I've tried to read dickens before but I could not make it through oliver twist or david copperfield. I have just picked up hard times hopeing to at least read one of his books. worth it?
Printable View
I've tried to read dickens before but I could not make it through oliver twist or david copperfield. I have just picked up hard times hopeing to at least read one of his books. worth it?
I understand you were put off the 700 pages of David Copperfield. Though I did like that one after finally having completed it...
My favourite Dickens so far has been A Christmas Carol and although that one might have been used by movies ad nauseam and does not really fit the season at the moment :D, I think the original is still worth reading. And - it's short ;).
But I've never read Hard Times so far...
Likewise i cannot offer a viewpoint of Hard Times because i haven't read it, except for one extract required for advanced english SATs.
However, my favourite Dickens' novel is A Tale of Two Cities. Short and immensely good. Bleak House is good too but at around 900 pages it can seem like an uphill struggle!
Try The Pickwick Papers or Martin Chuzzlewit. Dickens was a humorist first and foremost. The inconsistencies and unlikely developments necsessary to his melodramatic plotlines are much easier to accept in his comic stories.
I'll second the suggestion of The Pickwick Papers. I found it full of hilarity and it was a page-turner for me.
Chris
I had the exact same experience years ago. I had heard Dickens this and Dickens that; so I picked up Oliver Twist. The first couple of chapters bored me almost to tears: I had to stop. Years later I decided to give Dickens another chance—perhaps my taste had matured, I thought. Again I picked up Oliver Twist and again I was bored almost to tears and had to stop. At that point I became harshly critical of Dickens: I derided him whenever I had the chance. But I softened, and, much later, I picked up Oliver Twist for a third time. I pressed on fearlessly through through the first couple of chapters and then found, to my delight, that it was starting to get interesting. I continued, and the interest crescendoed until I was on the edge of my seat and literally couldn't put the book down. To this day I am stunned at how good a book Oliver is. After that I tried more Dickens, and now David Copperfield is one of my all-time favorite books.Quote:
Originally Posted by ForKnowledge
So I don't know. Dickens books aren't about aliens, elves, or machine guns. Dickens books are about people; and that's why they're timeless.
Dickens is wonderful & you should definitely pick up Hard Times. He is bitingly sarcastic and although many consider TOTC to be his best I have repeatedly said it is Hard Times (for these times)
In order to give you a good answer, I'm interested to know why you didn't make it through those books.
I would also recomend Hard Times, however this is coming from someone who devoured Oliver Twist and David Copperfield (as well as many others of his great novels).
Hard Times is probably one of my favourites (if I had to make a list right now, I'd put it 3rd: A Tale of Two Cities, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times)
Well put! only those books about humanity can last forever.Quote:
Originally Posted by adagiosostenuto
This is one of the things Hollywood forgets. There have been too many aliens, machines guns and disasters. Few movies have deep thoughts and meanings.
Makes you want to go back a few hundred years ago when Dickens and Hugo lived.