be described on posters that would be put up around the town in the hope that these would provide clues to identification. While searching the Wigan newspaper records, I came across the details of a case of drowning that occurred in 1860. On this occasion, William Smith, a farm servant (and thankfully no relation of mine), had fallen into the Leeds-Liverpool canal from a cart passing over Martland Mill Bridge. When his pockets were emptied, they revealed ‘one penny in copper and a pipe.’ As a family historian, there is nothing that gives you quite as much of a thrill as finding out what was in the pockets of your own ancestor on the night he or she died. I was, therefore, intrigued to discover that when great-great grandfather number two was pulled out of the canal, his pockets yielded two items: ‘a knife and an apple,’ poignant reminders of a simple life suddenly curtailed.

Of course, the fact that there was no money in Lawrence’s pockets allowed me to speculate that he might have been robbed and then murdered in the park on his last journey home. Perhaps, I mused, he was unable to get to his knife in time…. The third member of my family to lose her life in the same great commercial waterway was my great-great aunt, Margaret Daniels, ‘a factory hand.’ Margaret drowned on 8th March 1874, ‘above No. 8 Lock, Upper Ince’ at the tender age of just twelve. The Deputy Registrar for Wigan, William Henry Milligan, was obviously so fascinated by the detail of the Coroner’s Report of the drowning that he filled in the space accorded to ‘Cause of Death’ on Margaret’s death certificate, with far more detail than was customary. The record reads: ‘Drowned in canal. Passing along bank in evening carrying umbrella. Accident – in the water 2 days.’ I am still speculating about why a twelve-year-old girl ended up meeting her end in murky waters just a few hundred yards from her home, and particularly why she had such a tight grip on her umbrella that she was still clutching it when her body was recovered.

An apple, a knife and an umbrella - I count myself fortunate that I have had these clues to my ancestors last moments. Sometimes, of course, the victims of drowning were fleeced before they reached police hands by those passers by, or professional boatmen, who actually brought the bodies ashore. Dickens’s Gaffer Hexam unscrupulously ransacked of the pockets of those he pulled from the river. When questioned, he would insist, with mock innocence that it was probably the ‘wash of the tide’ that emptied pockets and turned them inside out! Charles Dickens was not the only Victorian to be fascinated by the idea of drowning. Literature and art are littered with many examples, from the poignant double death of brother and sister Tom and Maggie Tulliver at the end of George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss (1860) to the iconic portrait of Shakespeare’s Ophelia by John Everett Millais (1851-2). For my ancestors, and their families, of course, the experience of asphyxiation by water would have been anything but poetic.

But the records of their deaths did provide a prompt for my imagination, allowing me to catch glimpses here and there – like reflections on water - of the perilous industrial world they inhabited. Our Mutual Friend, Constant Reader Discussion by Charles Dickens Amazon.com Our Mutual Friend was the last novel Charles Dickens completed and is, arguably, his darkest and most complex. The basic plot is vintage Dickens: an inheritance up for grabs, a murder, a rocky romance or two, plenty of skullduggery, and a host of unforgettable secondary characters. But in this final outing the author's heroes are more flawed, his villains more sympathetic, and the story as a whole more harrowing and less sentimental. The mood is set in the opening scene in which a riverman, Gaffer Hexam, and his daughter Lizzie troll the Thames searching for drowned men whose pockets Gaffer will rifle before turning the body over to the authorities. On this particular night Gaffer finds a corpse that is later identified as that of John Harmon, who was returning from abroad to claim a large fortune when he was apparently murdered and thrown into the river. Harmon's death is the catalyst for everything else that happens in the novel.

It seems the fortune was left to the young man on the condition that he marry a girl he'd never met, Bella Wilfer. His death, however, brings a new heir onto the scene, Nicodemus Boffin, the kind-hearted but low-born assistant to Harmon's father. Boffin and his wife adopt young Bella, who is determined to marry money, and also hire a mysterious young secretary, John Rokesmith, who takes an uncommon interest in their ward. Not content with just one plot, Dickens throws in a secondary love story featuring the riverman's daughter, Lizzie Hexam; a dissolute young upper-class lawyer, Eugene Wrayburn; and his rival, the headmaster Bradley Headstone. Dark as the novel is, Dickens is careful to leaven it with secondary characters who are as funny as they are menacing--blackmailing Silas Wegg and his accomplice Mr. Venus, the avaricious Lammles, and self-centered Charlie Hexam. Our Mutual Friend is one of Dickens's most satisfying novels, and a fitting denouement to his prolific career.

--Alix Wilber From: Ann Davey davey@tconl.com Date: Sunday, November 02, 2003 11:35 AM The Classics Corner book for November is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley has said about Dickens and this novel: he wrote Our Mutual Friend, which is my favorite and in which the style is perfect, the characters are fabulous and all the parts of the novel are beautifully integrated with one another. Do you agree? From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Monday, November 03, 2003 08:17 AM Tho I had reservations with Book the First, things really picked up with Book the Second..so I'd have to agree with Smiley. As with all Dickens' novels, this was first published in serial form and I think it probably was better suited for that form. Much of Book the First was really difficult to get through. Dickens slams us with intricate details of so many characters that, for a while, I thought I would never get through the book..and I'm still not done.

