I had forgotten what a human parade, constantly being added to, is a Dickens novel. There are humorous bits that provide some relief from the constant mnemonic challenges of trying to keep the characters straight, and, in the case of The Story of the Princess that Little Dorrit tells to Maggie (in Chapter XXIV, “Fortune-Telling”) arresting bits that bring one up short with the realization that there is an odd depth to Dickens, and a poignancy that seems so compelling, so … old-fashioned.