Charles Dickens Books

Like Shakespeare, it's very hard to compare him to anyone but himself.

And this is not his best: uneven, rushed in spots, a few plot pot holes that jar rather badly.

But it's not his worse by any means, either: it has an admirable clarity, the social commentary is pointed but not [too] preachy, and each person in the huge cast of characters is wonderfully individual.

There are some signs of his degenerating health if you are looking for them, yet the overall effect for me was fresh and funny, a fine English farce as only he could create.

To be sure, Charles Dickens lived on for 5 more years after he finished this book, but he was very ill when he wrote it. Nevertheless, "Our Mutual Friend" shows some of Dickens's strongest writing. (Fortunately, this book unlike "Edwin Drood" was finished.) This book consists of several plots that actually come together very well. We are introduced to Graffer Hexham and Riderhood. They take part in criminal activity together, but Mr. Hexham is starting to get cold feet and wants out. Riderhood is guilty of murder, and the victim is supposedly the wealthy John Harmon. Well, someone did die. But it wasn't John Harmon. He uses the alias of "Rokesmith" and becomes a clerk in Mr. Boffins's employ. Moving on, Alfred Lammle and Sophronia marry under the impression that the marriage is financially beneficial. It isn't, and they decide to get revenge by making everyone miserable. They want to put Georgiana Podsnap in a bad marriage. The Lammles are intimate in public, but cold in private. People claim that Dickens did not like lawyers, but quite a few like Mr. Perker, Mr. Snubbins, Mr. Stryver, Mr. Jaggers, and Mr. Grewgious come off quite well. (I myself don't share the opinion. There are some bad lawyers, but as I pointed out, some come off very well.) Mortimer Lightwood is yet another lawyer that seems to come off well. Along with Eugene Wrayburn he is investigating the murder. Riderhood says the dead Graffer Hexham confessed to the murder. But we can hardly believe this. We later meet the school master Bradley Headstone. He is full of impressive knowledge and musical talent. When Bradley and Eugene meet, Eugene makes some uncalled for comments, and Bradley keeps his words civil, but his fists clench. (Indication of the horror to come.) Interestingly, Eugene's friend Lightwood thinks Eugene's persuit of Lizzie Hexham (the object of Bradley Headstone's desire) is inappropriate. We later meet Riderhood's daughter who does not approve of her father's criminal actions. About half way through the book, Rokesmith reveals to us (and no other character) that he is the presumed dead John Harmon, but he is not sure if he should reveal to the world he is alive. (Dickens seemed to like the technique of people being presumed dead, when in fact they were not.) Well, Boffin must know because Harmon changed his will in Boffin's favor. By some miracle, the miserable Lammles make it to their 1st anniversary, though Sophronia is starting to feel guilty about the plot against Georgiana. Then comes the romance plot. "Rokesmith" likes Bella (who has a position in the Boffins' house), but Bella is more concerned about marrying into money. (Though she never stops loving her poor father.) If "Rokesmith" tells all, he could probably have her, but how does he know she really loves him? We might speculate that this reflects Dickens's relationship with the much younger Ellen. Did she love him just because he was Charles Dickens? Well, Silas Wegg and Mr. Venus discover the altered will of John Harmon and blackmail Boffin with it. One flaw is that Boffin doesn't confront them with the truth. (The reason is obvious. If he tells what he knows, the story is ruined.) Bradley Headstone is still sad that Lizzie seems to prefer Eugene, and Headstone degenerates to the point of forming an alliance with the dark Riderhood. Well, in a stage where Mr. Boffin and "Rokesmith" bluff very well, they argue to the point where "Rokesmith" is terminated and Bella is in despair. (The motive is obvious, but Bella doesn't know it.) Well, Bella and "Rokesmith" fall in love and agree to marry. (Though we may wonder if Harmon/Rokesmith is enjoying this too much.) Moving on, Georgiana Podsnap comes into some money and like an angel is willing to help the Lammles. In a moment of insanity and rage, Bradley Headstone (disguised as Riderhood) assaults Eugene and almost kills him. Though, unlike Bill Sikes (from "Oliver Twist") Bradley Headstone does regret and suffer for his actions. Lizzie and Eugene marry and of course Eugene gets better. It may be that Charles Dickens himself knew John Harmon went too far with his joke when he almost gets arrested for his own murder! But he gets off and he brings Bella into the typical romantic happy ending. Sadly, Bradley Headstone is not part of the story's happy end. But he goes out with such style. He has a dramatic confrontation with Riderhood and Charles Dickens writes his arguably most frightening line ever for Bradley Headstone to speak: "I'll hold you living, and I'll hold you dead!" Overall, this is a great book that has romance, suspense, mystery, comedy, and terror. We should be thankful that despite his failing health, Charles Dickens lived to finish it.

