the unemployment rate is 9.1%, our deficit over 14 trillion dollars and i’m always broke. the only medicine to cure this kind of financial depression is a trip back in time to the 1800s Occident.
last week I went to the tenement museum for the first time. the LES has meant little more to me than gourmet donuts, authentic japanese and herds of NYU students, but our visit helped me develop a new perspective. afterwards i couldn’t stop thinking about one of my favorite non-fiction books, the italian boy by historian sarah wise. i’m a little scared to ask myself why i so enjoyed immersing myself in memories of victorian suffering, but i think it’s a little like wanting to see the freakshow at coney island. to keep the mood alive, i went home and watched the pbs documentary, “triangle fire.” highly recommended if you want more fuel to fight the man.
starting with the italian boy, i’ve developed an interest in victorian england/1800s us where once i despised it. yesterday i walked to the strand in search of new victorian focused history books (settling for a sarah vowell instead), and i’ve nearly finished watching the bbc miniseries bleak house in 3 days. this led me to another revelation:
I’VE NEVER READ ANY CHARLES DICKENS.
just one of those things that slipped by in grade school and i’ve never pursued. do you have any favorites? do you even like dickens? my dad just read great expectations for the first time and loved it—maybe i’ll just try that again?
