Next to A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities, this has been my favorite Dickens novel. I painted a lot of boxes listening to the unabridged version of this book on tape, but what fun! I just loved it. If you get a reader who can do all the voices and accents, this book just comes alive.I have so much admiration for Dickens, his characters become so real. I've decided to go back to my college days studying literature this year and teach myself a class in a favorite author or two, but I think I could study Dickens all year and not make it through to the end of his work. I would really like to read Great Expectations again this year and Hard Times for the first time.
It's such a privilege to read these books. They changed the world. Dickens was a very effective social reformer. The Victorians did not have 60 Minutes to take them visually inside schools, orphanages, poor areas of town, prisons and the like. But Dickens, with his incredibly visual language, showed his countrymen and ours as well the things they would never have noticed without him.
I read once that most of Dickens work has never been out of print. Part of the reason for that is he can still show our generation a few things and not just about characterization and great writing, but even more about the responsibilities of being a human being and the courage required to be a good one.
5 comments:
I must confess to not being nearly the fan of Dickens that you are, I think from lack of effort on my part. But you make me want to give it another try. I think I will try Nicholas on tape too. Oh, and the waffle iron makes 4 kitty shaped waffles and every time I see it I just know you should have one. If I still lived there you would!
I need to attack Dickens again. Maybe listening on tape will make it easier for me. I read several of his in a row and then David Copperfield ended my interest in him. I need to get back to it because I would like to say that I have read all of his works. I LOVED Hard Times and Great Expectations and even while sad, A Tale of Two Cities was a good read. I am even considering making Hard Times my Book Club choice.
Hmmmm...you inspired me with this one. One of my disappointments in '07 was not reading any books. (Oh, how I'm ashamed to admit that!) But maybe if I chose an author and concentrated on his/her works, I could be motivated. I like having *assignments*. My time for reading is short and choppy so I can't handle any heavy stories. Any author suggestions?
I have a few suggestions. I love Alexandra Stoddard and her last 4-5 books have been essay style about 3-4 pages. You could certainly read those because you wouldn't have to stay at each chapter long. This Year I Will.. is a fabulous book I'm about half way through it and it is written essay style as well. There are several poetry books that I really love and those can expose you to great literature as well as able to take in snipets. As per usual, I also recommend books on tape. You have to clean the house right.. make dinner, do laundry.. then you could listen to a few minutes of a really good book. Get some little ones for m. as well. I know there are some book on tape for the little people in our lives and I can't think of them off the cuff.. my friend Michelle would know (her mom's a librarian and so she knows everything), but I really think books on tape have given c a big boost in school and you should hear her speak in church or read alound.. she's been trained by proffessionals.. not me. :)
Hi! Thanks for the sweet comment. I also love Charles Dickens! I haven't read Nicholas Nickleby yet so maybe that will be my next read! Thanks for the inspiration.
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