Charles Dickens

1. Charles , Dickens

Hard Times

Hard Times (originally Hard Times-For These Times) was published in 1854, and is the shortest novel Charles Dickens ever published. It's set in Coketown, a fictional mill-town set in the north of England. One of the major themes of the book is the miserable treatment of workers in the mills, and the resistance to their unionization by the mill owners, typified by the character Josiah Bounderby, who absurdly asserts that the workers live a near-idyllic life but they all "expect to be set up in a coach and six, and to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a gold spoon." The truth, of course, is far different.The other major topic which Dickens tackles in this novel is the rationalist movement in schooling and the denigration of imagination and fantasy. It begins with the words "Now, what I want is, Facts," spoken by the wealthy magnate Thomas Gradgrind, who is supervising a class at a model school he has opened. This indeed is Gradgrind's entire philosophy. "Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else." He is supported and encouraged in this approach by his friend Bounderby. Grandgrind raises his own children on these principles, and, as we discover, in doing so blights their lives.The novel also follows the story of a particular mill-worker, Stephen Blackpool, who leads a tragic life. He is burdened with an alcoholic, slatternly wife, who is mostly absent from his life, but who returns at irregular intervals to trouble him. This existing marriage, and the near-impossibility of divorce for someone of his class, prevents him marrying Rachael, who is the light of his life. Dickens depicts Stephen as representing the nobility of honest work, and contrasts his character with that of the self-satisfied humbug Josiah Bounderby who represents the worst aspects of capitalism.

1. Charles , Dickens

Dombey & figlio

Pubblicato a puntate mensili tra ottobre 1846 e aprile 1848, Dombey & Figlio rappresenta una svolta nella produzione dickensiana: è il primo romanzo dell'autore concepito come un'opera unitaria e organicamente pianificata fin dall'inizio. Il romanzo esplora temi attuali: l'avidità, l'orgoglio, le relazioni disfunzionali, il ruolo delle donne nella società, la critica al capitalismo e il potere corrosivo del denaro. Attraverso una galleria di personaggi memorabili, Dickens costruisce un affresco sociale di straordinaria profondità che precorre i grandi capolavori della maturità come David Copperfield e Bleak House. Paul Dombey, ricco mercante londinese, desidera un erede maschio per perpetuare il nome della sua ditta. Quando nasce il tanto atteso figlio, la madre muore, lasciando anche Florence, la figlia che il padre disprezza. Il piccolo Paul, fragile e malaticcio, muore a sei anni distruggendo le speranze paterne. Determinato ad avere un nuovo erede, Dombey sposa l'indomita Edith Granger. Il matrimonio diventa una battaglia di orgoglio, complicata dalle macchinazioni del subdolo James Carker, direttore della ditta. In questo capolavoro di critica sociale, Dickens dipinge un affresco della società vittoriana, narrando la caduta e la redenzione di un uomo che deve imparare che l'amore vale più del denaro. Das Urheberrecht an bibliographischen und produktbeschreibenden Daten und an den bereitgestellten Bildern liegt bei Informazioni Editoriali, I.E. S.r.l., oder beim Herausgeber oder demjenigen, der die Genehmigung erteilt hat. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1. Charles Dickens

Bleak House

1. Charles , Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities

A doctor is released from the Bastille after being falsely imprisoned for almost eighteen years. A young woman discovers the father she's never known is not dead but alive, if not entirely well. A young man is acquitted of being a traitor, due in part to the efforts of a rather selfish lout who is assisting the young man's attorney. A man has a wine shop in Paris with a wife who knits at the bar. These disparate elements are tied together as only Dickens can, and in the process he tells the story of the French Revolution.Charles Dickens was fascinated by Thomas Carlyle's magnum opus The French Revolution; according to Dickens' letters, he read it "500 times" and carried it with him everywhere while he was working on this novel. When he wrote to Carlyle asking him for books to read on background, Carlyle sent him two cartloads full. Dickens mimicked Carlyle's style, his chronology, and his overall characterization of the revolution; although A Tale of Two Cities is fiction, the historical events described are largely accurate, sometimes exactly so. Even so, Dickens made his name and reputation on telling stories full of characters one could be invested in, care about, and despise, and this novel has all of those and more. It also, in its first and last lines, has two of the most famous lines in literature. With the possible exception of A Christmas Carol, it is his most popular novel, and according to many, his best.

1. Charles , Dickens

Guardie e ladri

1. Charles , Dickens

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843 and the first edition, published on 19th December, was so successful that it sold out in just six days. The publishers had to produce two further editions between Christmas and the new year to meet the demand, and the novella has never been out of print.A Christmas Carol tells the story of a greedy money-lender, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is first visited by the ghost of his former business partner and then by three spirits-the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. They show Scrooge's lack of compassion to him, compelling him to act more compassionately in the future and to honor Christmas in his heart.