But, with the very beginning of Book the Second, there was a delightful turn. Now I'm glad I sludged thru all the characters' background material, because with the onset of the (much easier to read) Book the Second, I feel I know these people. This is a masterpiece. Absolutely. Beej From: Candy Minx candyminx@hotmail.com Date: Monday, November 03, 2003 04:25 PM Stillcatching up...but getting into the characters for sure! I am really looking forward to this one, it seems like ages since I sunk down with Dickens... a small note I loved the first intro to the Veneerings where we heard they had brand new this and brand new that. I thought it was interesting that there name contained "veneer" as in facade or fake? From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 10:00 AM What a bunch of dark and dismal characters..even the (very few) lighthearted characters are shadowed with a sense of gloom..makes me wonder what Dickens state of mind was when he wrote this.

I haven't read all the Dickens' novels but I think this one has the most involved, intricate character development of all the ones I have read. I can see, even tho I'm not quite half done, why some consider this to be his greatest. Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 01:34 PM Beej -- I'm just over half-way done, loving the writing, but don't want to venture into the Introduction for background. However, the tiny bio of Dickens at the beginning of the edition I'm reading (Modern Library) says: "Our Mutual Friend, published in 1865, was his last completed novel, and perhaps the most somber and savage of his later works. Dickens was weakened by years of overwork and by a near-fatal railroad disaster during the writing of Our Mutual Friend." Candy-- Yes, Veneering is just such a perfect, and perfectly Dickensian, name. Though I guess Dickens was following a tradition within some English writing (didn't Restoration playwrights also give some of their characters descriptive names?) Very funny, anyway.

Mary Ellen From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 07:01 PM I'm only on page 97, just because my life has been very busy lately, and I tried to cram in too many books before I started it. However, if you don't mind, I'm going to post a bit as I go along. Dickens' wit and his power of description keep me smiling and occasionally chuckling out loud. One of my favorites was his portrait of Boffin: The words referred to a broad, round-shouldered, one-sided old fellow in mourning, coming comically ambling towards the corner, dressed in a pea overcoat, and carrying a large stick. He wore thick shoes, and thick leather gaiters, and thick gloves like a hedger's. Both as to his dress and to himself, he was of an overlapping rhinoceros build, with folds in his cheeks, and his forehead, and his eyelids, and his lips, and his ears; but with bright, eager, childishly-inquiring grey eyes, under his ragged eyebrows, and broad-brimmed hat.

A very odd looking old fellow altogether. Barb From: Dale Short dshort@bham.rr.com Date: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 10:30 PM I just picked this one up at the library today and am about to take it bedward and dig in. I'm looking forward to more Dickens, even the dark variety. >>Dale in Ala. From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 07:32 AM Oh good, I'm delighted as I see each new name joining in on this one. I nominated it and I feel bad that I'm getting started late. I made good progress last night though and loved the story of the couple who got married thinking that each had a fortune. Plus, Charles does a wonderful rant on "shares." Barb From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Thursday, November 06, 2003 12:49 PM I have about 200 pp to go (and no time for sustained reading in sight!). I find my appreciation of the book increases as I go on.

At first, I saw the characters as colorfully drawn 2-dimensional figures and was mainly enjoying the style and humor in the writing. But I have found the major characters much richer and fuller as I've gone on, and now I really care about what happens to them (one measure of "realness" in depiction of character for me). Bearing in mind the warning that this is Dickens's "darkest" of his later works, I am afraid things won't come out right in the end -- that Mr. Boffin won't come round to his senses, and Mrs. Boffin's heart won't be eased, and Fledgeby will not get what he deserves, and (in another sense), neither will Lizzie or Jenny or Mr. Riah. So I'm in the odd state of wanting to know, quickly, what happens, and not wanting the book to end! Mary Ellen From: Dale Short dshort@bham.rr.com Date: Saturday, November 08, 2003 11:12 PM Wow! What a formidable book this is. The opening chapters are definitely daunting, especially the slang and shop talk during the social gathering.

It was Mortimer who phrased my condition best when he said, "I am far from being clear as to the last particular." But when Dickens turns to straightforward description, such as the interior of the Hexams' cottage, scenes come alive for me as if they're happening right now. What a talent. I've still got a long ways to go, but I'm caught up in Dickens' authority...a sort of high-wire act of seeing just many disparate story threads he can bring in and still make them all fit together. I'm looking forward to the rest of the haul. >>Dale in Ala. From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Saturday, November 08, 2003 11:40 PM I have 330 pages yet to go but Dale, I think one of the most outstanding qualities of this book is that which you mentioned..so many subplots! As you go on in the book, they all become clear and they all intertwine.

The thread that seems to connect them all is money and how it, or the lack of it, affects each of these characters...and what an absolutely perfect beginning for this novel to have poor Gaffer and Lizzie Hexam going about their livelihood of fishing dead bodies out of the Thames in order to empty the pockets of those who had drowned! I'm sure that entire thing is metaphorical. I think, as more folks finish this book, we'll get into a grand comparison between Belle Wilfer and Lizzie Hexam and what they stand for. This book has an almost never ending supply of stuff to discuss..I won't say much more until we're all finished reading tho. Barb, thanks for nominating this one. It's quite the reading experience. Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Monday, November 10, 2003 02:07 PM I finished this over the weekend and can't wait to discuss it! But for now I'll discipline myself & type no more!

