Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1854)

About twenty years ago I read in publication order the novels of Charles Dickens.  Since I began my blog on July 7, 2009 I have reread and posted on Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield.  Hard Times was the tenth novel of Dickens.  It is his shortest novel also.  Lately I have read a bit of Zola and Balzac so I think I wanted to see how my old friend would compare to the French.  My basis of comparison is limited as I do not read French and am relying on old public domain translations.  

Hard Times is set in the imaginary city of Coke Town, coke being a fuel factories were at the time fired with.  It is a city of dark satanic mills.  Dickens' evocation of the sheer horror of the mill town is magnificent.  His portray of the mill owner who mocks all protesting workers as wanting to "eat turtle soup out of gold bowls" is as fitting then as now.  There is a complicated plot, involving a young orphan girl and the family she is adopted into. 

I am glad I reread Hard Times.  The characters do seem a bit less developed than those in some of Dickens' other novels and it is more overtly ideological than most of his other works.  The closing two chapters are marvelous. 

I hope to reread Bleak House this year.

Mel u

The Dickens Dictionary: An A-Z of England's Greatest Novelist by John Sutherland

The Dickens Dictionary:  An A-Z of England's Greatest Novelist by John Sutherland (2012, 127 pages)

If you are at all interested in Charles Dickens, life in England in the 19th century, or the English novel then I think you will greatly enjoy and profit from reading The Dickens Dictionary by John Sutherland.   It  is in the form of a dictionary but it is really a collection of very interesting and illuminating comments on a wide variety of topics.  Along the way we learn somethings about the life of Dickens that we may not know and there are some fascinating speculative conjectures also.  

Some the many terms in the dictionary are "pubs" (Dickens liked simple down home kind of places, not fancy ones), "Rats"  (maybe Dickens had some issues with them), "Ravens" (Dickens loved them) and "Dwarfs" (Sutherland tells us about the various dwarfs in the novels, the central one being Daniel Quilp from The Old Curiosity Shop, and he tells us that dwarfs were often regarded as evil figures or for sure figures of fun).

There are just so many interesting things in this book that I will just talk about a few of them.   On cats I admit I was shocked to learn that cat skins were a marketable items in the time of Dickens, Dickens at first did not like cats but in his later years he became quite fond of them and had a special cat that often sat with him as he wrote.  I did not know (I have read over the years all of the novels of Dickens, some several times but it has been a long time since I read some of them) he was very heavily under the influence of Thomas Carlyle.

The entry on child abuse focused on the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist.   Sutherland makes a case for considering Fagin as a pedophile but he also sees that he has in fact really helped Oliver in someways.   Sutherland also deals with the issue of whether of not Fagin, described as Jewish with a stereotypical nose, is to be construed as product of 19th century anti-Jewish thinking.   Sutherland says, rightly I think, that there is no overt religious hatred in the character of Fagin and he even traces the name back to a childhood friend of Dickens.  

Sutherland also talks about canning and after reading his entries one has to see the school masters as getting sexual pleasure from canning their students.   Dickens also talks about the frequent references to hands in Great Expectations and he ties them in with masturbation, considered a great sin at the time.   I was not completely convinced by the suggestions that Pip was a frequent onanist but perhaps I just missed this.  

Sutherland also talks about the relationship of Dickens to his wife and to his mistress.   He does suggest that maybe his mistress gave birth to a child who died shortly after birth but this seems speculative to me.    He made me think when he pointed out that his wife had  children for a number of years and then just stopped.   Sutherland takes this as showing Dickens probably looked elsewhere for sex.   He also talks about the relationship of Dickens and Wilke Collins.    Collins is well known to have been a frequent customer of prostitutes and he and Dickens did make trips together.   From this Sutherland suggests maybe Dickens also dealt with prostitutes once he seemingly gave up relations with his wife (he was repulsed by her weight gain).  Dickens also, this is evidenced in his novels, had a preoccupation with angelic innocent young girls and Sutherland talks about this in a very edifying fashion.  

Sutherland helped me see that the contemporary reader of Dickens would have seen his novels in a different way than readers now will. He focuses here on Bleak House (often considered his greatest novel) explaining how the fog was seen in a different way at the time of publication.   He also talks about the smells of the city and helped me see more how important London as a sensory experience was for Dickens.  

I really enjoyed read The Dickens Dictionary:  An A-Z of England's Greatest Novelist and I learned a lot from it.

