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Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
This is a sequel toA Christmas Carol, starring a grown up Tiny Tim Cratchit. It's a fine book, but it's not the book that Dickens would have written, had he chosen to do so. For one thing, this book has some curse words in it that Dickens wouldn't have been allowed to use even if he wanted to. But the vulgarities here are appropritate to the characters, so I have no objections to them. Louis Bayard does a fine job of evoking the London of 1860, and I think a lot of people will enjoy this book. But some people may be disappointed that Ebenezer Scrooge has a relatively small part in this book.
Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
Tiny Tim grows up amid the slums of London. Interesting but not as satisfying as it could have been. There are also some slight anachronisms but I'll let you find them. I'm glad I read it, but it didn't stick in my mind as, let's say, "Drood" did.
Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
Timothy Cratchit has grown up. Relatively healthy(although his knee still acts up) he has left the suffocating embrace of his Uncle "N" and is currently employed as a tutor for a local madam who wishes to be able to read. Haunted by memories of his father whose ghost he sees everywhere, Tim is adrift in life lacking direction or focus. His situation changes suddenly when he is confronted with the body of a young girl and then the peril of another. This leads him to combat a societal evil that will prove all too obvious to a 21st century reader, but one whose impact is still horrifying by its mere existence.Tim is unsure of himself but driven to confront the evil placed before him, despite lacking the basic tools to combat it effectively. Teamed with a street urchin of with amazing survival skills and a young girl whose will belies her size and age, Tim Cratchit rises to the occasion and faces his fears, both physical and psychological.. By placing A CHRISTMAS CAROL's characters in a setting more befitting one of Dickens more dramatic works and, in essence, making them more real, Bayard has not truly succeeded in capturing the nature of those characters. It is a decent mystery and one that captures the time well, but the central conceit of having Tiny Tim grow into this "lost soul" adrift in the world just didn't work for me. I found the future that Bayard has created for Dickens's Cratchit family and the old miser was wanting.
Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
One might have wished that the author had used his Christmas Carol background as more than a stepping-off point for a mystery thriller that is occasionally Dickensian in subject matter but scarcely Dickensian in flavor or panache. Somehow I felt I'd been tricked, or that Tim and Uncle Scrooge had somehow been taken advantage of by a well-intentioned author who simply lacked, well, the inspiration of his inspiration. And mysteries that must, toward their conclusions, laboriously explain themselves are not high on my list of pleasures.I didn't have a bad time by any stretch of the imagination, but I am, in the end, disappointed.
Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
The concept was good (and it certainly worked in Bayard's Poe novel). But after a half dozen chapters, I still couldn't care less about Tim. The prose tended towards the pedantic and the supporting characters were flat.
Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.)
Ok i know im only 14 but the Christmas Carol is fresh in my mind. I don't think Tim developed very much in the story. I honestly want to know more about Colin and Philomela. The story was surprising, as i was exepecting that the story was going to circle Timothy but it hit a rape ring! It was deep and that is great, unfortunately i had to make a childrens book on it. Uh......