Dickens still inspires, provokes

Montreal Gazette - REUTERS ^ | 2/4/12 | MIKE COLLETT-WHITE AND SARAH MILLS

[Sacajaweau]

Another favorite of mine is O’Henry. Just delightful.

[Clintonfatigued]

This isn’t a schooling thread, but homeschooling parents may find this article interesting. Perhaps they will want to introduce his work to their children. Charles Dickins wrote compelling books which are in many ways still relevent.

[Mercat]

Nicholas Nickleby used to be one of my three or four favorite books. I think I read it four times. Now I prefer A Tale of Two Cities. Last time I read it I listened to it. Wonderful. But the emphasis on his being the author of the downtrodden overlooks his finding of the true bravery and honor of people. It was the best of times it was the worst of times. ...... Tis a far far better thing I do than I have ever done.

[Clintonfatigued]

If interested in his works, be sure to get the unabridged versions of his writing.

[FrdmLvr]

Absolutely!

[Cicero]

Over the years, I’ve read most of his novels, some of them many times. And when I was doing a long commute to NYC, I got some of them on CDs in MP3 format, and listened to them in the car and on the train.

Also Jane Austen and Arthur Conan Doyle. Great listening when you have the time.

[mrsmith]

It’s his accurate portrayal of human nature and human’s character that make him so loved.

Sadly, two things today’s academia don’t even believe in.

[carton253]

Tale of Two Cities is my favorite book. In fact that’s where the carton came from in my freeper name.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

Actually, one of the problems I see with liberalism is that it splits the world into Tiny Tims and Scrooges, as if everything fits into these nice clean categories. Many liberal demographics are characterized as Tiny Tim-like, while the capitalists are all Scrooges. It's obviously not valid, but is a useful tool for the class warfare ploy of the left.

[Borges]

Scrooge relied on government (prisons and workhouses) to deal with social problems. The work is a plea for private charity.

[Borges]

Scrooge relied on government (prisons and workhouses) to deal with social problems. The work encourages private charity.

[Mercat]

I came back to it after learning that it was the most alchemical of Dicken’s works. Gold, white, red. But that aside, the story is amazing. I think I’ll listen to it again.

[carton253]

I think I’ll read it again.

[metmom]

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[gorush]

Dickens visited John Quincy Adams on the floor of the house where Adams served after his presidency.

[lurk]

He was able to portray true nobility of people with good character and true nastiness of bad people. Madame DeFarge, for instance v. Nicholas Nickleby.

[IronJack]

There are few authors who have as elaborate a command of the language as Dickens. Effusive sometimes to the point of prolixity, he could capture a character like no other, often damning with faint praise or praising with faint damnation.

One of my favorite Dickenisms is his description in, I believe, Little Dorrit of a prim dowager matron whose formidable bosom was likened to a dreadnought battleship. She never walked across a room, she "tacked" or "sailed" or otherwise maneuvered nautically, with intimidating results.

[jmacusa]

I always thought Dickens was a bit of a socialist.

[Grut]

Don’t like him, he sneers at his own characters. Also, he was paid by the word and it shows.