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  4. John Ray: Dickens

John Ray: Dickens

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  • O Oakman

    Richard A. Abbott wrote:

    And within 20 years of the invention of that word, Britain suffered "A Great Depression".

    Well, what's the use of having a capitalist society if you can't have a good depression every quarter of a century or so?

    Richard A. Abbott wrote:

    But this wasn’t an empire, it wasn’t even a state, it was a company

    Perfect Jeffersonism?

    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #62

    Oakman wrote:

    Perfect Jeffersonism?

    A question for Stan I feel :)

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    • S Stan Shannon

      Oakman wrote:

      Could be. However, I have trouble believing that anyone who claims English as his mother tongue and who has never read Dickens is worthy of the label, "educated." Illiterate seems far more appropriate.

      I actually find that to be just about the most boring place and time of human history. I've never been able to generate much intellectual interest in it. But, then, I've also never cared for Melvile, Twain, Hemmingway either, or really any other form or art and expression from the 19th and early 20th century. Though, I really do enjoy Steinbeck and Faulkner. So, maybe it is just personal taste. Heck, I eve detest Shakespeare.

      Oakman wrote:

      I thought the idea was to learn about, and ultimately to understand some small part of, the universe. Perhaps if you spent more time receiving and less broadcasting, you might be shoocked to discover how much more there is to learn.

      No, that itsn't it at all. Understaninding, which I have devoted my life to, is, of course, important. But understanding can never be perfect. At some point, you must form your own unique perspectives on what it all means.

      Oakman wrote:

      Yes, I have noticed how Mr. Plankton, or Mike Gaskey have been ostracized for their non-left-leaning views.

      That is only becuase both, to some extent, endorse a libertarian perspective. I don't. And it is that which you cannot tolerate.

      Oakman wrote:

      It is you that is being isolated, because you prove over and over again unable to learn. Unable to admit you are wrong. Unable to change. Unable to respect anyone's views that do not coincide with your own.

      That statement is an absurdity on its surface. First, my entire argument is evidence of my ability to change and admit to being wrong. There was a time in my life when you and I would have agreed on far more than we do now. I now understand more than I once did and I realize why your views are intellectually flawed and self serving. I have shown far less disrespect for the views of others than they have for mine. Hell, my great crime is that I endorse true Jeffersonian principles and I tend to be a contrarian even on issues tht I largely agree with - such as evolution, for example. That is probably something Illion and I have in common. Illion promotes a farily traditioanlly christ

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      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #63

      Stan Shannon wrote:

      Heck, I eve detest Shakespeare.

      I can understand why you might have a loathing of "The Bard". The words and phrases are from a time when Latin was actively taught at Public Schools. Over time, languages change and develop. Elizabethan English bares almost no resemblance to the English of today consequently, the works of Shakespeare becomes a hard subject to understand and master. But the words he used were, nonetheless, beautiful. However, with regards to your comments above regarding your wife's likes of Jane Austin. As she is such a fan of those novels, why not show her your endearing love by getting her a boxed set of those rather excellent BBCtv dramatisations. An excellent gift I'm sure you will agree.

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      • L Lost User

        Oakman wrote:

        Perfect Jeffersonism?

        A question for Stan I feel :)

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        Oakman
        wrote on last edited by
        #64

        Richard A. Abbott wrote:

        A question for Stan I feel

        He's still trying to Google William Makepeace Thackery.

        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

        modified on Sunday, January 11, 2009 3:47 PM

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        • L Lost User

          Stan Shannon wrote:

          Heck, I eve detest Shakespeare.

          I can understand why you might have a loathing of "The Bard". The words and phrases are from a time when Latin was actively taught at Public Schools. Over time, languages change and develop. Elizabethan English bares almost no resemblance to the English of today consequently, the works of Shakespeare becomes a hard subject to understand and master. But the words he used were, nonetheless, beautiful. However, with regards to your comments above regarding your wife's likes of Jane Austin. As she is such a fan of those novels, why not show her your endearing love by getting her a boxed set of those rather excellent BBCtv dramatisations. An excellent gift I'm sure you will agree.

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          Oakman
          wrote on last edited by
          #65

          Richard A. Abbott wrote:

          Elizabethan English bares almost no resemblance to the English of today consequently, the works of Shakespeare becomes a hard subject to understand and master.

          Shakespeare certainly wrote for his time and no ours, but he also wrote to be watched, not read. It does take a special skill to read any of the 37 plays, of course. It's a skill that can be learned, but need not be, if someone sees a production of one of his plays done by a first rate company. On the other hand, much of his other writing - his sonnets, for instance, are easily accessible to anyone with even a modicum of literacy. Certainly the King James Version of the bible - written in no small part by Wm Shakespeare - is still beloved by a great number of people. Regardless of what you think of the religion, this is beautiful prose: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Read it aloud and you can understand why any actor worth his salt loves Shakespeare.

          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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          • O Oakman

            Tim Craig wrote:

            Remember the ex-paratrooper turned biology professor who was looking to kick his ass?

            I thought that was you. :laugh:

            Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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            Tim Craig
            wrote on last edited by
            #66

            Oakman wrote:

            I thought that was you.

            I may have learned to design airplanes but I have enough sense not to jump out of them. ;P

            "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

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            • O Oakman

              Ilíon wrote:

              I'd read this NYT piece a few days before Ray put up his post.

