Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

Today is Charles Dickens' 200th birthday. I only knew about it when I opened the Google homepage today and was smitten by the graphic design of the Google logo. I really like it!

I clicked on the logo and out came the search results which included lots of articles and blog posts on the writer whose full name was Charles John Huffam Dickens. He was born on Feb 7, 1812 and died at the age of 58 on June 9, 1870.

You can also watch a video of his life (it's more like a cute summary of his life) in the YouTube video below. I discovered the video via My English Scrapbook.

So now I'll compile books, movies, blogs, etc, that are related to Dickens.

Books:

Well, I'm sure you are familiar with his works such as Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House and The Old Curiosity Shop.

Wow. And I've just discovered several graphic novels of Dickens' novels. Here is an example:
A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel adapted by Sean Michael Wilson

Movies:

Great Expectations (1946 film)

I watched this film on Nov 28 last year during the European Union Film Festival 2011 at Gurney Plaza in Penang, Malaysia. It starred John Mills and Jean Simmons. It was a rather old movie, in black and white, and I was not really familiar with the cast.

But I found myself engrossed in the movie and I liked Simmons who played young Estella. The young Pip did really well too. The movie was sort of humorous at certain parts though I thought that the ending rather abrupt. All that aside, I think the movie stayed close to the book. But I've only ever read the abridged version! (I know, I know. I have to read the entire novel one day.)

If you want to watch other movie versions of the Great Expectations novel, check out:
1. Great Expectations (1974 film) starring Michael York
2. Great Expectations (1998 film) starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow

For movies based on his other novel, Oliver Twist:
Oliver! (1968 film) starring Mark Lester and Ron Moody

and A Tale of Two Cities:
A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film) starring Chris Sarandon

Blogs:

I came across Reading Charles Dickens where the blow owner, Edward, is currently on a mission of sorts to read all the published works of Dickens or any publications about him, throughout year 2012.

Like what he wrote on his About page - 'For the next 365 days, I will eat, work, sleep and dream Charles Dickens.'

Reading Challenge:

I was wondering if there was a 2012 reading challenge with Charles Dickens as the theme when I found that Newly Impassioned Soul is hosting such a challenge. I think I'm going to sign up for it!

How about you?

Other fun stuff (on Etsy):

1. Charles Dickens necklace
2. Vintage English Charles Dickens style tin (pic left)
3. Charles Dickens Butterfly Antique Bronze Necklace
4. Oliver Twist Book Purse Handbag and Kindle E-reader cover
5. Great Expectations mini Moleskine journal

Don't you just love Etsy for all the random but really cool stuff that are sold there?? :)

Anyway, this is the end of this post dedicated solely to the very famous English author, Charles Dickens and his works of literature, also movie adaptations, which are still being read and enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.

I hope you enjoyed reading it!