There is a good bio of John Sutherland here.

Mel u

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens  (1861, 185,258 words)


Feb 7, 2012 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens birth.    He is surely one of the most loved authors of all times.   I am pretty sure I first read Great Expectations as a high school student and I also read it about 17 years ago when I did a read through in publication order of all of the novels of Dickens.   Great Expectations,  the second from last completed novel, is the only one of his novels told in the first person.   I recently also read in observation of  Dickens 200 Day A Tale of Two Cities.  The opening and closing chapters of A Tale of Two Cities are really flawless.

The plot of Great Expectations is probably well known to a lot of people who have not read it through one of the several movies that have been based on it.   I will not spend much time retelling the plot.   It is all about the life and development of Pip, an orphan and his ups and downs in life.   I will just say what I like about this novel and what picky points I might make.   Great Expectations is for sure part of the literary canon.

I like the great subtly and sheer brilliance of some of the characterizations.  As in most of his other works, the "good" people in Dickens tend not to be as well developed as those with a bit of an edge to them.    I thought the characters of the attorney Mr.  Jaggers and his clerk and man of all work John Wemmick were just perfect.   As to Pip himself, an overall well realized central character but not perfect.   I found the character of Estella really not that well done and in  small note if her mother was a Gypsy as the story line suggests, then Estella's appearance does not fit in with this.   One of the noted characteristics of a Dickens novel is the fixation on an adolescent female and I think the character of Estella could have been better done.   As to Pip's brother in law who was a father figure to him, Joe, he is your typical Dickens saintly figure along with the teacher Biddy.

While I am being difficult, how do people like the scene where Miss Havisham catches on fire?

Dickens does his usual great job describing the events in the novel.   His descriptive or scene setting sections may not have the depth as those in some of this other works but this is because the story is being told by the young Pip.

Given the large role an  escaped convict who has done well for himself and for others plays in this book, I could not help but think of another book I read last year, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.   OK hard for a Dickens lover like me to admit, Les Miserables is the more powerful work, in my opinion.     Please share your opinion on this with us.

The only advise can give in good consciousness to literary autodidacts such as myself is to read all of the novels of Dickens in publication order.  


I had hoped to also read Bleak House, his consensus best novel, by Feb 7, 2012 but I will not be able to fit this in but I will hopefully read it very soon.   I am keeping the whole year open to posting in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.

Mel u

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities  by Charles Dickens   (1859, 428 pages, 524 KB)


The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens will be on February 7, 2012.   Dickens has been a very important part of my reading life.  About fifteen years ago I read all of his novels in order of publication.   I read pretty much only Dickens during this period.   Shortly after I completed this  project I went to London and made a pilgrimage to the Dickens House Museum.   Since then I have read only one Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, for a read-along event.   


I wanted in some small way to do what I could honor Dickens so I decided I would try to reread two of his highest regarded works by his 200th birthday.


I choose to start with A Tale of Two Cities in part because of the many posts by book bloggers lauding the work.   Some consider it his best novel though most do give that honor to Bleak House.  


The novel takes place during the French Revolution, 1775.    I do not see a need to recap the plot.    I will basically say a bit about what I liked most about this work.  The two cities are London and Paris.  It its history the book has sold over  200 million copies.    


The opening chapter is perfect.   I cannot really recall many better ones.  If I had been a subscriber to All Year Round,  a literary magazine owned by Dickens, I would have been very eager to read the next installments.


Dickens is at his very best when he is describing the injustices of life in France. The scene where we learn that peasants on the estates of wealthy nobles were sometimes made to stay awake on the grounds outside the big house just to keep the frogs quiet so the nobles could get a good night sleep was just such a brilliant conveyance of a whole system of injustice in one sentence.




The scenes set in Paris during the worst excesses of the French Revolution are   to me the most exciting parts of the book.   


There is melodrama in this book and sentimentality and perhaps the book might be a bit "anti-French", a sure way to sell magazines is my guess!   


This is among the most serious, humor free of the novels of Dickens.   You can feel the passion of Dickens for the poor of France.   


I know this will seem a bit much, but as to reading suggestions for Dickens, I would say start with his first novel and read through to the last one.   


I think I am going to start Great Expectations soon followed by Bleak House.




In observation of Dickens 200th Birthday, Fig and Thisle is hosting an event  culminating on Dickens 200 Day which will enable those observing the event to share their posts on Dickens.    