Mary Ellen From: Candy Minx candyminx@hotmail.com Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 03:29 PM I'm catching up and have had very little time to read or post...I'm in the thick of reading today...so back tonight or tomorrow morning...... From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Thursday, November 13, 2003 09:32 PM I'm curious to know who all is reading this? So far, I think it's myself, Candy, Dale, Ernie, Mary Ellen and Barb Moors. Anyone else? How far along are y'all? I have about 140 pages left to read and hopefully, will finish by tomorrow night. It's difficult to post anything without knowing the fates of these characters yet! I will say, though, the character of Fascination Fledgeby reminds me of Uriah Heep..he's downright dastardly! His displays of antisemitism made me cringe. Mr.

Riah was such a kind and gentle soul, and I hurt with every nasty, prejudiced word Fledgeby threw his way..(speaking of which, I read that Dickens included the character of Riah in this book as a means of making amends for the stereotypical Fagin in 'Oliver Twist.') Beej From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Thursday, November 13, 2003 09:35 PM Anyone have any thoughts about who..or what..'our mutual friend' is? For awhile I thought it was 'money,' but money seems to be most of the characters' mutual enemy. Beej From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Friday, November 14, 2003 12:55 PM Oh god, I feel soooooo alone *sob* :( Okay, how's this for a theory as to who's our mutual friend? I'm going to say death is our mutual friend.

(well, at least in this book, it is, methinks.) Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Friday, November 14, 2003 01:35 PM Beej, don't feel blue! I've been waiting for the conversation to start and hoping it would start before I'd lost my enthusiasm (and memory) for discussing this book! At one point, somebody (Mr. Boffin?) refers to Boffin's secretary (his name escapes me! and he's such an important character!) as "our mutual friend." His character does pull quite a few of the plot threads together. I think one of the brilliant things about the use of the Riah character is that Dickens isn't just indicting the execrable Fledgeby. Fledgeby wouldn't get away with his horrible use of poor Riah for cover, but for the anti-Semitism of everybody else! Even Jenny Wrenn is willing to think the worst of her gentle "godmother." (Of course, Riah was complicit in some pretty rotten dealings for a long time.

I wondered why it took so long for his human decency gene to kick in...) Mary Ellen From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Friday, November 14, 2003 01:50 PM Mary Ellen, I remember that reference to Mr. Boffin's secretary, and immediately figured that solved the mystery of the title, but I've changed my mind and think Dickens was just playing with us..The secretary (John Rokesmith?) was an important character but far from having enough importance to carry the title, tho I do believe Dickens is giving us a hint with the reference you mention. The book begins with the drowning death of a young man. Then we get to the death of Gaffer Hexam..the death of the elder Harmon, and move on to the death of baby John Harmon and then the death of Betty. Etc, etc..(so as not to give more away.) Each of these deaths led to some sort of union among these characters. One by one, lives began to intertwine and relationships, of one sort or another, evolved. Without it all, there would have been no novel. Death seems to have been the mutual friend who brought these people together.

Beej From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Friday, November 14, 2003 02:07 PM Oh yes, Riah; I got the impression that even he bought into Fledgeby's antisemitism. He was so accepting of it. He almost totally lost a sense of self, didn't he? Also, Candy had mentioned the names; do you think there's anything in the fact that two of these women, Lizzie and Betty, have names rooted from the same name, Elizabeth? Is Dickens leading us to draw some sort of comparison between these two characters? Also, I thought it interesting that the surnames of the two dead fathers, fathers who had such a major affect on their offspring, were named Harmon(y?) and Hex(am). Beej From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Sunday, November 16, 2003 09:27 AM My conferences last week really slowed my reading down again but I'm back at it this weekend. For anyone who is involved in the first 200 pages or so, please stick with it.

The rest of the book starts rolling into Dickens the storyteller as we all know and love him. I'm also interested that he has more axes to grind in this book in little rants occasionally that I remember in any Dickens book except, perhaps, Bleak House. The first one was the man who had "shares". Then, the section on people who wrote to the Boffins for money had the ring of things that Dickens had experienced as a famous, popular writer who was perceived to have a lot of money. Oh, and the comments on schools and the "education" going on in them ring a particularly strong bell with me. This man was a colossus. Mary Ellen, please go right ahead and start discussing. If you are worried about spoiling it for any of us, just post a spoiler alert. It sounds like Beej is almost up with you and I will be there soon. I sincerely apologize for being such a latecomer on this one. I really didn't budget my reading time well.

Barb From: Dale Short dshort@bham.rr.com Date: Sunday, November 16, 2003 11:10 AM Barb: Satire as social commentary doesn't get much better than this, does it? I'm also struck by how many of Dickens' grinding axes seem timely in 2003, particularly the arrogance and obliviousness of the privileged class. By all means, folks, please post away. I'm approaching the halfway point of OMF, but the number and scale of plot threads has long ago exceeded my brain's ability (never very hardy) to follow in detail what's going on. As a result I'm enjoying the beauty of the writing and the characterizations, and look forward to hearing others' comments. Onward, >>Dale in Ala. From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Sunday, November 16, 2003 01:03 PM I still have 70+ pages to read yet.

