Quote of the Day

[In this scene, Mr. Pickwick - spending a splendid Christmas at Manor Farm - has fallen through the ice while skating, and is rushed home and put to bed...]

Mr. Pickwick paused not an instant until he was snug in bed. Sam Weller lighted a blazing fire in the room, and took up his dinner; a bowl of punch was carried up afterwards, and a grand carouse held in honour of his safety. Old Wardle would not hear of his rising, so they made the bed the chair, and Mr. Pickwick presided. A second and third bowl were ordered in; and when Mr. Pickwick awoke next morning, there was not a symptom of rheumatism about him: which proves, as Mr. Bob Sawyer justly observed, that there is nothing like hot punch in such cases: and that if ever hot punch did fail to act as a preventative, it was merely because the patient fell into the vulgar error of not taking enough of it.

From The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

I love Dickens' generous use of colons and semi-colons. So does John Irving, and that's good enough for me. When I first joined my book group, they very kindly let me pick the book for the second meeting I attended. I seemed to recall that Pickwick Papers had some good Christmassy stuff in it, and this was November, so I suggested it. When I went to purchase my copy the next day I was horrified to find it was 900 pages long. However, once esconced in the world of Pickwick and his friends and nemeses, and the magical Sam Weller, I was hooked forever. I still read the Christmas chapters every year, from Mr. Pickwick being ambushed with kisses to the last mince tart.