The book Preaching Pity : Dickens, Gaskell, and Sentimentalism in Victorian Culture (Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature, Vol. 11), by Mary Lenard provided an insightful analyzation of the birth of public feeling in the Victorian Era. She uses the works of Dickens and Gaskell to prove her points, which she does quite well. Her book demostrated a deep knowledge of England during that time period. It gave the reader a feelinig of involement in the book and the historical happenings noted. Although the subject matter is a bit dry, she managed to make it interesting. This book is a must have for researchers and historical buffs alike!

I have written a review of a Wilkie Collins book already, and though I didn't like this book quite as much as I did the last one I read, still it was enjoyable. In this story an older man, Griffith, lives in the country with his two elder brothers. They live a quiet life in an old house. Thier life changes when a young woman whom he had been co-guardian to , comes to his home to stay for 6 weeks in order to inherit her dead fathers' money upon her 21st birthday. With only a short time left to the young womans visit, Griffith recices a letter from his son who is going to sail back home. In the letter his son reveals that he is in love with the young woamn, Jessie. In order to keep Jessie there in time for his son to come back and declare his feelings, Griffith and his 2 brothers write stories to keep her entertained. The contents of much of the book are the brother's stories. The book brings to mind Scheherezade, who told her stories-like Aladdin and the lamp-to her husband to preserve her life. It is an enjoyable read, and easy to get through.

This book was written as one of four course texts for the Open University module, "Approaching Literature" but can be read on its own for leisure or independent study. Its subject is the rise and evolution of the genre known as the 'realist novel'.

In Part One, after introducing the genre and the historical background in which it arose as a dominant and popular form of literature, the book closely examines, in turn, the following works: "Pride and Prejudice", "Frankenstein", "Great Expectations", and "Fathers and Sons". There are also chapters addressing the theme of 'the Novel and Society' and examining the question, 'Can realist novels survive?'

Part Two includes theoretical essays and commentaries on the genre by literary critics such as Arnold Kettle, Marilyn Butler and Roland Barthes. Each of these critical commentaries were carefully chosen for their relevancy to the four novels being studied and for their accessablity to the non-scholar.

As it explains in the Preface of The Realist Novel, "the emphasis throughout is upon practice, not theory." This is good news to the university student - or anyone, for that matter - who is overwhelmed with the idea of reading tons of abstract essays on 'theory' (Structuralism, Modernism, Post-modernism, etc.) which are of little help when trying to apply the ideas to specific texts. The Realist Novel gently introduces the reader into critical analysis and theory by walking step-by-step through the issues surrounding each of the four novels. The language in this text is very accessable and does not assume the student is on a scholarly reading level. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in studying the genre of the realist novel from a critical perspective, without being bombarded with an overload of academic theory.

This book was invaluable for my comarison of germinal and LesMiserables. it gives the reader enough background on the subject thathe or she can understand even without a english degree. i would highlyreccomend it END

Joe Cusumano. Transforming Scrooge: Dickens' Blueprint for a Spiritual Awakening. Minneapolis: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.

A distinction should be made between the actual story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the interpretation of the story, the Carol "canon" (from the word measurement). The story is there for us, unchanged, to be read year after year, but the fit, the measurement of the Carol's meaning is constantly changing. Joe Cusumano provides a creative and inspiring measurement for Dickens' famous tale, as well as placing the original story in the appendix.