(I would have been done yesterday but instead of reading, I got caught up in the looonnnnng FSU/NC football game, which went into a second overtime..my husband and son..lucky brats...were at the game, sitting at the 45 yard line..'GO 'NOLES!') I should be done today. I've been doing some browsing and came across this original cover: And here's an excellent report on Dickens and 'The Composition, Publication, and Reception of Our Mutual Friend.' Beej From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Monday, November 17, 2003 09:30 AM I'm done. Something in this book that kind of intrigues me is the symbolic use of the dust mounds. I take it these mounds were basically charred landfill...rubbish. People would sift through these mounds hoping to find items of worth that had been inadvertently discarded. Mary Ellen, I'm really interested in your thoughts about the dust mounds and all their symbolic implications. The following includes stuff from the very end of the book and, Dale and Barb, you might want to wait to read it... Old Mr.

Harmon had made his fortune, around which so much of the story revolves, from trash picking through the dust mounds. Young John Harmon will inherit his father's wealth only if he marries Bella Wilfer. I think Dickens' use of tying the dust mounds in with wealth and societal acceptance was a display of pure genius. The symbolism is gigantic. Not only was the fortune amassed from these garbage heaps, the final Harmon will was found in one of them. Add in the fact that the last dust heap was removed from the mansion's lot on the same day that John and Bella Harmon move into the mansion, and the symbolism deepens. Beej From: Jody Richael jodyrichael@cs.com Date: Monday, November 17, 2003 04:07 PM I finished this book a while ago but haven't found the time to post until now. Dickin's is one of my favorite authors and I was surprised to see that I hadn't read this book before. I found the first half slow going as I was trying to keep all the characters straight but the second half was enthralling. I didn't want to put it down.

I've found that to be true of many Dickin's novels - the first half is work but well worth the reward at the end! I would probably say that if the title "Our Mutual Friend" is meant to be symbolic it would represent money or wealth. It was the one aspect of the book that seemed to reflect in some way on every character's personality. I had a hard time accepting Lizzie and Eugene together. I thought Dicken's had created Lizzie as a little too good and moral and then all of a sudden she is in love with someone like Eugene who really doesn't deserve her. Anyone else feel the same? Was there intended to be a lot of suspense around the identity of John Rokesmith/John Harmon/etc.? I think there was a comment that Dicken's didn't intend to have the reader guessing throughout the entire novel. However, my edition came with a list of characters at the very beginning where it clearly listed John Harmon and all the aliases he would use in the novel. Jody From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Monday, November 17, 2003 06:03 PM Jody, I agree that the Lizzie/Eugene pairing didn't work.

SPOILER! I thought it would come out better if Eugene died, as he clearly was about to do. I can't believe that those 2 will have a happy future; I think his indolent nature will reassert itself and they'll be quite unsuited to each other. I agree that money seemed to be more a theme in this book than death, although literalist that I am, I took Rokesmith to be the mutual friend of the title, as I mentioned before. I don't think Dickens has a dark enough view to refer to death as "our mutual friend" and I also didn't think death played a bigger part in this book than it does in most of his, or most 19th cent. novels, for that matter. (Death of the young/middle aged being more common then than now.) It seemed to me that Dickens killed off folks he needed to kill off, for his plot to work! It took me a while to picture those mounds of debris. Fascinating symbols! That the elder Harmon made his fortune by going through cast-offs, never producing anything on his own (and rejecting what he did produce -- his children)!

Mary Ellen From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Monday, November 17, 2003 11:05 PM As for the meaning of the title, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. It might be a reference to money, yes, but I still hold it's very likely a reference to death. If the wording had been, instead, 'Our Mutual Acquaintance,' it might better explain how I see it; with every death, a new and important acquaintance is made..with the exception of the deaths of Headstone and Riderhood. I've also read that when Dickens first wrote his notes for this novel, he described the drowning death in the opening chapter as 'Done in the Mutual.' This would imply that Our Mutual Friend might just be the river Thames. Why do you think Lizzie/Eugene is such a bad pairing? I think, if anything, Lizzie could use someone a bit more laid back. Was he really more indolent than any other young man of society in that era? I was surprised that you didn't consider that death played a HUGE part in this book, Mary Ellen!

I haven't read all the Dickens novels but, even tho death is in each of the ones I have read, it seems by comparison to have played and extraordinarily large role in this particular Dickens. I saw it just the opposite; it seems death was everywhere, and very often death had such great bearing. If the man had not drowned in the Thames in the beginning, Lizzie would have not met Eugene. If the elder Harmon had not died, there would have been no plot to the book..Even the death of the infant John Harmon immediately followed his meeting with John Rokesmith. And Betty's death resulted in Lizzie and Bella's introduction to one another. To me, death in this book was prominent. But, in a book of this size and depth, it's only logical we will all come away with varied takes. That's half the fun of discussing books such as this one! Beej From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Monday, November 17, 2003 11:22 PM There was one character that drove me absolutely crazy..Mrs. Wilfer..she drove me nuts and I just kept wishing she'd shut up.

