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Entries include ‘Cannibalism’ (lots in Dickens, none at all in Thackeray for some reason), ‘Fog’ and ‘Mist’ (quite separate), ‘Bedding’ (an extraordinary tic through the books, and of course Dickens always liked his own bed to be facing north), ‘Onions’, ‘Rats’ and ‘Sausages’. The quintessential Victorian novelist never mentioned Queen Victoria in his books, or any king or queen by name. Both times Magwitch erupts into Pip’s life, Pip is reading a book. Dickens stopped using bastards as a plot device after he produced a few of his own. There are countless pictorial representations of Dickens but in none do we see his teeth.
In short, what we have here is the Ultimate Dickens Lavatory Book: not necessarily a dignified calling but a useful one, even at this odd, hype-drenched time.
Because you read about book review
Also by Marcus Berkmann
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