times when as his daughter katie said "my father was a very wicked man" and i'd say none of that meaters at all. none of it matters because the humanity and generosity and the warmth of the writing can extinguish all of that. >> rose: simon, what would you say to demur? >> you have to face the fact that there are uninspired passages that take a long time. (laughter) and but what is extraordinary -- chris fir christopher hitchens said in his final essay, yes, there are bad passages here and it is hard to know which novel which character comes from but dickenss echoed g.k. chesterton, he's like one great bail of fabric out of which the novels are cut randomly. it's that again in which you're in touch with dickens himself wherever you look and he was such an extraordinary, such a great, such a complex human being that you can't get enough of it. >> rose: sglil. >> rose: >> when you're a reader you make bargains with writers. when i was a kid i could not stand the girls. the little tiny nells,, but my bargain with dickens has always been i will put up with the girls if you will be very, very