Here's a little neat thing..a map of London, 1862, showing where many of the characters in 'Our Mutual Friend' lived: Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 01:00 PM Beej, I agree with you that lots of people died in this book. I guess the opening chapter (which would have induced me to put it down, were it not for this CR discussion!) with the Veneerings & crowd, the emphasis on "new money," set me off to see this as a book talking about money: lacking it, acquiring it, scheming for it; its corrupting influence; its rare ability to do good. Not that an 88-page book can't be "about" many things! (I really like the notion that the mutual friend is the Thames, though!) I agree with you 100% about Mrs. Wilfer! She would have been utterly intolerable but for the fact that nearly everyone ignored her! What a trip!

(Whenever she went on a rant about her many opportunities to make a better match, I thought of the mother in "The Glass Menagerie" with her 17 gentleman callers!) SPOILERS!! I truly did enjoy this book, but there were a few things (minor quibbles) I just couldn't swallow easily: the transformation(s) of Mr. Boffin (he seemed such a transparent soul -- how did he get to be the consummate actor? and why does he keep up the charade with Wegg for so long?); the Eugene/Lizzie match (discussed above); and the changed character of Bella Wilfer. When we first see her, she's as disagreeable as her mother & sister. As the novel continues, she becomes Miss Sweetness and Light, even when at home with her horrid female relations. Is this the effect of finding True Love? I can understand that her attitude toward Rokesmith/Harmon would change, but not her basic way of responding to people.

Mary Ellen From: Jody Richael jodyrichael@cs.com Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 03:38 PM I agree that the plot would have been more credible had Eugene died. I also cannot picture them living together. I personally would not have been so pleased to marry a man whom I know would never have consented to marry me had he not been on his death bed! The character description of Eugene in my book (done by Dickens?) called him a "briefless barrister, of a gloomy, indolent, unambitious nature." I thought that even his best friend, Mortimer, found him to be somewhat of a cad. Jody From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 08:47 PM Jody, I thought, when Eugene tracked Lizzie down after she disappeared from London, that he had intentions of making her a permanent part of his life and that it was she who refused, feeling their stations in society were too far removed. Maybe I read that section wrong. I still don't see why he's such a poor match for Lizzie.

I think he might have been a bit full of himself, and lacking quite a bit in maturity, but I think he really loved her and she, him. To quote a sentence from Henry James' review of 'Our Mutual Friend:' "Dickens introduces men and women whose interest is preconceived to lie not in the poverty, the weakness, the drollery of their natures, but in their complete and unconscious subjection to ordinary and healthy human emotions..." and how true that is in the case of Wrayburn...his nature might have been weak but he was nevertheless capable of strong human emotion. I was surprised, however, he survived that attack, too. It almost felt like Dickens meant to kill him off and then changed his mind. Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 01:53 PM Beej, I took it that Lizzie was asking him not to hang around because the difference in their social stations meant he would not marry her, and so her reputation would suffer from being the object of his attentions. I agree with Jody: he only decided on marriage when he thought he was dying.

Wrayburn, however, was goodness itself compared to the other men in Lizzie's life! In a book that has its fair share of contemptible characters, I'd say Charlie Hexam makes it to the top 3! During my morning commute I was musing on Riderhood & Wegg--how they both had this exaggerated sense of their own entitlement and worth. And then it occurred to me that Charlie was the same way! It was bad enough that he dumped his sister (and even the demented Headstone) when he thought she was no longer "respectable." The truly maddening thing about Charlie, for me, was that he had the nerve to be angry with her! The little ingrate! One great thing about this book -- it provides so many targets for one's ire; very cathartic!

Mary Ellen From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 10:22 PM I went back and re-read chapter VI, Book the Fourth, 'A Cry For Help,' several more times and after Lizzie denies him her affections because of their different places in society, Wrayburn asks her three times if she would feel the same if HER view of his social standing were different. I just can't see where he is making that differentiation. It seems for all the world to me that it's Lizzie's stand, not his. Maybe he did feel that way. But I'm just not seeing it like that. Was there any other mention of this besides in that particular chapter? I think Charlie Hexam was a little puke. His biggest concern was himself and how he could manipulate others in order to make himself look good. What did y'all make of Jenny Wren constantly referring to her father as her child and Mr. Riah as her godmother? She was such an odd little character.

Beej From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Friday, November 21, 2003 12:37 PM Beej-- I don't know if Eugene was reluctant to marry Lizzie because of the differences in their status, but I think what he DIDN'T say to her in that chapter is very significant. He didn't say, my dear, you are the love of my life and, social conventions be damned, I want to marry you. All he is offering her, it appears, are protestations of affection and walks along the river. Lizzie attributes this to their different social rank, which I think shows how little she knows of his character. He is a classic commitment-phobe! (I base this on all those conversations with Mortimer, in which he says he doesn't know how he feels about Lizzie, he doesn't know what he wants from her and doesn't know what he intends to do.) Jenny is such a touching character. I sensed that her survival depended on her maintaining this little fantasy world for herself. Since no one (before Lizzie and Riah) offered her the slightest bit of encouragement or kindness, she had to lift her own spirits up.