              You mean after staying awake all night trying to find something that you could claim supported your OP. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: This opinion piece first claims that Dickens was writing about a 400 calorie oatmeal gruel, but Dickens never said that. He then claims that some workhouses fed a more nuitritious oatmeal gruel and that Oliver would, in reality, be given that. Of course, nothing in Oliver Twist deals with the calorie content of the gruel. He goes on to suggest that Oliver might have had his gruel diet supplemented by meat and vegetables - but admits that such largesse from the orphanage would not have had to have happened, but is only a supposition on his part.

              Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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              Ilion
              wrote on last edited by
              #67

              about everything.

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              • S Stan Shannon

                Actually, my wife is a huge Jane Ausin fan. I've had to endure that shit for the last 25 years.

                Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

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                Tim Craig
                wrote on last edited by
                #68

                Stan Shannon wrote:

                Actually, my wife is a huge Jane Ausin fan. I've had to endure that sh*t for the last 25 years.

                Somehow I don't think she's gotten even yet. :laugh:

                "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

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                • L Lost User

                  The problem Jon is that both Ilion and Stan are taking the words of Dickens as a factual account of peoples lives of the time. But the truth is, they are works of fiction. Nothing more, nothing less, although they are great stories. But stories based upon what he saw and witnessed. Yet in terms of historical context, these works of Dickens are thought to indeed reflect some truth and reality. As far as Ilion and Stan are concerned, it is evident that they are placing things outside of historical context.

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                  Ilion
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #69

                  Richard A. Abbott wrote:

                  The problem Jon is that both Ilion and Stan are taking the words of Dickens as a factual account of peoples lives of the time.

                  You're such a liar. It's you little fools who are trying to pretend that Dickens' fiction was accurate.

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                  • I Ilion

                    Richard A. Abbott wrote:

                    The problem Jon is that both Ilion and Stan are taking the words of Dickens as a factual account of peoples lives of the time.

                    You're such a liar. It's you little fools who are trying to pretend that Dickens' fiction was accurate.

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                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #70

                    Ilíon wrote:

                    You're such a liar

                    Is that the best you could do, how disappointed I am. Surely you can come up with something more original that hasn't before been previously used. Go on, give it a try, and amaze me with you superiority.

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                    • I Ilion

                      about everything.

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                      Oakman
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #71

                      Ilíon wrote:

                      about everything.

                      Poor little Troy. Is this what you have been reduced to? And you started off with your condemnation of Dickens so bravely and boldly. And now you have nothing left except the shallow and unsatisfying taunt of a six year old.

                      Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                      • T Tim Craig

                        Oakman wrote:

                        I thought that was you.

                        I may have learned to design airplanes but I have enough sense not to jump out of them. ;P

                        "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

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                        Dalek Dave
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #72

                        I learnt to jump from them. In fact I was underpaid to jump from them. Then I left the army and joined the Not Jumping From Aeroplanes Community. :-D I have the good sense not to design them!

                        ------------------------------------ "The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion" Arthur C Clarke

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                        • D Dalek Dave

                          I learnt to jump from them. In fact I was underpaid to jump from them. Then I left the army and joined the Not Jumping From Aeroplanes Community. :-D I have the good sense not to design them!

                          ------------------------------------ "The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion" Arthur C Clarke

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                          Oakman
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #73

                          Dalek Dave wrote:

                          I learnt to jump from them.

                          Yeah, but I bet they gave you a parachute. They didn't waste any silk on us guys in Hueys

                          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                          • O Oakman

                            Dalek Dave wrote:

                            I learnt to jump from them.

                            Yeah, but I bet they gave you a parachute. They didn't waste any silk on us guys in Hueys

                            Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                            Gary Kirkham
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #74

                            Oakman wrote:

                            They didn't waste any silk on us guys in Hueys

                            Parachuting out of a falling helicopter probably isn't much safer than riding her down. :)

                            Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Me blog, You read

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                            • G Gary Kirkham

                              Oakman wrote:

                              They didn't waste any silk on us guys in Hueys

                              Parachuting out of a falling helicopter probably isn't much safer than riding her down. :)

                              Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Me blog, You read

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                              Oakman
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #75

                              Gary Kirkham wrote:

                              Parachuting out of a falling helicopter probably isn't much safer than riding her down

                              Well, I never did the former.

                              Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                              • I Ilion

                                Oakman wrote:

                                Here's your first clue for the evening: it's "yours," not "your's." You and Ilion make grammatical and orthographic errors that should not be considered acceptable in a third grader.

                                Stan sometimes makes *minor* (*) grammatical and orthographic errors; Ilíon almost never does (**). (*) And far-too-common amongst the general population, which may go far in explaining how it is that Stans sometimes makes these mistakes, as we are all heavily influenced by what we see and read. (**) And most of the spelling errors Ilíon does post are mere typos he didn't catch; whereas to bitch about "orthographic errors," especially as DryRot has done, implies that the target does not know the correct spelling. edit: One might also note that even though Ilíon rarely makes orthographic errors, much less grammatical errors, he does not jump on others when they do. But then, Ilíon doesn't appear to have a *need* to hold himself as superior to others, does he?

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                                soap brain
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #76

                                Ilíon wrote:

                                One might also note that even though Ilíon rarely makes orthographic errors, much less grammatical errors, he does not jump on others when they do.

                                You don't need to - you already have ample opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the subjunctive form.

                                Ilíon wrote:

                                But then, Ilíon doesn't appear to have a *need* to hold himself as superior to others, does he?

                                "I'm WAAAAY better at being humble than you are!"

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