83 responses to “Her dove-blue silken frock”

1. This is weird. Weird because I read it once and most of it fell out of my head as I got to the end. Yet I knew I still liked it. Furthermore I get to go read it again!

   • Maybe I have succeeded .. some of the best passages of a Dickens’ story have to be read several times 🙂 but it could also be bad narrative from my side… time will tell.

2. Loved. Miss Havisham is one of my favorite characters.

   • She is — complicated to say the least. Maybe Lady Dedlock would be a strong contender though.

     • Maybe.

3. Dear Bjorn,

   I haven’t read the book, but I love what you did with the language in your story. It was dreamy and ancient and otherworldly, just like the prompt.

   Aloha,

   Doug

   • Thank you. At the moment I’m reading a lot of Dickens.

4. Dear Björn,

   You’ve painted a vivid picture. Very descriptive. I did recognize Great Expectations.

   Shalom,

   Rochelle

   • Thank you. .maybe not much of a unique story, but more an exercise in writing alas.

     • No alas necessary. An exercise is a good way to flex your writing muscles. 😉

5. That was very atmospheric, but I’ve always been a lover of that particular scene from Great Expectations. (Despite what Gillian Anderson managed to do it in a recent adaptation.) Nice work, Bjorn.

   • I have not seen any film adaptations.. but the writing was so vivid, and the emotional tension between the characters..

6. Bjorn, your choice and use of words is beautiful!

   janet

   • Thank you.. some weeks I see this as a writing exercise only, other times it’s more original

7. I haven’t read the book so I can’t speak to the language, but as to whether or not this was just an exercise or true fiction, I’d side with true fiction. Well-written true fiction.

   • Thank you.. I enjoyed writing it a lot.

8. I read the book too long ago (at 15). Your words are beautiful, most especially the first paragraph.

   • Thank you.. there are some mixed in from the first chapter as well as some bleak house in that part.

9. Your story gripped me from the first line and the recognition swiftly followed. A slight departure from your usual style just shows your excellence shines in any form.

   • Thank you.. it’s fun to try to sing in another voice…

10. Ah our poor Pip. He’s in for a world of misery. I’m glad that you share my love of Dickens. He’s brilliant. He’s also written some rather riveting ghost stories…

    • I have just started dig into the wonderful world of Dickens…

11. Bjorn,
    I enjoyed your exercise. Of course, since Dickens was payed by the word and made no attempt to veil the fact that he was using every word he possibly could in telling his tales just so he could garner a reasonable paycheck, there comes some difficulty in capturing his tone in a mere 100 words. However, I think you did a great job of capturing the essence of the Dickensian tale. I’ve often thought the man could have used a good editor to whittle his stories down a bit.

    Nice work this week!

    All my best,
    Marie Gail

    • Indeed.. he used a lot of words, but sometimes it resulted in beautiful poetic descriptions that probably an editor would remove in favor of the narrative.. but yes they can be long.

12. Bjorn, I can’t decide what I like best about this. The chosen words? The sentence structure? The mood? Beautiful all the way around.

    • Thank you.. I wonder if I can read a book without even look for a how it’s written nowadays.. but it’s good inspiration.

13. HA! I would hardly think 100 words would be sufficient for attempting to approximate Dickens, but you did well.

    • Indeed.. Dickens can be quite wordy..

14. Excellent connection! I loved Great Expectations. It was assigned reading over the holiday break when I was in grade school, long ago. Terrific work, Björn.

    • Great expectations can take some time to get through.. but some of the characters are excellent.

15. I think you did quite swell my friend and I am a huge fan of Dickens, as well as all the major literary classical authors. Poe, Frost, Dickens, Jane Austin..(Huge Jane Austin Fan) Thoreau. Alexander Pope is another one, if you’re not familiar with him, I think you would appreciate some of his poetry. I really love what you did here!

    • I have read a few of those.. I love Jane Austen, and of course the Bronte sisters… 🙂

16. i haven’t read great expectations, so i guess this was about a scene in the book. if i were to rewrite it, i will switch the position of the last two paragraphs.

    • Ah.. yes I can understand that when you read an excerpt,, But the focus in this scene from Dickens’ point of view is at this time more on the play between Pip and Miss Haversham (the old lady). Estella and Pip are mere tools in the old lady’s plot in manipulating them…

17. i read it a long time back. should read again, nice story

    • I read it quite recently actually.

18. A lovely piece of Dickensian writing.

    • Thank you.. it was a fun writing exercise.

19. What the dickens is this about? Great observation of the relationships.

    • Indeed.. that scene when they are playing cards linger in my memory.

20. An exercise here I believe you succeeded at quite well. It’s tough to be Dickens, but you did evoke him well.

    • Dickens has a very specific style.. so it’s fun to try.

21. I haven’t read Dickens for probably over 40 years but it immediately came back to me reading your words. I think you can say your exercise was successful.

    • I just read it.. and I’m currently reading Bleak House.