So, she doesn't refer to the father who has let her down; rather, she talks about the child who gives her so much trouble (a pretty realistic assessment of how their household operated!). And all those references to the suitor who'll eventually come by, and the demands she'll make on him. She only talks about her hard experiences -- being taunted by other children -- in the third person. She had no time to be sorry for herself, as she had to work constantly to support herself, so she had to keep the negatives of her life at arm's length. A fascinating character! Mary Ellen From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Sunday, November 23, 2003 06:52 PM I'm still reading but loving every minute of it now that I'm on page 475. Jenny may be my favorite character in the book. I love her toughness. I'm trying to remember another dwarf that was in a Dickens book. Was it David Copperfield?

Barb From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 12:58 PM The introduction to the edition of OMF that I read (which is now back at the library) noted that Bradley Headstone epitomizes the conflict between appearances and reality and that OMF is, in fact "the story of Bradley Headstone writ large." SPOILERS! I had not regarded Bradley as so central to the story but it is interesting to pair him up with Rokesmith/Harmon, the point of comparison being their employment of disguise to such different ends -- Harmon to discover the truth for himself, and to advance it, and Headstone to blur the truth. Of course, a lot of the characters go in for disguise -- Boffin disguises his true nature beneath the show of avarice, the Lammles hide their poverty beneath a show of wealth, Fledgeby hides the source of his wealth by presenting a false picture of Mr. Riah, Bella creates a diversion to allow her father to attend her wedding, Sloppy disguises himself and his voice to trick Wegg.

In this world created by Dickens (and our own!) you really can't trust appearances. Mary Ellen From: Beej Connor connorva@mindspring.com Date: Friday, November 28, 2003 09:00 AM Barb, yep there was a dwarf in David Copperfield, an equally strong and impressive character. Wasn't her name Miss Mowcher? I read somewhere that Dickens used physical handicaps as a metaphor for society, and most often used legs as symbolic of a crippled society, so besides Jenny Wren, we should also look at the meaning behind Wegg's wooden leg. Now that I think of it, wasn't Miss Mowcher a cosmetics salesperson? There's probably additional meaning behind that. Mary Ellen, there sure were a lot of disguises among these characters, weren't there? And so many of them had to do with money..but then, money was what 19th century society was all about, wasn't it? I would have never considered Bradley to be pivotal to this story. I'm not sure I do now, either..well, at least no more pivotal than any of the other characters were.

Beej From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Friday, November 28, 2003 09:23 AM Thank you, Beej! I loved Miss Mowcher too, but she's a different character from Jenny Wren, isn't she? I'm glad he didn't succumb to the temptation of making all dwarves alike. I'm also glad that he took the stereotype out of the character of Riah, but I feel like he drives that point home a little too incessantly in this one. Barb...closing in on the ending at pg. 593.... From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Sunday, November 30, 2003 05:20 PM Finished! Wow, this was a worthwhile book. When I read Bleak House which is also supposed to be one of Dickens' dark, complicated books, I lost patience with him, but with this one my interest just kept growing and growing. The ending feels like one of those dreams you have in which everything which was wrong in your life has been righted (am I the only one who has experienced this?).

It didn't all feel likely, but, as a fantasy, I enjoyed it enormously. Also, so much is righted in the end, that it doesn't feel dark to me at all, despite the fact that we see the base side of humanity in so many of the characters. Though much of this related to money, that was not so in Bradley Headstone's case. How does he fit into that whole theme of the effects of money, do you think? I've had a great time reading your notes now that I can read the spoilers. Somewhere, there was a question about whether the Harmon/Rokesmith identity was meant to be a secret or not. My edition contains a few pages by Dickens entitled "Postcript, In Lieu of Preface." It opens with this sentence: "When I devised this story, I foresaw the likelihood that a class of readers and commentators would suppose that I was at great pains to conceal exactly what I was at great pains to suggest: namely, that Mr. John Harmon was not slain, and that Mr. John Rokesmith was he". Sounds like he wanted us to know.

I'm off to read the parts in my Dickens biography by John Smiley that have to do with this book and the interview with her that Ann posted. Beej, I've been trying to read the article at the link that you posted but it won't come up. Barb From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Sunday, November 30, 2003 07:27 PM When I first read Jane Smiley's biography of Dickens, I gave it a glowing review here. After rereading her comments on Our Mutual Friend, once again I want to press you all to read it. She always has original observations and makes me think. The following paragraph includes her most far-reaching observations about this novel: Dickens has stepped back from his wholesale critique of English society and, in so doing, allows his characters to assert their freedom within what he continues to portray as a corrupt structure. Corruption, he is saying, is a fact of life, but not the determiner of the individual's moral direction. The average man or woman (not just the exceptional Amy Dorrit type) can understand right and wrong. Twemlow, Lightwood, Jenny Wren, Riah, Mrs.

