Charles Dickens
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When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Times of London successfully campaigned for his burial in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of England's kings and heroes. Thousands flocked to mourn the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-century England. His books had made them laugh, shown them
… More »When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Times of London successfully campaigned for his burial in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of England's kings and heroes. Thousands flocked to mourn the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-century England. His books had made them laugh, shown them the squalor and greed of English life, and also the power of personal virtue and the strength of ordinary people. In his last years Dickens drew adoring crowds, had met presidents and princes, and had amassed a fortune. Yet like his heroes, Dickens trod a hard path to greatness. His young life was overturned when his profligate father was sent to debtors' prison and Dickens was forced into harsh factory work--but this led to his remarkable eye for all that was absurd, tragic, and redemptive in London life. This biography gives full measure to Dickens's stature--his virtues both as a writer and as a human being--while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye.--From publisher description.
« LessThe sins of the fathers
A London education
Becoming Boz
The journalist
Four publishers and a wedding
'Till death do us part'
Blackguards and brigands
Killing Nell
Conquering America
Setbacks
Travels, dreams, and visions
Crisis
Dombey, with interruptions
A home
A personal history
Fathers and sons
Children at work
Little Dorrit and friends
Wayward and unsettled
Stormy weather
Secrets, mysteries, and lies
The Bebelle life
Wise daughters
The Chief
'Things look like work again'
Pickswick, Pecknicks, Pickwicks
The remembrance of my friends.
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Add a CommentWhen writing the biography of this massively complex life, the author must choose: breadth or depth? For breadth, this well-researched, sensible-shoes book is a good start. All events are touched on, and Ms. Tomalin has a brisk frankness that eludes most of her rivals. (Yes, OF COURSE Dickens had a physical affair with Ellen Ternan and visited prostitutes. And not just to rescue them.) Her assessments of Dickens`s writings are conventional and easily skipped. For depth, try Michael Slater`s Dickens and Women (the first bio that gave the unfortunate Mrs. Dickens a fair shake), or even Peter Ackroyd`s biography. It`s annoyingly fanciful, but has Dickens`s sense of drama.
Terrific biography.
This biography of Dickens is almost as exciting and touching as reading a Dickens novel. Beautifully written, meticulously researched (with speculation here and there as well). Humane and engaging.