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That Drood Dude

@thatdrooddude.bsky.social

150 followers 130 following 550 posts

Founder of The Spike that Intervenes Theory of ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ (published in the summer 2024 edition of ‘The Dickensian’). Author of ‘Solving Drood’ and ‘Hollywood Clones’.

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Dec 5

Whether you believe the cover was Collins, Fildes or in-betwixt, you have to agree that the Verger has moved from the top-left of the background to the top-center, next to the Cathedral door, in line with the pointer finger of the figure atop the spiral staircase.

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 18h

Boys had them in the 80s too. Unfortunately, I got mine just before my senior grad picture, which still provides much humour to this day. (I have to admit, I miss stepping out of the shower, towel drying my head, giving it a few shakes like a wet dog, then being done with it.)

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 20h

Put the case that Dickens completed The Mystery of Edwin Drood which he began in 1870. Given readers were to solve the identity of THE WICKED MAN would have fast-forwarded the literary space-time continuum (below) when it came to the whodunit genre that occurred during the Golden Age of Mystery.

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 23h

I didn’t notice Dickens’ handwritten folio in the carpet until someone brought to my attention that I was standing on it. 🤣

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 23h

youtu.be/QGZ6jigic_I?...

Chattanooga Choo-Choo

YouTube video by Glenn Miller - Topic

youtu.be

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 23h

Much safer to view those beautiful scenes of club cars and observation decks via old movies.
:::cough:::

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 1d

The Omni Parker House Hotel is also famous for inventing Parker House rolls (a tradition at our house every Thanksgiving) and the Boston Cream pie (yummers!).

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 1d

I visited the Omni Parker House in Boston last July, and the Press Room has Charles Dickens’ handwritten manuscript for ‘A Christmas Carol’ printed into its carpet. The door to Dickens’ room where he stayed in 1867 is also on site, as well as the looking glass he practiced ‘A Christmas Carol’ in.

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 1d

On the upside, people dressed nicer; on the downside, they smoked. (I’d still love to take a ride on that train.)

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 2d

Speaking of Freud, Dickens used a Dickensian slip before the Freudian one became popular:

[Princess Puffer] “Has he a calling, good gentleman?”

[Datchery] “Calling? Yes. Sings in the choir.”

“In the spire?”

“Choir.”

(That ‘spike that intervenes’ and ‘thorn of anxiety’ crop up everywhere.)

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 2d

Freud was 14 years old when Dickens died, so don’t believe all that gobbledygook about Jasper being psychologically tormented like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (which was written 16 years after Dickens’ death).
The villains in ‘Drood’ are easy to see, if one simply uses parsimony.

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 4d

An early limerick for you my friend…

“There lives a gen’l’man named Byrne
Green, one day, his thumb turned
He relishes his Dickens
Has leeks for the pickin’s
A fine man, indeed, one discerns

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 4d

In the above quote, whose prejudice is Dickens pointing out?

a) The China Shepardess towards Neville Landless
b) Rosa who determines that Jasper “must be fled from” (chap 20)
c) To readers for not noticing Jasper was true and devoted to his nephew all along
d) (It’s all the above)

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 5d

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 5d

“Learning” involves taking old information and coming up with new information that better fits the puzzle. Ignoring this new information is called “prejudice.”

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 5d

When it comes to the world’s greatest literary puzzle, ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’, readers don’t need to have IQs above 130 to solve it. All that’s required is a loving, playful heart with the basic knowledge of nursery rhymes and childhood games.

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 6d

Enjoyed this immensely!

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · 11d

Billy Wilder hits the nail on the head when he speaks about the future of film in his 1986 AFI lifetime achievement award speech:

youtu.be/FCps-tOVzTE?...

Billy Wilder Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1986

YouTube video by American Film Institute

youtu.be

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Sep 18

Had Dickens included the mace passage above, would we still have deciphered it after all these years? Note how he uses the shell game to perfection, swapping Mr Tope with Jasper whom Mr Grewgious awaits. The mere fact that Dickens removed ‘the spike’ proves that it really was ‘the spike’.

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Sep 7

I’m lovin’ this bumper issue of The Dickensian too! (From the wrapper, through!)

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That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Sep 7

The Dali Museum

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Sep 2

I love the wrapper on the Anniversary edition of ‘The Dickensian’—so beautiful (Great articles too!) Definitely a collector’s issue!

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Sep 2

🤣

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Aug 28

So beautiful! (It’s like looking down the throat of ol—well…you know.) 🙂

That Drood Dude @thatdrooddude.bsky.social · Aug 27

And of course when I say “desk” I mean “chair” too. (They’re a couple, attached at the elbow.) 🙂