Lammle, and Georgiana Podsnap are all required to assume a moral stance against one sort of pressure or another, and all do, and thus a right-minded community is formed within the larger community of fools and knaves. Earlier in her biography she talks about how only one of Dickens' sons was successful, that the others were irresponsible and "profligate" with money. He saw this not as evidence of something lacking in him as a parent, but as something basically wrong with them particularly when compared with his own youthful ambition. She goes on to say: His novels abound with feckless young men--James Harthouse in Hard Times, for example, and in Our Mutual Friend, Mortimer Lightwood and Eugene Wrayburn, whose easy manners are so galling to the ambitious, Dickens-like characters Bradley Headstone and Charlie Hexam. That observation really brought me up short. Charlie Hexam, and even Bradley Headstone, really are much like what I've read about the young Charles Dickens. He had to pull himself up out of poverty with single-minded energy. And, yet, those two characters are portrayed in such an unsympathetic fashion. You would think that he would be tempted to make them more attractive.

Also, Smiley uses the term greed at some point to refer to qualities in Bradley's Headstone's character. I know that he wanted to raise himself in society but I don't remember any instance of all-out greed. He is so totally identified in my brain with obsession. Barb From: Mary Ellen Burns smeburns@yahoo.com Date: Monday, December 01, 2003 01:07 PM Wow, if Dickens modeled Bradley & Charlie after himself, he must have had some buried (or not so buried) self-loathing! I know very little about his life (but Barb, you have convinced me to add the Smiley book to my way-too-long TBR list) although I had the impression he worked himself way too hard. I suppose greed could be one motivation for that, but it is not the same thing. Barb, thanks for the quote from the Smiley book. I would not have put all those characters together -- some are sympathetic and others not -- and now that I am thinking about them, I like the fact that they are not all purely good and self-sacrificing.

I agree that this book was not as dark as I'd been led to expect, and I think the point Smiley makes -- that Dickens shows people as independent moral actors -- shows that it is not a pessimistic book after all. Mary Ellen From: Barbara Moors bar647@aol.com Date: Monday, December 01, 2003 06:49 PM I don't perceive Bradley and Charlie as being motivated by greed either, Mary Ellen. But, there is a very single-minded ambition to raise themselves out of poverty. I certainly get that impression of Dickens when I read about him. When his father began to fall on hard times and Dickens had to work as a child, he felt utterly abandoned. Smiley's book on him is from a series called Penguin Lives. They are short books by famous authors about famous people. They are very readable. Smiley's reads like a summary of the best that has been written about him plus her own interesting take on most of his writing. It's very worthwhile and only 212 pages long. At the time I read it, I said that it was like going to an excellent literature class and Smiley did teach at Iowa State for a while.

Barb Our Mutual Friend: Amazon.es: Charles Dickens: Libros en idiomas extranjeros Libros en idiomas extranjeros EUR 19,75 Precio final del producto Elige envÃ­os GRATIS mÃ¡s rÃ¡pidos con Amazon Premium o elige envÃ­o GRATIS en 4-5 dÃ­as En stock. Vendido y enviado por Amazon. Se puede envolver para regalo. Cantidad: Para ver las direcciones, por favor Iniciar sesiÃ³n Usar esta ubicaciÃ³n: Actualizar Introduce un cÃ³digo postal vÃ¡lido. Introduce un cÃ³digo postal vÃ¡lido. O AÃ±adir a la Lista de deseos Â¿Tienes uno para vender? Volver atrÃ¡s Ir adelante Escuchar Reproduciendo... Interrumpido EstÃ¡s escuchando una muestra de la ediciÃ³n de audio Audible.

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Para moverse por la cinta de carga, utilice la tecla de acceso de secciones para dirigirse a la secciÃ³n siguiente o anterior. DescripciÃ³n del producto Reseña del editor In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waistband, kept an eager look out.

He had no net, hook, or line, and he could not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty boathook and a coil of rope, and he could not be a waterman; his boat was too crazy and too small to take in cargo for delivery, and he could not be a lighterman or river-carrier; there was no clue to what he looked for, but he looked for something, with a most intent and searching gaze. The tide, which had turned an hour before, was running down, and his eyes watched every little race and eddy in its broad sweep, as the boat made slight head-way against it, or drove stern foremost before it, according as he directed his daughter by a movement of his head. She watched his face as earnestly as he watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look there was a touch of dread or horror. No es necesario ningÃºn dispositivo Kindle. DescÃ¡rgate una de las apps de Kindle gratuitas para comenzar a leer libros Kindle en tu smartphone, tablet u ordenador.

Apple ObtÃ©n la app gratuita: o Ver todas las apps de lectura gratuitas de Kindle Empieza a leer Our Mutual Friend en tu Kindle en menos de un minuto. Â¿No tienes un Kindle? Consigue un Kindle aquÃ­ o descarga una aplicaciÃ³n de lectura Kindle GRATUITA. Detalles del producto Tapa blanda: 574 pÃ¡ginas Editor: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (14 de enero de 2016) Idioma: InglÃ©s Â¿Quieres actualizar la informaciÃ³n sobre un producto o dar tu opiniÃ³n sobre las imÃ¡genes ? Amazon Premium: EnvÃ­o 1 dÃ­a GRATIS y mucho mÃ¡s Los clientes Premium disfrutan de EnvÃ­o 1 dÃ­a GRATIS en mÃ¡s de un millÃ³n de productos, Acceso Prioritario a Amazon BuyVIP y Ofertas flash, Almacenamiento de fotos gratis e ilimitado y acceso a las series Amazon Originals, entre otras pelÃ­culas y series.

