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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
“the proceedings of a Noodle can only inspire contempt” - Mrs. Sparsit
well then, hard times must be a noodle, because i sure do feel a lot of contempt regarding the ending
well then, hard times must be a noodle, because i sure do feel a lot of contempt regarding the ending
Dickens, to me, probably never wrote a 'hard to read' novel in his life. By 'Hard to read' I mean in terms literary opaqueness or some unpleasant feature that makes reading it a chore. Of the 3 (now 4) Dickens books I have read, this was the hardest to finish but not because of my two other definitions. Unlike his other books, Dickens injects little humour which is usually what I look for in his writings. What I did find was Dickens kicking the metaphorical door down on the sentiment (or lack thereof) of utilitarianism in the mid1800s. Dickens has a knack for characters; even when they are archetypes such as these there are flashes of truly great character writing (the devilish dissipation or Harthouse, the uncertain mind of Louisa). This books comes from many angles concerning money, power, love, education, class but I believe it boils down to this: we cannot all be out for ourselves and using those Facts to ignore the plight of other people. Or, to put it even more trite but true, " We must love one another, or die".
Dickens had MANY things to say in this book and some themes struck home and some...did not.
But. As always, a solid, earnest, read.
One question...I really did not fully understand Mr. Bounderby's widow lady, ol' whatsherface. Maybe alluding to something contemporary?? To sparksnotes!!
Dickens had MANY things to say in this book and some themes struck home and some...did not.
But. As always, a solid, earnest, read.
One question...I really did not fully understand Mr. Bounderby's widow lady, ol' whatsherface. Maybe alluding to something contemporary?? To sparksnotes!!
It took me a long time to finish this book, but not because it wasn't well written or any interesting read. This book handles a lot of themes. Fortunately, they are themes that I agree with and it was a very eye-opening reading experience to see Dickens' handle and deal with the concepts of imagination, Fact, capitalism, and the de-humanizing pitfalls that ride in on the coattails of industrialization. Truly, this book won me over as a Dickens fan. As a writer, Hard Times is a class in and of itself in how to weave a handful of dynamic characters in and out of a single narrative and how to use them individually to tell a single truth. This was a great read and a very important one.
#DickensBuddies - May 2018 #HardTimesWithDickens buddy read on IG.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I'm sad to give this such a low rating when it's such a name in literary history and on top of that, to be honest: I skimmed most of it.
The premise of the story really didn't interest me and I found my focus slacking after every 10 pages I read.. There was just so much unnecessary description and language that it made it a task to read this book, instead of something to do for fun and I'm glad I have finished it.
I am not yet giving up on Charles Dickens, as this is one of his less popular works and the goodreads rating shows that there are more people who weren't overwhelmed with excitement by this one, so I will be picking up A Christmas Carrol next; let's hope this brings more enjoyment :)
Also discussing this one in class this semester, so I hope that makes me like it more!
The premise of the story really didn't interest me and I found my focus slacking after every 10 pages I read.. There was just so much unnecessary description and language that it made it a task to read this book, instead of something to do for fun and I'm glad I have finished it.
I am not yet giving up on Charles Dickens, as this is one of his less popular works and the goodreads rating shows that there are more people who weren't overwhelmed with excitement by this one, so I will be picking up A Christmas Carrol next; let's hope this brings more enjoyment :)
Also discussing this one in class this semester, so I hope that makes me like it more!
Turns out even writers in the 19th Century weren’t fond of rich guys.
Dickens shows us the lives of several characters in Coketown, from a father who teaches strict belief in fact and will brook no wonder in his children, to children themselves who lead tortured lives because of this theory of education, to a blustering banker who is always too happy to brag about his humble beginnings, to a handful of the humble but good working folk of the town. Their lives intermesh in various ways over the course of several years.
Although there's barely one character in the novel whom I could think of without a good eyeroll, Dickens still weaves a tale that I couldn't resist following through to the end. I love that the wicked don't necessarily get their comeuppance, and the happiness due the good guys isn't completely pure - the complexities of the plot see to that - and despite my misgivings at the beginning, I'm glad that I stuck with it and quite enjoyed it by the end.
Although there's barely one character in the novel whom I could think of without a good eyeroll, Dickens still weaves a tale that I couldn't resist following through to the end. I love that the wicked don't necessarily get their comeuppance, and the happiness due the good guys isn't completely pure - the complexities of the plot see to that - and despite my misgivings at the beginning, I'm glad that I stuck with it and quite enjoyed it by the end.
I really enjoyed this. I think it was a great introduction to Charles Dickens as it was his first full-length novel I read. The language was witty and humorous, characters - interesting and well-developed. I also loved the idea of the novel which basically that our feelings and facies are an important part of us and should never be neglected.
My only criticism would be that I wanted the character of Sissi to be present on pages more and developed more and deeper. To me, she felt almost like a shadow next to all the other so well done characters and her figure in the book is actually very important and significant. But that would be my only problem.
All in all, I absolutely loved reading this book and would highly recommend it!
My only criticism would be that I wanted the character of Sissi to be present on pages more and developed more and deeper. To me, she felt almost like a shadow next to all the other so well done characters and her figure in the book is actually very important and significant. But that would be my only problem.
All in all, I absolutely loved reading this book and would highly recommend it!
Seems silly to give Dickens a rating! How can you rate genius?