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John Nogowski's avatar

Thank you! So very kind. 🙏

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Erin O'Connor's avatar

How wonderful to wake up in the morning, fail to keep my intention not to check my phone while still in bed, and be rewarded with a delightful post on Dickens, Bleak House, how to begin a novel, and, of course, fog.

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John Nogowski's avatar

FOG, of course...hahaha...Thank you for such a sweet note. Made my day!

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John Nogowski's avatar

This is a class I did during COVID on Hamlet. Hope you like it. I thought the kids did great. 😊 https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/was-shakespeares-hamlet-truly-bipolar?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios

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William Routhier's avatar

Surreal and stream of consciousness, opening the gate for Joyce and Virginia Woolf.

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William Routhier's avatar

Amazing language, pre-dates Joyce and Ulysses. Borges said that fiction creates its predecessors, so we are able to recognize Joycean stream of consciousness in Dickens because of Joyce. New fiction rewrites its earlier stylistic forebears. I'll have to take a look, I never read Bleak House. In Inkstigators, which is dedicated to writing, and I hardly post on it, I was just talking about Dickens' regular writing habits, which 7AM to noon, which createed his massive output.

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Punyhuman's avatar

Great post. Thank you.

Just FYI - “Blinkers” refer to the leather eye-guards a horse is dressed with, as part of their harness, not the eyes themselves. They are designed to stop the horse getting distracted by what’s in its peripheral vision. I think they’re more often called Blinders in America.

In no way criticising - just thought it might be of interest.

The essence remains - but he’s referring to eye height, not the eyes themselves.

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John Nogowski's avatar

Yeah. I remember seeing those. I think people understood. Thanks puny

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Untrickled by Michelle Teheux's avatar

I've been on a real Dickens kick myself! I keep mentioning it in my writing.

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John Nogowski's avatar

Awesome. He was really amazing. Writing two novels at once!!

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Roxanne's avatar

Ahh... I love Dickens and this was wonderful. It always make me look at foggy days differently. well written! Always look forward to your posts :)

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John Nogowski's avatar

So very nice of you, Rox! I’ll keep ‘em coming.

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David Wesley Williams's avatar

Love this. I felt like cheering when I came across it. The opening of “Bleak House” is probably my favorite stretch of writing, by anyone.

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John Nogowski's avatar

So very kind David. Thank you

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Jan 16
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John Nogowski's avatar

So very kind of you!! Many thanks!!

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