TodavÃ­a no hay opiniones de clientes en Amazon.es 5 estrellas Amazon.com: 4.2 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas 204 opiniones 3 de 3 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas This Story Has It All 29 de febrero de 2012 Por Adriana in Los Angeles - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa blanda Compra verificada The first half of this book was a bit of a tough slog, and were it not for the fact that I had it on excellent authority that I was in for a treat, I would have been tempted to give up. The pace picked up considerably at the start of section 3, though. This book has a little bit of everything to please an array of tastes. There are unsavory, disreputable characters (which Dickens did so well), the ridiculous and self-important who are worthy of nothing but contempt, and kind and honorable characters.

There is mystery, murder, greed, romance, jealousy, betrayal, and it is all topped off with a thoroughly satisfying ending. I chose this particular edition over the myriad of others that are available because it included an introduction by Nick Hornby, whose books I love. Sadly, I could have done without Mr. Hornby's introduction. After disparaging many contemporary writers (and there are many out there who may feel rightly so, but I don't feel the was the appropriate forum to voice this opinion), he then went on to state ". . . it is only fair to warn you that Our Mutual Friend - his last completed novel - is in the opinion of many, including this writer, far from his best." Perhaps the publishers should have looked a little harder to find someone who actually likes and respects the novel to write an introduction, rather than go with a popular writer who clearly does not. Also included in this edition was a list of characters and some charming illustrations. I don't know if the list of characters is standard in all editions, but I found it invaluable as I read the first half of the book. Trying to keep track of something like two dozen principal characters while trying to follow the story would have been near impossible for me without this tool.

So let me sum up my rating: 5 stars for the work by Dickens, and 1 star for the introduction by Nick Hornby. 4.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas Abridged is not always best 19 de marzo de 2014 Por Loni Hackworth - Publicado en Amazon.com Compra verificada I love Dickens! And, I thoroughly enjoyed this audio edition of the book; the reader was fantastic with his many voices and his great inflections; he did a superb job. Having said that, however, I need to add that I wish I had listened to the unabridged version, even though it's much longer. Here's why: some of the characters are missing in this version. And, of course, some of the little plot twists are not covered. While I love listening to audio books (it makes exercising so much more tolerable!), I need to remember that where Dickens is concerned, it's best to listen to the entire book...I mean, what's the hurry when I need to keep exercising anyway??!?!?! Now, about the book itself; it is not my favorite.

Fro me, the characters were not as intriguing as they are in Bleak House - still one of my favorites. The plot line is not as engaging. However, true to form, Dickens has some of the most classic lines ever written; as in, "Why ain't you ugly?" Now, that caused me to laugh out loud! Or how about this section: "As is well known to the wise in their generation, traffic in Shares is the one thing to have to do with in this world. Have no antecedents, no established character, no cultivation, no ideas, no manners; have Shares. Have Shares enough to be on Boards of Direction in capital letters, oscillate on mysterious business between London and Paris, and be great. Where does he come from? Shares. Where is he going to? Shares. What are his tastes? Shares. Has he any principles? Shares. What squeezes him into Parliament? Shares. Perhaps he never of himself achieved success in anything, never originated anything, never produced anything? Sufficient answer to all; Shares. O mighty Shares!" Or the lovely heroine, Bella who proclaims: "I have made up my mind, Pa, that I must have money.

And I feel that since I cannot beg, borrow, or steal it, I am resolved, I must marry it!" I think Dickens is sheer genius in his writing. And, he knows the human heart in terms of the power of money over some people. Money is such a theme in this book; we see it in the Lemmles, Riderhood, Veneerings, etc. And, even in Bella Wilfer, who does change her mind about the value of love over money as the story progresses. I recommend listening to an audio version, but be sure to go for the unabridged. And, I highly recommend Dickens; for me, there's not many to compare. 2 de 2 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas Never Wanted it to end 31 de diciembre de 2013 Por Carol Danek - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: VersiÃ³n Kindle Compra verificada It was a little difficult to get started in this book. I put it down a few times but my son kept telling me to push through the beginning. This was my first Charles Dickens novel.

I am so glad I did because I never wanted it to end. Now I understand why he is considered to be one of the greatest writers. When you are reading the book, you cannot beleive that someone has put the words together in such a way. I loved the writing, the structure, the characters and the plot. While the plot kept me reading on, I knew I would be sad to reach the end. I look forward to reading some of his other novels but I am also very tempted to reread this one so I can enjoy it on an entirely different level. 1 de 1 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil OUR MUTUAL FRIEND (Annotated) (English Edition) eBook: Charles Dickens: Amazon.it: Kindle Store Di Giulia il 23 aprile 2016 Formato: Copertina flessibile Acquisto verificato Our Mutual Friend it's quite the long book but you do not feel the length of it while reading it because the characters and the many turning points and surprises are enough to keep you interested, the descriptions sometimes can be a bit boring but the story is catching enough to not discourage you and make you put down the book.

At the same time it could be kind of difficult for someone that is not native English like me, because it is written in not a very modern English so certain words can be a bit tricky to understand.

Question: Which Dickens novel starts with a Thames boatman and his daughter 'Lizzie' searching for bodies in the river?
Answer: 'OUR MUTUAL FRIEND'