Mel u

Dickens, Saki and Algernon Blackwood-An All English Paranormal Day

"Keeping His Promise" by Algernon Blackwood (1914, 8 pages)
"The Trial for Murder" by Charles Dickens (1866, 11 pages)
"Srendi Vashtar" by Saki (1910, 5 pages)

An All English Paranormal Short Story Day

Can Saki Really Triumph Over

Charles Dickens and Algernon Blackwell?

I am having great fun participating in Carl V's RIP 6 reading event (Sept 1 to Oct 31)  devoted to horror, Gothic, and paranormal literary works.   (The rules are on the RIP 6 web page.  Carl has made it easy and fun for all to join in and does a great job as a host.)   Today will be an all England paranormal read off with a visitor from Mount Parnassus, Charles Dickens being taken on by one very odd (and scary looking) gentleman, Algernon Blackwood, and  our own gently witty   Saki.   

Algernon Blackwood  (1869 to 1951-UK) is one of the founding fathers of the "Weird Story" genre, along with Arthur Machen and H  P Lovecraft.    He wrote hundreds of short stories,  twelve novels, and numerous plays in addition to a vast amount of journalism.   He is best know for his collection of paranormal short stories, Incredible Adventures (1914), which  is considered by many the best collection of weird stories ever published by a single writer.    His most famous work is, I think, a long short story, "The Willows".    (There is a good story about his interesting life and his work here).    Waite, like Machen was interested in the occult and was influenced by The Order of the Golden Dawn lead by A. E. Waite. (I think when the dust over the history of occult literature in the late 19th and early 20th century settles this order  will be seen as huge "background influence".   If you look hard enough you can see it in even as a strong influence on Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield.)    Blackwood was also a TV and stage actor.   

This morning  I checked  Americanlit.com to see what their short story of the day was and when I saw it was a story by a famous paranormal and new to me writer, Algernon Blackwood, I took it as an omen and I read "Keeping His Promise" right away.   I am glad I did as it was fun if not real scary story.   The story begins in the college rooms of a young man studying for the finals in medical school.   He is not the best of students but he is not the worst either.    He has been cramming for two weeks now and all his friends know to leave him alone as he must pass these exams or he is out of school.   He hears a knock at his door and he wonders who it could be.    He is so shocked to see an old once very close friend he has not seen in seven years at his door.   He is even more shocked when he sees his once well off friend now dressed in rags and looking very unhealthy with his skin a clammy white.   He sees his friend looks like he is starving and he feeds him.   He looks exhausted so he puts him in his spare bedroom.    He  wonders why his friend never spoke to him.   He hears his heavy breathing and goes in the room to check on him.   He cannot find him but the heavy breathing can be heard anywhere in his apartment.    A neighbor in the dorm rooming house stops over and he asks what is that noise.   Fearing he is going mad, the narrator tells him to go in the bedroom to see the man but he still cannot be found.   Then his neighbor notices blood coming from the wrist of the narrator.   Upon closer examination under the new cut on his wrist is an old scar.    Now he recalls seven years ago he and his strange visitor became blood brothers through cuts in their wrists.   Things turn weird now and I do not want to spoil it for new readers but when he writes his old friends sister to find out how he is doing, she tells him he killed himself years ago in a fit of despair.  

"Keeping His Promise" is a good story, not a great one, entertaining and well written.   

About twelve or so years ago I read all of Dicken's novels in publication date order.   It was one of the great reading projects of my life.   I have revisited him twice on my blog in posts on Oliver Twist and Sketches by Boz.   "Trial By Murder" is a pretty simple story (there will be links to read all the stories at the end of the post).     A man is called to jury duty on a murder case and he begins to see the murder victim in the court room.   (It does sound sort of like a Ghost Stories plot.)    Dickens does a great job of describing the mix of people on the jury.   The trial lasted ten days and the jury (all men of course) slept on the tables at an inn with a guard to make sure they did not leave.   This is kind of a two note story.   The first note is the appearance of the ghost of the murder victim.   The second note comes in a pretty good twist at the end and I will leave it unspoiled.   This is a very much an OK story but not great at all.   Algernon Blackwood's story is better done (I think I can say this as I totally love Dickens).

