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mojioooi_07's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kjmil's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
wlaraia's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
midwifereading's review against another edition
3.0
Compared to some of his other books, this one seems almost light-hearted. Only, it's not. It's hard to explain. I really like the contrast of various characters, and the plights of Stephen Blackpool and Louisa Gradgrind.
“Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”
― Charles Dickens, Hard Times
Thus, the book essentially begins, building its characters, who believe such nonsense, from scratch. The rest of the book plays out the consequences of raising human children essentially without humanity. Along come characters who upset that ardent belief in Fact, and open wide the door for Faith, Hope, & Charity to show themselves to the victims of Fact, and bring disruption and healing.
Nothing is tied up perfectly neat and tidy, but neither is it left all in shambles. Some characters see their faults, learn, and change. Others suffer dreadful consequences. Still others just keep going on in their old way, but alone.
I would love to have read this in college course, and get more out of it via class discussions and professors. It seems ripe for that sort of thing.
I love Dickens.
“Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”
― Charles Dickens, Hard Times
Thus, the book essentially begins, building its characters, who believe such nonsense, from scratch. The rest of the book plays out the consequences of raising human children essentially without humanity. Along come characters who upset that ardent belief in Fact, and open wide the door for Faith, Hope, & Charity to show themselves to the victims of Fact, and bring disruption and healing.
Nothing is tied up perfectly neat and tidy, but neither is it left all in shambles. Some characters see their faults, learn, and change. Others suffer dreadful consequences. Still others just keep going on in their old way, but alone.
I would love to have read this in college course, and get more out of it via class discussions and professors. It seems ripe for that sort of thing.
I love Dickens.
a_novel_experiment's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
helenace13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This entire book is just a character study, normally, I don't tend to like those, but this one was amazing. The plot was so intricately woven, the story written so excellently. The writing is very legible, and it reads like an absolute dream.
dembury's review against another edition
5.0
People who brush aside Dickens because they think it's all going to be old, overhyped, crusty stories are missing out BIG TIME. Dickens is truly hilarious, and that wit paired with dynamic characters and multilayered tales make for positively riveting reading. I was laughing out loud throughout this book, like when Mrs. Sparsit calls Bounderby a "Noodle" behind his back, or when the robbery occurs but serious talk about it keeps getting derailed because no one can stay on topic and instead they start talking about snoring and such.
There were a couple tricky bits to get through, primarily just reading the phonetically written dialogue of Blackpool and Rachael. But I just looked at a quick Shmoop summary for those couple chapters and then read them again and that helped me immensely.
Everything else was just really REALLY good! I'm someone who enjoys recurring motifs and themes that can be picked out directly, and Dickens does an excellent job of presenting these to the reader without shoving it down their throat. In "Hard Times" Dickens presents a look at imagination and emotions VS a very factual, no-nonsense attitude, all set against the industrial city of Coketown. It's a very well-paced and put together novel, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!
There were a couple tricky bits to get through, primarily just reading the phonetically written dialogue of Blackpool and Rachael. But I just looked at a quick Shmoop summary for those couple chapters and then read them again and that helped me immensely.
Everything else was just really REALLY good! I'm someone who enjoys recurring motifs and themes that can be picked out directly, and Dickens does an excellent job of presenting these to the reader without shoving it down their throat. In "Hard Times" Dickens presents a look at imagination and emotions VS a very factual, no-nonsense attitude, all set against the industrial city of Coketown. It's a very well-paced and put together novel, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!
heidi_meredith's review against another edition
2.5
I can't love Dickens like I love Austen. This is probably the weakest Dickens I've read. I prefer 'David Copperfield' and 'Little Dorrit'. I am now experiencing strong cravings for Austen, but I already have a different author waiting on the library reservation shelf.
qjbrown96's review against another edition
1.0
I now know that to be considered a “classic” it has to be the most god awful boring book. Most of the chapters felt like fillers and had no relevance to the story and the characters that are heavily accented are the ones that talk the most just to make it even worse. For example, “…for onny o’ th’ monny causes that carries grief to the poor man’s door, an’ there’ll be tender wi’ yo, gentle wi’ yo, comfortable wi’ yo, chrisen wi’ yo.”