22. Lovely recreation of the scene. Dickens has long been one of my favourite authors. Most enjoyable.

    • Oh I so enjoyed writing this.

23. What Dickens I’ve read has usually spooked me – as your piece did. I liked the “gauzy curtains ” effect.

    You never know when you’ll be able to use pieces of this exercise.

    Ellespeth

    • Oh he can be quite spooky.. but also quite entertaining to read.

24. Miss Havisham…the featured villain in the required H.S. reading. (hisssssss). Loved seeing Dickens appearing in a FF prompt. Nice job.

    • She is a very peculiar villain.. though the real villain is Compeyson..

25. Like Mr. Binks, I read it more than once. I’m not that familiar with the story, but loved the language. Beautiful choice of words.

    • Great master to learn from.

26. I loved how you set the mood for this piece, very descriptive and poetic. Great writing, great story 🙂

    • I love doing poetic writing.

27. Beautiful descriptions, particularly ‘courtyard dressed in shadows of the gloomy skies’ giving a sense of the place. Pip’s dreaminess comes across really well too. Much enjoyed.

    • Thank you.. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this..

28. Don’t fall for it, Pip! It’s the convict who is really your benefactor. Except I forget his name. Nice foray back into Dickens.

    • Ah that Abel Magwitch has gone to Australia…

29. Writing is always an exercise. (And ‘no pain, no gain.’)

    One other thing: you might want to fix the ‘hoe’ in “Primarily I hoe the characters”…

    • Thank you.. My process notes sometimes get written too hastily.

30. As I live withing walking distance of the real ‘Satis House’ and almost opposite ‘Restoration House’ which actually inspired the Satis House of Great Expectations, I can appreciate your modern take on this. 🙂

    • The image of Miss Haversham’s room with Pip standing there came immediately…

      • I’ve recently read ‘Havisham’ which is about her upbringing, if you’re interested. Its entertaining, but I don’t think it explains satisfactorily how she ended up so sick and twisted. There are two Dickens festivals here every year, when Miss Havisham wanders up and down the High Street, along with a crowd of other Dickensian characters. Sometimes, she’s on stilts. Don’t ask me why!

31. I love your opening paragraph, how it captures my feeling seeing the photo. I haven’t read the book but now I want to! It might be awhile before I do. I have a whole pile on my list.

    Lily

    • And this book is quite long.. It’s quite an undertaking.

32. I just love your word choices, Bjorn. Dickens I believe was very economical with his word choices. Yours have a true beauty to them and read like poetry. My favorite is your first sentence. It has such a dreamy quality to it. I want to walk into this world.

    • He was both economical and its opposite. Quite a lot of words but still every word is important..

33. It’s interesting that the picture reminded you of Great Expectations and I really enjoyed how you used the scene. You have some lovely descriptive words and phrases, like ‘gauzy curtains’ and ‘courtyard dressed in shadows . . .’ The snippet of dialogue is used very effectively.

    • Thank you Millie. I wonder if it helps that the story is still well-known.

34. Beautifully done, Bjorn. I especially like the fact that you started the setting description with the word “Somewhere.” It makes it a story anyone can fit into. And I love “silencing the swirling specks of dreamy dust.” Perfect. In fact, if you don’t mind, I’m saving this paragraph to use as an example of the most excellent use of alliteration in a prose piece in order to share it with my Creative Writing students. (I’ll give you credit, of course.)

    I also thought of Dickens almost immediately, but I just sort of borrowed the seed of “Great Expectations” and tweaked it a little.

    • Ah. I will go an read yours immediately.. The idea of having the first word be somewhere is actually borrowed from the first sentence of Bleak House that only says London.
      Of course you are allowed to use my writing as example..

      • Thanks. There’s something about giving students examples from authors who are currently living and writing that seems to have a more powerful effect than just using the old, classic examples all the time.

35. Dear Bjorn, I love “Great Expectations” and your story is wonderfully written! Have a great winter! Nan 🙂

    • Thank you Nan, Great expectations is wonderful reading.

36. Nicely portrayed. I love the classics like Great Expectations.
    have a great week!

    • They are so well written.. I wish I could write like that.

37. Good adaptation of the Dicken’s classic to the prompt, Bjorn. Lovely descriptions. Well done. 🙂 — Suzanne

    • Ah.. thank you .. it was nice to write.

38. Björn, I hadn’t thought about Great Expectations, but this photo did in fact have that same feel. Wonderful job of pulling that out of the photo and weaving a wonderful atmospheric piece. Love it!

    • Thank you. I just recently read Great Expectations, and I am currently reading Bleak House. Both of them have a great atmosphere… Somehow the atmosphere is to tightly tied to the characters too..

      • Absolutely! And, I think that’s what you really nailed here, Björn… the atmosphere of your story is perfect for the words.

39. Great atmospheric piece Bjorn, love the nod to Great Expectations one of my favourite Dickens novels.

40. Wonderful. This was very poetic and a great adaptation.

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