I really enjoy reading the short stories of Saki.    Yesterday I read and posted on my first Saki (1870 to 1916) short story with a paranormal element, "The Cobweb".   Yesterday Tom Conoboy suggested I read Saki's "Srendi Vashtar".   I did and it is the best Saki short story I have ever read (out of 30 or so-270 or so to go!).   It is just perfect and a great paranormal story.   The best paranormal writers often leave it up to decide what happens in the story and Saki does just that.   There are two lead characters in the story, a boy of maybe 10 to 14.  and his adult female cousin who tries to run his life.   The boy pretty much hates her.  Saki has been called a "malicious boy delighting in being in smarter than the real adults" and I guess that is accurate.

The boy gets a pet ferret.   He begins to worship ferret as a god, calling him "Srendi Vashtar".   As the story goes on it seems the boy really does begin to worship the ferret.  His female cousin does not know about the ferret and would make him get rid of him so he keeps him locked in a tool shed and hides the key in his own room.    Every day he begins to pray, "Great Srendi Vashtar grant me one wish".   The boy clearly believes the ferret is a god.   One day the cousin finds the key and opens the took shed.    When he hears a horrible scream from his cousin and sees the ferret has blood on his mouth and is running to the woods he is very happy.   When the family maid announces the cousin is dead on floor the boy knows the ferret god has granted his wish and will now return to the woods, having fulfilled his mission

Saki's story is way better than  those of Dickens and Blackwood.   

Link to "Srendi Vashtar"-best Saki story I have read so far

Link to "Keeping His Promise" by Algernon Blackwood-decent Gothic horror short story.

Link to "Trial by Murder" by Charles Dickens-read it because of who wrote it and it does give us a look at jury duty in England in the 1860s that I found interesting.

I hope to read Blackwood's most famous work "The Willows" before October 31.  

Mel u

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1838, 485 pages)

When I saw Allie of A Literary Odyssey was hosting a read a long on Oliver Twist I decided it was time to reacquaint myself with Dickens.   About 15 years or so ago I read all of his novels in publication order.   It was one of the great reading experiences of my life.    During this period I read nothing but Dickens and I was lucky enough to be in London shortly after I finished the last book and I went to the Dickens House Museum.       Ford Madox Ford in The March of Literature  says the best of Dickens is on a par with Chaucer and Dante.  (By best of Dickens Ford means Great Expectations, David Copperfield and Bleak House).  

Oliver Twist is Dickens's second novel.      Dickens (1812 to 1870-UK) , though not an orphan like  Oliver, grew up in extreme poverty.     He was a professional writer and his books were all initially published in serial fashion in popular magazines.  


One of the most famous lines in all of English literature can be found in Oliver Twist.   Even those of us who have not read the novel  yet most likely know it:   "Please sir, I want some more".    Numerous movies have been made of Oliver Twist  and this scene in the orphanage is always one of the highlights.

The read along is generating a lot of good posts in which the various themes of the book are explored.  I will just make a few observations on the book.  To me  the best part of the book is the time we spend with Fagin and his youthful gang.     I did find it more than a bit annoying when Fagin was over and over referred to not by his name but as "The Jew".    I found the "evil" characters better realized and more interesting than the "good" ones.    I loved it when Dickens gave his  descriptions of life in London.    I felt very bad for Nancy and I hate Bill.

The book was a bit predictable and most people will know the plot from movies and even TV cartoons before they read it any way.    People who do not like his work sometimes say it is too sentimental.    This is what Oscar Wilde famously thought.  

After completing Oliver Twist I had an idea for an alternative ending.   Fagin and The Artful Dodger and the rest of the gang all  get transported to Australia.     Fagin founds a trading company which turns in time into one of the biggest banks in Australia.    He is treated as person of great import to his face but is still called "The Jew" behind his back.  Fagin is often quoted in local newspapers as he is famous for his astute observations.     He claims he never made the quotation most often attributed to him:   "I never know who the real thieves were until I started my own bank".     The Artful Dodger strikes it rich in an opal mine and ends up married to the daughter of an English Baron,  Charlie Bates starts a sheep ranch and marries into an Aborigine tribe.  The other dozen or so boys and girls that get transported all have their adventures.  


This time next year will be the 200th birthday of Dickens.   My guess is the book blog world will all over him then.    Oprah has picked two of his books for her book club, Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities. 
Oliver Twist is not a "hard book" and you do not need a guide of any kind to enjoy it.     Give Oliver Twist a chance, have a little patience and I think you will be very glad you read it.    There are parts of Oliver Twist, in the descriptions of life in the poor side of London, that are simply amazing.

Mel u