And I quote: "Young Mr. Turveydrop's name is Prince; I wish it wasn't, because it sounds like a dog, but of course he didn't christen himself. Old Mr. Turveydrop had him christened Prince, in remembrance of the Prince Regent [him who allegedly rogered Nelson??!!]. Old Mr. Turveydrop adored the Prince Regent on account of his Deportment." (vol. 1 pp. 224-5).

And then, amazingly, the excellent detective Bucket, on the trail of Lady Dedlock, mentions "A person of the name of Michael Jackson, in a blue velveteen waistcoat with a double row of mother-of-pearl buttons." (vol. 2 pp. 401-2). Which, ironically, sounds like something Prince would have worn back in the glorious 80s!

I couldn't help roaring with laughter when I came across this. What a coincidence!! Bleak House, by the way, is a fantastic, sustained piece of brilliance, brimming with energy and invention (his SOTT). Back to Victorian radicalism I say! (like that Brazilian fellow who talks too loud, but whose name I forget... Roberto something something). Back to optimism! So I guess in a sense Dickens and Prince DO have more than a little in common (hyper-productive, talented mimics, who both worked in a blacking factory - no that can't be right!).

But that's another story

KingMasturbatesNapoleon said:

And I quote: "Young Mr. Turveydrop's name is Prince; I wish it wasn't, because it sounds like a dog, but of course he didn't christen himself. Old Mr. Turveydrop had him christened Prince, in remembrance of the Prince Regent [him who allegedly rogered Nelson??!!]. Old Mr. Turveydrop adored the Prince Regent on account of his Deportment." (vol. 1 pp. 224-5).

And then, amazingly, the excellent detective Bucket, on the trail of Lady Dedlock, mentions "A person of the name of Michael Jackson, in a blue velveteen waistcoat with a double row of mother-of-pearl buttons." (vol. 2 pp. 401-2). Which, ironically, sounds like something Prince would have worn back in the glorious 80s!

I couldn't help roaring with laughter when I came across this. What a coincidence!! Bleak House, by the way, is a fantastic, sustained piece of brilliance, brimming with energy and invention (his SOTT). Back to Victorian radicalism I say! (like that Brazilian fellow who talks too loud, but whose name I forget... Roberto something something). Back to optimism! So I guess in a sense Dickens and Prince DO have more than a little in common (hyper-productive, talented mimics, who both worked in a blacking factory - no that can't be right!).

But that's another story

BLEAK HOUSE is actually the only Dickens novel I never finished to read. I bought it in a deluxe edition years ago and I want to read it shortly before my death, because I couldn't live in a world without anymore Dickens to read...I stopped at about 300. So I remember the Prince line, but not MJ's !

For the record MJ was a huge fan of Dickens too. After his death, a librarian revealed that he bought many old books from Dickens. Most MJ song have a Dickensian feeling in it, especially LOST CHILDREN and LITTLE SUSIE.

[Edited 9/29/15 5:43am]

Dickens in one of my faves and I have Bleak House but I don't remember that passage. Good excuse for me to re-read the book.

Yeah, there's an MJ sticky over in the music: non-Prince forum.