While acknowledging the traditional meanings of the story and providing an excellent historical background, Cusumano filters A Christmas Carol through the novel lens of spiritual experiences and Clinical Psychology. Disconcerting as his suggestions are to the standard literary approach, Cusumano in Transforming Scrooge opens the story up to fresh and vital interpretation. It is difficult to envision the 19th Century Father of Christmas, Charles Dickens, as having nightly visitations by the greys and blacks of sci-fi fame, but the parallels between his ghosts and modern accounts of close encounters are startlingly similar. The bright light and chaotic effect of the Ghost of Christmas Past mirrors the kind of psychological experience as recorded in movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Fire in the Sky.

Ebenezer undoubtedly needed a psycho-spiritual jolt to rock him from his heartless materialism. The use of fantasy literary technique allowed Charles Dickens to condense a complex, long process into a single evening. Alien abduction and Near Death experiences have the same intensive effect. Leaving aside the literal proof or validation of such experiences, Cusumano focuses on their transformative effects, showing how human hearts can be softened when open to the healing imagery of life review, in depth perception of reality and prophetic warning.

Scrooge is revolutionized both from within and without in A Christmas Carol. Transforming Scrooge compares Scrooge's experience to that of one undergoing counselling. Releasing repression, built up pockets of energetic resistance located in the chakra points, according to Kundalini yoga, allowed Scrooge to change from being "as solitary as an oyster" into being "the Father of Tiny Tim." Cusumano, using a variety of therapeutic metaphors, shows how the release might take place in us modern Scrooges.

Released from the bondage of blockage, Scrooge discovered the roots of his own miserliness in the abuse that he suffered as a child at the hands of his perfectionistic father. Uncovering his own pain, he was prepared for the prophetic statement of the Ghost of the Future who predicted the social effects of child hatred on society. "Beware of Want and Ignorance!" is a mantra for the new millennium, as much as for the Industrial Revolution. The way we treat the child is the litmus test of our society; the havoc we inherit through street gangs, thugs and dictators is the price we pay for our treatment of the innocent.

The Goodnews of A Christmas Carol is that doom is not inevitable but that an openness to the spiritual and psychological experiences of healing can sponge away the death knell of our insensitivity. As Cusumano says, "Dickens was letting us know that this is not really just a Christmas Story. More importantly, it is an Easter Story, one of resurrection." The measure of A Christmas Carol for our lives is the extent to which we participate in this heart opening resurrection. Transforming Scrooge by Joe Cusumano speaks to the heart from the heart of that message.

I am an intermediate student of Spanish, and my biggest problem is understanding native speakers who are talking at their normal (rapid) rate.

This audiotape has been a tremendous help in improving my ability to understand speech "on the fly". The reader has excellent enunciation, reads in a dramatic and entertaining fashion, and the Spanish seems grammatically correct, without a lot of confusing idioms or colloquialisms.

And since the story is so familiar, if I lose the thread at any point, I soon am back on track.

My only criticism is that the story is abridged at certain points, which can throw off the listener who is familiar with the story.

I have sent this tape to others trying to learn to be fluent in Spanish, and I would recommend it to anyone.

This book stands as a valuable resource for studies on Shakespeare as well as Eliot, Swinburne, Browning and Dickens. Sawyer's examples of how these authors borrowed from and used Shakespeare provides a new versatility of Shakespeare's works that has largely gone unnoticed. Many strong assertions are made and each one is supported by a firm foundation of research and knowledge. It is necessary, however, to have an understanding of each of these authors. Without this familiarity, the book tends to be a difficult read.

This book is attractively presented with short introductory passages before each chapter.In the course of this Dickens' life- story is concisely told. But what surprised me was that the Dickens' texts themselves were not brief aphoristic or humorous 'lines' but rather true excerpts of paragraph length or more. And that many of these were at least in my reading of them not that humorous or witty at all. However the long passages produced do truly give a sense of what Dickens writing was all about. And thus this volume serves as a kind of small introductory guide to the work of Dickens.

Here is a brief sample, one of the most famous of Dickens' passages.

'Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure ninetten six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. The blossom is blighted, the leaf is withered, the God of day goes down upon the dreary scene, and- and in short you are for ever floored. As Iam !' ( Mr. Micawber. 'David Copperfield.'