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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
The first chapter of this book really captured my attention, the rest however fell a little flat. I didn't really feel anything for the characters, or understand what was happening at times. That could be because Dickens tends to be quite wordy, or that I didn't give this book the attention it deserved as I was so sporadic while reading.
One of my favorite Dickens novels--and,what a coincidence,the shortest! He definitely has an axe to grind in this, what with naming teachers "Gradgrind" and whatnot, but when I first read it in 8th grade or so, I was in full support of his attack on rote teaching and defense of the noble poor. And once I love a book, it's hard to ever re-evaluate, because of the impact it had at the time.
I read up until 50% then skimmed to the end since you can pretty much tell where everything was going.
Okay, I've decided to quit on page 98. It's a good book and it talks about a lot of important societal issues from the industrial revolution, some of which are still relevant today...but I'm honestly not enjoying myself, so whatever. I give up. I have better things to do and books I'll enjoy to read.
This is the first Dicken's novel I've read. I'm really not disappointed. Dickens depicts vividly The Victorian England of 1854, the year Dickens published Hard Times, when half the people lived in towns and cities and machines replaced many tasks formely performed by hand; the consequences of the Industrial Revolution. Dickens focuses on the evils of the Industrial system, but education remains a major theme in the novel. A gripping Victorian read.