“Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.” Charles Dickens "Boz"
b. 2-7-1812; Portsmouth, England
d. 6-9-1870
CHARLES DICKENS BOOKS, VIDEO, AUDIO
Charles Dickens Four Complete Novels (Great Expectations, Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities)
Great Expectations is a cautionary tale of a young boy raised high above his station by a mysterious benefactor- and Dickens wrote with two endings; Hard Times
The Pickwick Papers - (1837) Members of the eponymous club recreate the ludicrous follies of nineteenth century England. Yet beneath the grotesqueries they chronicle runs a counterpoint of debtors' prisons, corruption and unreformed elections. With characteristic compassion and caustic satire, Dickens confronts the darker side of these charming anecdotes, in the novel that vaulted him from journalistic obscurity to literary pre-eminence.
Oliver Twist- (1837-1838) Born and raised in the appalling deprivation of the workhouse, the orphan Oliver escapes the drudgery of apprenticeship only to fall into the hands of the notorious Fagin and his gang of child thieves. But Oliver is an innocent at heart and the attempts by Fagin and the impudently witty Artful Dodger to teach the boy the trick of the pick-pocket's trade lead only to his almost immediate capture. Oliver's rescue by the kindly Mr. Brownlow is only the beginning of a series of adventures that lead him to an incredible discovery.
Nicholas Nickleby- (1838-1839) Originally published in 20 monthly installments by "Boz", and adapted to the stage before it was finished, this is a melodramatic tale of young man's adventures as he struggles to seek his fortune in Victorian England.
The Old Curiosity Shop- (1841) The sensational bestselling story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth. The sorrows of Nell and her grandfather are offset by Dickens's creation of a dazzling contemporary world inhabited by some of his most brilliantly drawn characters-the eloquent ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller; the hungry maid known as the "Marchioness"; the mannish lawyer Sally Brass; Quilp's brow-beaten mother-in-law; and Quilp himself, the lustful, vengeful dwarf, whose demonic energy makes a vivid counterpoint to Nell's purity.
American Notes for General Circulation- (1842) Charles Dickens was the most famous of many travelers of his time who journeyed to America, curious about the revolutionary new civilization that had captured the English imagination. His frank, often humorous descriptions in his 1842 account cover everything from his uncomfortable sea voyage to an ecstatic narrative of his visit to Niagara Falls. Yet Dickens is also critical of American society, its preoccupation with money, and reliance on slavery, as well as the rude, unsavory manners of Americans and their corrupt press. Above all, American Notes is a lively chronicle of what was for Dickens an illuminating encounter with the New World.
Life & Adventures of Martin Chuzzleewit- (1843) At the center of the novel is Martin –, very old, very rich, very much on his guard. What he suspects (with good reason) is that every one of his close and distant relations, now converging in droves on the country inn where they believe he is dying, will stop at nothing to become the inheritor of his great fortune.
A Christmas Carol- (1843) “Bah!” said Scrooge. “Humbug!” With those famous words unfolds a tale that renews the joy and caring that are Christmas. Whether we read it aloud with our family and friends or open the pages on a chill winter evening to savor the story in solitude, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is a very special holiday experience. It is the one book that every year will warm our hearts with favorite memories of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future — and will remind us with laughter and tears that the true Christmas spirit comes from giving with love. Editions with a heartwarming account of Dickens’s first reading of the Carol, and a biographical sketch.
Dombey & Son - (1846) Paul Dombey is a heartless London merchant who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business. In the tight orbit of his daily life there is no room for dealing with emotions because emotion has no market value. In his son he sees the future of his firm and the continuation of his name, while he neglects his affectionate daughter, until he decides to get rid of her beloved, a lowly clerk.
David Copperfield - (1849-50) The first of Dickens's novels written entirely in the first person. Converting his autobiographical impulse into fiction allowed Dickens to explore uncomfortable truths about his life. David Copperfield's time at Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse, his schooling at Salem House, and his relationship with Dora all have their bases in Dickens's own life.
