in great expectations the scene where magwichen counters pittsburgh penguin the second time on the marshesthat is on christmas eve. similarly when ed win drude is murdered probably by his uncle that too happens on christmas eve. these are times where families ghettoing but they're also times like modern family christmases where families are often driven apart by internal discord. >> charlie: let me explore now dickens in london and during his time. how famous was he? how celebrated was he? how is he viewed? >> i think very famous, very selcelebrated. >> charlie: was he considered different then than he is today? has his fame grown or has it been revisionism. >> i think it's the same kind of fame. i think in that sense the work is to authoritative it shows you how to read it, it tells you what it means. it creates its mood and voice so well that i don't think we read dickens differently now than they did then. the richness of the language, the comedy, the unfor gettability of the characters, you know, the only difference is we're not reading in serial form. we're not reading it in installme