BleakChesneyWold

Around nine years ago, as the centenary commemorations for the start of World War One were about to open, a Danish language TV series '1864' was screened. The English subtitled version was certainly noticed, especially as the Danish  production company were connected with 'Borgen' and 'The Killing' which attracted an international audience. The series was based on the book '1864:Slagtebaenk Dybbol' (2008) by Tom Buk-Swienty, and an English translation appeared under the title '1864 -the Forgotten War that shaped Modern Europe' in 2015.  The book emphasised the significance of the Danish -Prussian war of 1864 : Germany, before unification, was a confederation of 39 states. The largest of them were Prussia and Austria. To the north the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein were nominally under the rule of the Danish crown. But there were large swathes of Germans in  Holstein, which was also in the German confederation. Schleswig was largely Danish sp

                        Transparent and Grotesque ? Or a Good Sort?                                             Illustration  ' Guppy puzzling over the portrait of Lady Dedlock'  Copyright Gerry Mooney 2023 and reproduced with the kind permission of the artist   /  https://gerrymooneyillustratingdickens.com" ;            For those who haven't read Dickens's masterpiece 'Bleak House', it is hard to sum up Mr Guppy's role. A minor legal clerk who desperately aspires to be more than he is. A small fish desperately mimicking the big fish and coming unstuck.Dickens may have been thinking of an actual Mr Guppy from the case 'Stevens v Guppy' which reached the Chancery Court in 1824, when choosing the name SHATTO .   Yet in his own way, Mr Guppy plays a significant role.  The legendary critic of Dickens's work A.E. Dyson, describes 'Guppy, who on balance, with whatever admixture of weakness or absurdity,strikes us more good than evil at heart&#