Bleak House- (1852) Dickens's most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot, challenges the reader to make connections – between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and the victims. Nowhere in Dickens's later novels is his attack on an uncaring society more imaginatively embodied, but nowhere either is the mixture of comedy and angry satire more deftly managed.
Hard Times - (1854) Written deliberately to increase the circulation of Dickens’s weekly magazine, Household Words, Hard Times was a huge and instantaneous success upon publication in 1854. Yet this novel is not the cheerful celebration of Victorian life one might have expected. Compressed, stark, allegorical, it is a bitter exposé of capitalist exploitation during the industrial revolution–and a fierce denunciation of the philosophy of materialism, which threatens the human imagination in all times and places.
Little Dorrit - (1855) When Arthur Clennam returns to England after many years abroad, he takes a kindly interest in Amy Dorrit, his mother’s seamstress, and in the affairs of Amy’s father, William Dorrit, a man of shabby grandeur, long imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea. As Arthur soon discovers, the dark shadow of the prison stretches far beyond its walls to affect the lives of many, from the kindly Mr. Pancks, the reluctant rent-collector of Bleeding Heart Yard, and the tipsily garrulous Flora Finching, to Merdle, an unscrupulous financier, and the bureaucratic Barnacles in the Circumlocution Office. A masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickens’s maturity.
The Tale of Two Cities - (1859) set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution - When the three exiles: Dr. Manette, falsely imprisoned for decades; his daughter, Lucie, whose stunning beauty was matched by her loyalty and grace; and Charles Darnay, who abandoned a royal title he hated to risk being called a traitor in France and a spy in England, returned to Paris and the Reign of Terror, they were trapped in a bloodbath. Together, their love touched the hearts of even stodgy banker Mr. Lorry and cynical, jaded lawyer Sydney Carton.
Great Expecations - (1860-61) The adventures of an orphaned young man in Victorian England who is given a great deal of money by an unknown benefactor to enable him to live as a gentleman, pursuing a good education and fulfilling great expectations.
Our Mutual Friend - (1864) In the last of Dickens' completed novels, a bitter love triangle, a mysterious inheritance, and power of money motivates, frustrates and activates the characters to a bitter end – a witty indictment of a society fallen prey to the dawning age of commercialism.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood - (1870) When young Drood mysteriously disappears from his quiet cathedral town of Cloisterham, foul play seems certain. The prime suspect, John Jasper, Edwin's uncle, frequents opium dens and conceals a secret passion beneath his church choir respectability. Who did it?
LINKS FOR LEARNING : CHARLES DICKENS
- Great Books- Charles Dickens - Online Great Books in English Translation
- Charles Dickens-Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
- The Dickens Fellowship - a worldwide association of people who share an interest in the life and works of Charles Dickens
- The Friends of Dickens - People who celebrate Charles Dickens: his life, his times, his accomplishments. Each year we select one Dickens novel for our special attention.
- The Dickens Project, Univ. of California - a scholarly consortium devoted to promoting the study and enjoyment of the life, times, and work of Charles Dickens.
- Dickens Birthplace Museum - The famous writer Charles Dickens was born in this modest house in Portsmouth, England in 1812. The house has miraculously survived and is now preserved as a museum furnished in the style of 1809 which is when John and Elizabeth Dickens set up the first home of their married life there.
- Bleak House Museum - a mansion known as the seaside residence of Charles Dickens, it was also the title of one of his works.
- Discover Dicken's Kent
- The Charles Dickens Museum, London - The only surviving London home of Dickens (from 1837 until 1839) was opened as a Museum in 1925 and houses the world's most important collection of material relating to the great Victorian novelist and social commentator.
- Gad's Hill Place - The much loved home of Charles Dickens, built in 1780...
- Dickens Made Simple - a supplement the works of this great author for those who want to learn more; plot reviews and character lists, as well as links to sites on the book.
- The Victorian Web - All about the Victorian Era- literature, history, technology...
- Project Gutenberg, Charles Dickens - Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts) on the Internet. Collection of more than 13.000 eBooks was produced by hundreds of volunteers. Most of the Project Gutenberg eBooks are older literary works that are in the public domain in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use.
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