"'I am not acquainted myself with the names of foreigners in general.'"

It's nearly 10pm on Tuesday evening so I'm going to keep this brief(ish- when have I ever been brief?). And really, REALLY there is only one thing to talk about:

WHAT THE FUCK, MR JARNDYCE?!

I actually don't know how I feel about the whole Mr-Jarndyce-wants-to-keep-Esther-near-him-so-he-proposes-to-her thing. I mean, mostly I feel REALLY ICKY and like I want to take about ten showers about it, and also Mr Jarndyce, I thought you were cool. I mean, I get it- They're assuming that Ada will get married eventually and Esther with her gross face won't but she can't just stay there with Mr J on their own because People Will Talk. And this is the Victorian times, so that kind of shit really matters.

But. Isn't it waaaay grosser for a REALLY OLD MAN to marry basically a teenager? Isn't it kind of wrong of him to have asked, and just as wrong of Esther to think of accepting? And, most importantly, is this the kind of marriage that involves sex? Because if so, I realllly don't want to think about that.

 Still, at least she'll always have her love of Ada to sustain her: "I saw my beautiful darling, through the open door, lying asleep, and I stole in to kiss her." Of course you did, Esther.

In motherly news, WTF Lady Dedlock just murdered Mr Tulkinghorn?! (Not to be confused with Mr Turveydrop again, who is presumably still alive and well with excellent deportment) Did that seriously just happen or did I nearly drop my CLOTHBOUND CLASSIC in the bath for no good reason? I've got to say- I've read many a Stephen King novel where on the back it says something like 'a storyteller in a class with Dickens' and I've always been like 'I don't get the connection', but... I'm starting to get it? In that, I think Dickens is the better writer (in terms of pure words, not in terms of who I want to read more) they're both really really good at managing a large cast of characters without sidelining too many, and at revealing humanity and also, sometimes, at being kind of shocking (spontaneous combustion? REALLY?!)

They're also both great at tugging on the heartstrings, and I'd like to take a little moment of silence for Jo, here.

Oh, Jo, You were such a good child apart from when you gave Esther smallpox and ruined her face. May you go onto a better place where people treat you right and teach you how to speak properly (I'm only being flippant because my heart is broken).

One final thought of my brain on reading Dickens- This is my first Dickens novel, and I feel like I'm already past being scared of him, somewhere near to loving him, but more than anything, as I read I can already tell that I need to read this again. Not necessarily because it's so awesome (and it is pretty great, which is why I've carried on reading it) but because I know that, as I'm concentrating on the story and the links between characters and all that good stuff, I'm missing out on SO MUCH of the writing. I mean, I can see that it's good, and it sounds nice in my brain, but I'm too busy concentrating on other stuff to really appreciate it, which is what the second reading will be for. But let's just say, you know, Dickens is good at writing words and stuff.

WHO WILL BE MURDERED NEXT WEEK?! I can hardly wait to see.