English Book Club - Nicholas Nickleby

Teach

The book we are reading together at the moment is Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens.

You can download the copy we are reading from here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/967

You can listen to the book for fun, or in preparation for the session here: https://librivox.org/nicholas-nickleby-by-charles-dickens/

(The English Book Club meets every Monday on our Discord Server. You are welcome to come and read, or listen, but be warned, we read the whole book.)

Xanthippe

Vocabulary for the book:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gg150A2mCAuPMWidldgC0clnMQfgDSDs_1lstGSn_TY/edit#

Teach

April - Elinor - Hermine - Reem - Shiny - Nadia

April - preparation - butcher - lowest - avarice - considerate - incapable - sundry

Elinor - thawing

"big ‘un.”

Hermine - ludicrous - provincial - learned in the law - meditated - whoever (not however) - ignorance (to ignore) - purposely - credulous ˈkrɛdjʊləs incredulous - allow - virtues - fictitious - oftenest - munificent

comprises - remarkable - live (they live - the broadcast is live)

ignore - ɪɡˈnɔː
ignorance: ˈɪɡn(ə)r(ə)ns

Reem - latitudes - climates - upon - arithmetical - easily - extricate ˈɛkstrɪkeɪt - requested - forward - communication - patronage - accession - desire - offer - blameless - agreeable - impetuous - temper - lifted - nature - Devonshire - Nickleby - worthy - being - aspire - fortune - wedded - old flame - play

"There once lived, in a sequestered part of the county of Devonshire..."

difficulty - interchanged

Shiny - likened - fluctuated (stress) - vision - wore - Mrs. (not Miss) - executed

chivalrously -indignation

Nadia - purchased - produce (not to produce) - affluence (stress) - recitals - felony (stress) - envied (from envy) - soliloquies - usurer - arithmetic əˈrɪθmətɪk

‘two-pence ˈtʌp(ə)ns for every half-penny ˈheɪpni/’

ready-reckoners

Chapter 1 - Page 19
In like manner, did young Ralph Nickleby avoid all those minute and intricate
calculations of odd days, which nobody who has worked sums in simple-interest
can fail to have found most embarrassing,

Just-Learn

I'll try to prepare next times; hopefully I can be a regular participant; to understand the meaning of some context also to look up the new words, it's hard for me to focus on all of these at the session time.

Xanthippe

Updates available as usual.

Teach

Elinor - Hermine - Nadia - Aza - Shiny

Elinor - strive - living (not leaving) -

Well done - minute

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Nadia - merchant (hard ch) - spacious - passage - pen - bushy - precincts - pipes

wind

"They were concerned to find that his reason went astray after this"

---------------------

Hermine - nobody (no) - opined (not pinned) - mixture - patent (not patient) - benevolent - countenance - particularly pəˈtɪkjʊləli genial - dozen (not doze)

"lingers on"

-----------------------

Aza - Nickleby - fir tree - chancing(not changing) - presented (to present not a present) - cadaverous - suit of clothes - contrived - peculiar - triumphed - determine (not mine) - numerous - peculiarities

contemplating - squeezing


‘perhaps it is.’
-----------------------------------------

Shiny - respecting - stationary - familiarly - hounds - borrowed - paralysis

Parliament - vivacity - premium


"bring them with you." (no stress on them)

Chapter 2 -
The kind-hearted gentleman omitted to add that Newman Noggs, being utterly
destitute, served him for rather less than the usual wages of a boy of thirteen; and
likewise failed to mention in his hasty chronicle,

Xanthippe

Updates available. A very nice family conversation -

‘Mine was no common loss!’ said Mrs. Nickleby, applying her handkerchief to her eyes.

‘It was no uncommon loss, ma’am,’ returned Ralph, as he coolly unbuttoned his spencer. ‘Husbands die every day, ma’am, and wives too.’

‘And brothers also, sir,’ said Nicholas, with a glance of indignation.

‘Yes, sir, and puppies, and pug-dogs likewise,’ replied his uncle, taking a chair.

Teach

Shiny - Reem - Elinor - Hermine - Nadia

Reem - omitted - destitute - served - wages - mention - hasty (from haste) - chronicle (hard c) - eccentric - taciturnity - desirable - out of doors - cabriolet - forgot (past of forget) - Bishopsgate - being (not began) - tacking (not taking) - gigantic - announcements - public meeting - precisely - petitioning Parliament- sums - duly - considerable - briskly - progress (not process) - dived into a suite of apartments (not suit)

United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company

---------------------------------

Shiny - hackney - feverish - bows (they were bowing to each other) - desperate - separate (adj not to separate) -
observed - diversions - various - emanating - quiet - tingling - ingenious

--------------------------------

Elinor - liquors ˈlɪkəz - of every description (not in)

---------------------------------

Hermine - seconded the resolution (to second ˈsɛk(ə)nd/ something) expediency - inestimable - periods - warmth - wholly - honourable (silent h) - appalling - all classes - patent boots - grievous

beneath - determination

---------------------------------

Nadia - poured - various - petition - guineas - zealous - possess - pursued - pausing (not posing)

He is dead.

