Charles Dickens

[axisoftime]

'Charles Dickens: the name conjures up visions of plum pudding and Christmas punch, quaint coaching inns and cozy firesides, but
also of orphaned and starving children, misers, murderers, and abusive schoolmasters. Dickens was 19th century London personified, he survived its mean streets as a child and, largely self-educated, possessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age'.

Any Dickens fans around?From 'A Tale of two Cities' to 'Great Expectations' to 'Oliver Twist' and my favorite "A Christmas Carol'.
At age 12 his parents were put in debtors prison and he had to go to work in a boot factory.Living in 19th century London was very hard even for those who were well off.Everyone used coal to heat their homes and black smoke and soot was everywhere-horse drawn carriages left the streets filthy-many were poor and lived in the streets.Dickens loved Christmas-a time when ppl opened their hearts and pocketbooks for the less fortunate.When it seemed like most ppl could forget their troubles-even for a day. Dickens has probably had more influence on the way that we celebrate Christmas today than any single individual in human history except one.

[kryptonitte]

I always enjoyed Dickens and have enjoyed reading and watching Oliver as well as Great Expectations (the old version not the one with Gwyenth). But I have to admit my favorite is" A Christmas Carol"and even though there has been many versions my favorite is still is the 38' verision with Reginald Owen as Scrooge - I'm not sure if it is becuase this the first one I remember but I loved him as Scrooge.

[VersesBatman]

I like Alistar Sim's version of A Christmas Carol.

[kryptonitte]

That is also a good version

[VersesBatman]

I think that movie really captured 19th centruy London. Especially the scene with the pawn shop owner.

[i luv tom welling]

In my grade 8 English class we had to read A Christmas Carol, and last year in grade 12 we had to read Great Expectations. They're both alright overall, but I really dislike having to decipher every sentence. It's too obvious he was paid by the word :p

[axisoftime]

Yes it is a hard read-but im not so sure about being paid by the word.I used to read H.G.Wells and id have to look up many words in the dictionary.I think it was the style in the 19th century to use longer and more complex sentences.Language has changed alot in 100 years.

[enamored]

Actually, it is my understanding that many of Dickens works were originally published serially in magazines/newspapers. The longer he could string the work out the more he got paid. So he was not really paid by the word but it amounts to the same thing.

I admire the plots of Dickens stories but find him an utter drudge to read. Part of it is that the language style is so different from today (I have the same sort of problem with other classic authors) but mostly it is that he painstakingly describes everything in every scene down to the trivial minutiae. I guess I have never really learned how to slide over that stuff while reading to get to the meat of things.

Anyway, I think that making middle school and high school kids read Dickens in this day and age is a good way to turn them off reading. It's a shame but most kids these days do not have the attention span nor the patience to wade through Dickens to understand the great story underneath.

I read Great Expectations in high school and tried to read Oliver Twist. I never got through Oliver Twist because I could not reconcile the characters in the book with the movie "Oliver" that I had seen prior to reading the book. Oliver Twist is so much darker and the male characters are all totally despicable.

[LexLuthorMetropolis]

Thus far I've read A Christmas Carol and Hard Times. Of the two, I always lean towards A Christmas Carol just because of the sensibility that it brings forth and the notions and ideas it toys with. It's a family favorite as a movie, but the novella is by far the best Christmas story I've ever read in novella format.

[slayer]

The only book of Dickens that I have read is the Great Expectations. I really loved it. It was funny and sad, it definetly is a book I plan on reading more than once :D

[Iluvgreen]

I love Charles Dickens. My favorite book from him is Great Expectations.

[amalie]

I have a lot of difficulty getting through Charles Dickens' novels for some reason. Saying that I did love Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities.

[rebecavaldez]

I was just assigned to read "Great Expectations" for school.
Is it any good?

[Iluvgreen]

I was just assigned to read "Great Expectations" for school.
Is it any good?

Yes. It's amazing. Man I wish I could get assigned to read Dickens in school. Then I would have an awsome homework assignment that I probably would do on my own time anyways. I love Dickens so much. He is my favorite author. A Tale of Two Cities is so tragic, that I had to read it twice in a row. Plus I love A Chrismas Carol. I read it in 7th grade, and again in 8th grade. I think it is a book that every person should read at least once.