These paper boats of mine are meant to dance on the ripples of hours, and not reach any destination... Rabindranath Tagore

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past...F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.
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On the way to the river are the old dormitories, used for something else now, with their fairy-tale turrets, painted white and gold and blue. When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.
--from Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale

Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.
- Joyce Carol Oates

Sunday, July 12, 2015

The Wreck of the Golden Mary...


The Wreck of the Golden Mary (1857) - Charles Dickens
Kindle edition
BUT
It was written in partnership with Wilkie Collins
I am the Captain of the Golden Mary, Mr. Collins is the Mate 
- Dickens told Angela Burdett-Coutts (Letters 8: 231)
Angela Burdett-Coutts was a 19th century philanthropist.
With Charles Dickens, she co-founded a home for young women prone to theft and prostitution.
The home was known as Urania Cottage.
Further, Dickens dedicated his novel Martin Chuzzlewit to her and many other friends.


it's nigh on Christmas

aging Captain Ravender
craves 
more living
on the high seas
on the Golden Mary

I am so tired of darkness

but his living
becomes
a shared shipwreck
becomes
a shared survival

leading
souls
to friendly
and not so friendly
inner strengths

too soon
a ghastly white moon
pierces
the darkness

for some

and a little child
keeps her doll

forever

she made a doll of the Golden Mary



Linking to;
Poetry Pantry #260


MY GOODREADS REVIEW
 Wreck of the Golden MaryWreck of the Golden Mary by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Very brief and very scintillating. This fast-paced narrative could be a Canterbury Tale on the high seas. After all, stories are told and songs sung to pass the time. This could be a parable... all that glistens is not gold, but some golds are priceless. A shipwreck allows time to magnify loose threads in characters who are cast outside the usual regime of society. And, like a Pied Piper, Captain Ravender encourages the passengers to find courage and hope within. So interesting that the Golden Mary was headed for the Californian goldfields and the child with shining fair hair is nicknamed Golden Lucy. So many metaphors tantalise this tale. A small treasure.

View all my reviews


MY AMAZON AUSTRALIA REVIEW 
sea drama...
This tale of the sea dives quickly into action. There are thoughts of being lured to the 19th century discovery of gold in California, but ultimately, the story is all about how personalities react to the challenge of a shipwrecked Golden Mary. And then there is the strange obsession of one passenger for a child that is not his. The narrative is very brief, but still it whisks the reader into a breathless climax... There's a feeling that there could have been far more to the story. An unexpected tale from the 19th century master of writing novels which usually are grounded in cities and explore the social colours of levels of society. Perhaps this narrative suggests a particular, pervading enthusiasm for adventure in worlds beyond English society. I have given this fragment a 5 star rating mainly because it represents a refreshing, alternative perspective of the Charles Dickens that we think we know.

12 comments:

brudberg said...

Thank you.. this sound like a perfect recommendation.. I will add that book to my bucket-list.. -) Interesting back-story as well...

X said...

Interesting. Never read this one by Dickens. I have always been anamored with the ship faring days. Dangerous business, definitely is you find your self shipwrecked and surviving. I suppose it would be better to be shipwrecked with another than alone.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Such striking images, the ghastly white moon, and the little girl keeping her doll forever.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Such an intriguing piece :D

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

What a wonderful concept, poetic book reviews! And you've convinced me; I'll be having this book. :-)

Sumana Roy said...

"a ghastly white moon / pierces / the darkness"....this one image expresses the magnitude of the happening...beautiful and intense & thanks for the illumination on Dickens...

Kerry O'Connor said...

I like the way you have tied character to the ebevents portrayed in the novel.

Jae Rose said...

Such a stunning metaphor and images..i too am tired of darkness..i think we all need that doll throughout our lives..some small comfort

Susan said...

Your poem makes me want to read the book--it is quite satisfying in your abbreviated version. I want the Christmas to give each what they desire, I want the tired one to have something to hold forever.

Panchali said...

Interesting....magicallying interlaced.
Am enlightened as well..!!Thank you.

ZQ said...

Awesome story... nice style
ZQ

Gen Giggles said...

An interesting poem and a little spoken of book. I will have to look at it.

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