" a cordial farewell"

(Nowadays do not say "Scotch".)


--------------------------------

Chapter 3 - Page 34

Children alive?’ inquired Noggs, stepping up to him.‘Why, that’s the very thing,’ replied Mr. Nickleby, as though his thoughts were about them at that moment. ‘They are both alive.’‘Both!’ repeated Newman Noggs, in a low voice.‘And the widow, too,’ added Mr. Nickleby, ‘and all three in London, confound them; all three here, Newman.

mheredge

@ThomasJude are you aware of this topic?

Xanthippe

Updates available.

Teach

Reem - April - Elinor - Hermine - Shiny - Nadia

Reem - Noggs - face (not voice) - twisted (t) - paralysis - grief - walked (silent e) - ingenuity - uttered - darted - slunk - the Strand - letter (not litter) - ascertain - private - thoroughfare - gilt - screwed (silent e) - portraits - naval - attached - flourishing - sabre - fore-shortened - elegantly - border

as though his thoughts

Apil allow - recommend - extravagances -

‘I happen to know that she is, ma’am' (that not what)

Elinor - little - ingenuous (ingenious)

Hermine - mutual (not moo) - unceremoniously - delicately - prudence - dismal - recollections -veracious

keenness

Have you ever done anything, sir?

Shiny - quietly - haughtily - newspaper (stress) - Academy (not like academic) - languages - geometry - arithmetic - trigonometry - daily

- separated - imperfectly

Nadia - overpowered - dilate - buoyancy - deprive

interpreted

Eh! uncle?’

Next session - Chapter 4

Xanthippe

Next week I will be en route to Bucharest but I will prepare vocabulary anyway.

Teach

Thanks. We will miss you in the session.

Teach

April - Shiny - Xirana - Hermine

April - emblazoned - scarcely - apparition /apəˈrɪʃ(ə)n/ - upturned (not churned) - particular (/pəˈtɪkjʊlə/ not like part) - St James - convenient toothpicks - boot -glares

- perpetually - heart - tranquillity

---------

Shiny - Sepulchre ˈsɛp(ə)lkə - legibly - prejudice (not justice) - villainous - scholastic - fitted (-tt-) - dread - sneeze - exclaimed

"puckered up"

How old is two or three and fifty?

"boxed his ears"

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Xirana - screwed (not skewered) - Yorkshire - sobbed (silent e) - gesture - rubbed (silent e) - alternately - at this juncture - scoundrel - schoolmaster (hard ch) - youthful -heart - leaving - rehearsal of his advertisement - advertised - small-boned - inclined - Guineas - rejoined - persuasive


boarded, clothed, booked, washed, furnished

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Hermine - proposition - Taunton - exchanged - sombre - countenance

establishment - particularly


--------------------------------

‘Oh! Is that it?’ said the schoolmaster. ‘That explains it at once. I was
wondering what the devil you were going to send them to Yorkshire for. Ha! ha!
Oh, I understand now.’

Hermine

Once we'll have finished our current reading book we could read ' Notre-Dame de Paris ' by Victor Hugo? I wonder what is it called in English, we in Austria know it under ' Der Glöckner von Notre Dameˋ. As a child he feared me becaue of his appearance, seemingly he was a nice lad.

Xanthippe

@Hermine. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Xanthippe

Updates available, by the way. I see there is no Easter break.

Teach

Yes. We didn't go away this Easter.

Teach

I think the Hunchback of Notre Dam is a great suggestion.

Teach

April - Nadia - Elinor - Hermine - Shiny

April - pursued - comprehend (h) - advertisement - nephew - bowed - proprietor

reference - receipt
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Nadia - said - contortions - Dotheboys - incomprehensible

--------------
eagerly - half-a-dozen (not doze) - growled

skulking -

clerk klɑː(r)k / klɝːk

---------------------

Elinor pupils ˈpjuːp(ə)lz - won’t

If you please,’ said Squeers.

--------------------------

Hermine - scrutiny - peculiar - upon which (not with) - on the contrary (not Mary Mary quite contrary) - sanguine ˈsaŋɡwɪn - uncouth - prudent - extraordinary - auspices - mournfully

- sufficiently

--------------------------

Shiny - feigned - lad (not lady) - papers - miniature - expected - living - measure - endeavour

matter - Miss La Creevy - thoroughfare

Needs must, you know, when somebody drives.

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Chapter 5
Well, I am very sorry for it; that’s all I can say,’ said Miss La Creevy; ‘as
much on your mother’s and sister’s account as on yours. Your sister is a very
pretty young lady, Mr. Nickleby, and that is an additional reason why she should
have somebody to protect her.

Teach

Elinor - Hermine - Shiny - Taghried

Elinor - opportunity - dismissed - Conquer (silent u)

Hermine - expectation - voraciously -

mention - inculcate - boy - deposited - hackney coach - merely

Shiny - greatcoat (not great coat) - inquiry (not query) - Nicholas’s sister - proprietor - pummelled - peculiarly (not particularly)

- uncultivated - hasty

"Breakfast! Bah!"

Taghried - rejoined (silent e) - Noggs - upon - consequently - Islington - baker - guineas - pedagogue (ˈpɛdəɡɒɡ) - paternal


haste
eh?’
"they’ll be safer in case of their going to sleep; eh?"

Nikola - word (not ward) - thrashing - feminine - fastened (silent e) - blows (not blouse) - carried - air (not ear) - read (past tense) - stared (not started)

"encomiums" a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.


-------------------

So the day wore on. At Eton Slocomb there was a good coach dinner, of
which the box, the four front outsides, the one inside, Nicholas, the goodtempered
man, and Mr. Squeers, partook;

Xanthippe

Updates available.

Teach

Hermine - Elinor - Shiny - Nadia

Hermine - fastidious (not facetious) - chariot - reticule (not ridicule) - rapid (not rabid) - turned in (not on) - warmth - Grantham / Newark - flinging - Occurrence

thaw - plunging

----------------

gables - archer - winged (not whinged) - towards (not forward) - obstacles -saluted - mossy - tresses (not dresses) - precious - trifling - bubbles (not bumbles)

angels / angles

Elinor -

Shiny - shame - fastidious - lady (long a) - inquiries - passes (not paces) - prematurely - good-nature

gratuitously

Nadia - condescended - contemptuously - propriety - brow - nature

pass here - scarce

------------------------------

‘“See here,” said the friar, taking the frame from her hand, “an intricate
winding of gaudy colours, without purpose or object, unless it be that one day it
is destined for some vain ornament, to minister to the pride of your frail and
giddy sex.

Xanthippe

Sad story continues.

Teach

We have a platform on EdunationIII set up for tomorrow morning. However, we will be using Discord for voice as usual.

Teach

Hermine - April - Shiny - Elinor - Mtuq

Hermine - intricate - gaudy - destined - accomplished (c) - hastening (silent t) - love (luv) - thoughts - rapidly - towards - shall (a) - virtue - pious
thy young brow
- friar

April - prayer (prer) - monk (mʌŋk) - sisters - nature - hastening into - shone - frequently (not to frequent) - stealth (not like steal) - brought

Shiny - boughs (not bows) - ravages - brought - fragments - fiery - to deliberate --
minster

Elinor - little - deliberately (dɪˈlɪb.ər.ət.li)

-----------------------------

THE BARON OF GROGZWIG
‘The Baron Von Koeldwethout, of Grogzwig in Germany,

Xanthippe

@Teach, my good old Jane Eyre's days... And no Mr Rochester has appeared...

Xanthippe

Updates available.

Bon appetite : This part of the conversation was rather unintelligible; but popular rumour in the neighbourhood asserted that Mr. Squeers, being amiably opposed to cruelty to animals, not unfrequently purchased for boy consumption the bodies of horned cattle who had died a natural death; possibly he was apprehensive of having unintentionally devoured some choice morsel intended for the young gentlemen.

Teach

Elinor - April - Shiny - Nidhi - Mark

Elinor - venerable (-le) - little (-le)

bear -

Lincoln green

April - frowned - imperial - preoccupied - demolished - proffered - hastened - eternal - alas

Shiny - roared - such (not much) - castle -

consciences - nuptials - son-in-law

as bold as brass

Nidhi - bear - debt - domestics - measure - hideous - bloodshot - jagged (voiced e)

tower

Mark - daunted - lustreless - ready - proceedings (not processing) - said - exclaimed - expostulated - sighed - thoroughly

apparition - afflicted
-----------------

‘“Why, certainly,” said Von Koeldwethout, “nothing is too bad to be
retrieved.”
‘“Except empty coffers,” cried the genius.
‘“Well; but they may be one day filled again,” said the baron.

Xanthippe

Updates available.

Saving creetur...

Teach

Elinor - April - Hermine - Shiny - Contety - MHoz - Paulette

Elinor - Quit (t)

April - hue - chaise

Hermine - shut (soft sh) - picturesque - great-coat - obstinacy

half-a-dozen

? with her hair in papers ?

Shiny - observe - feigned - pretty (not like petty) - recollect - steak - abstractedly

‘Oh! it’s you, is it?’

Contety - exclaimed - heartily - asserted - cruelty - unintentionally - clothes - consequence - stowed (not like stout) - tumbler - ghost (not host) - close up (not like to close)

MHoz - where (not were) - they know where I live

? ‘what an extraordinary hand!’ ?

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Excuse errors. I should forget how to wear a whole coat now. I have forgotten
all my old ways. My spelling may have gone with them.