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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
It was a challenging story to get accustomed to, since I had extremely high expectations for Charles Dickens. I was completely enthralled by the characters, and see some factual resemblance in the way the scene was set during that time and our everyday lives, in comparison to the present. The ending was a banger.
It's not a literary masterpiece, with each character embodying "type", and thus to some extent lacking individual identity. The poors are rather too romanticized, the industrialist rather too phony, the women remarkably chaste - it's all a little superficial. That said, the society that's pictured, and the categories that are characterized, are obviously of great historical significance, embodying some key things about the industrial revolution.
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read for a European Cultural History class. I like the ways the characters and plots are interconnected and I find the relationship between Stephen and Rachael especially heartwarming. There's a lot to love in this book about the perils of industrialism and the modern world. This is Dickens' shortest novel, but my god, it goes. on. forever. He loves to give every character these drawn-out speeches to make a point when two sentences would've done just fine. That said, I like the writing style in general and the humor is subtle and funny. I probably wouldn't have read Hard Times on my own, but I definitely enjoyed it.
To me, Hard Times is an angry novel, a novel written as a warning to a certain state of mind. Overall, Charles Dickens attempted, and succeeded, in showing to us how a ruthless worship of a cold life unsoftened by emotion, and how society as a whole with that same attitude, would fail and lose itself. Tom and Louisa were warnings. In fact - spoiler alert! - this was an atypically tragic book. People who were consistently good or repentant in the end did not get a good ending, unlike most Charles Dickens novel. The ending was honest and unsoftened by miracles.
Louisa's character was a masterpiece. To predict so realistically how her childhood would affect her and who she would become was not an easy feat, and he bloody well did it. Tom was also well-built in the same context, though not in so much detail as Louisa. The other characters were all rich and well-done, even the slightly idealized working people, Stephen and Rachael. Sissy was the typically golden heroine, but even she was believable. And she became a necessary, effective contrast to Louisa. James Harthouse reminds me of Dorian Grey and he was also detailed and realistic (doesn't mean I like him. Blegh!).
And through that strong warning against self-interested philosophy, there were subtler fingers pointing to other things: the value of art, environmental awareness (through vivid descriptions of industrial pollution), aristocratic vices, political problems (governmental inefficiency, problems in laws, workers' associations), the wealth gap and other societal problems.
The setting is very important here. The heavily polluted town and the factories which from outside seem ironically like fairy palaces sort of reflect the story in its gloominess. The tone of the novel is much more darker than in other Dickens' novels. The usual light-hearted ironical tone when criticizing things is present often here, but its mostly more serious and emphasized. This novel probably meant a lot to Charles Dickens. He was making a very pointed, focused statement with it.
I guess the only flaw I see is one that annoys me in all his books - the characters' appearances reflect their personalities. Although even in this point there are exceptions here - James Harthouse(the vile ass, reminds me of Dorian Grey, whom I also hate) and Mrs. Sparsit.
In a nutshell, I love this book.
Louisa's character was a masterpiece. To predict so realistically how her childhood would affect her and who she would become was not an easy feat, and he bloody well did it. Tom was also well-built in the same context, though not in so much detail as Louisa. The other characters were all rich and well-done, even the slightly idealized working people, Stephen and Rachael. Sissy was the typically golden heroine, but even she was believable. And she became a necessary, effective contrast to Louisa. James Harthouse reminds me of Dorian Grey and he was also detailed and realistic (doesn't mean I like him. Blegh!).
And through that strong warning against self-interested philosophy, there were subtler fingers pointing to other things: the value of art, environmental awareness (through vivid descriptions of industrial pollution), aristocratic vices, political problems (governmental inefficiency, problems in laws, workers' associations), the wealth gap and other societal problems.
The setting is very important here. The heavily polluted town and the factories which from outside seem ironically like fairy palaces sort of reflect the story in its gloominess. The tone of the novel is much more darker than in other Dickens' novels. The usual light-hearted ironical tone when criticizing things is present often here, but its mostly more serious and emphasized. This novel probably meant a lot to Charles Dickens. He was making a very pointed, focused statement with it.
I guess the only flaw I see is one that annoys me in all his books - the characters' appearances reflect their personalities. Although even in this point there are exceptions here - James Harthouse(the vile ass, reminds me of Dorian Grey, whom I also hate) and Mrs. Sparsit.
In a nutshell, I love this book.
The eminent Victorian critic John Ruskin had this to say about this book :
"He is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially Hard Times, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions."
Such an enjoyable read, one that I am sure I will love even more on a reread.
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
It was barely daybreak, when, with a parting look round his room, mournfully wondering whether he should ever see it, again, he went out. The town was entirely deserted as if the inhabitants had abandoned it, rather than hold communication with him. Everything looked wan at that hour. Even the coming sun made but a pale waste in the sky, like a sad sea.
By the place where Rachael lived, though it was not in his way, by the red brick streets; by the great silent factories, not trembling yet; by the railway, where the danger-lights were waning in the strengthening day; by the railway's crazy neighbourhood, half pulled down and half built up; by scattered red brick villas, where the besmoked evergreens were sprinkled with a dirty powder, like untidy snuff-takers; by coal dust paths and many varieties of ugliness; Stephen got to the top of the hill, and looked back.
Day was shining, radiantly upon the town then, and the bells were going for the morning work. Domestic fires were not yet lighted, and the high chimneys had the sky to themselves. Puffing out their poisonous volumes, they would not be long in hiding it; but, for half an hour, some of the many windows were golden, which showed the Coketown people a sun eternally in eclipse, through a medium of smoked glass.
So strange to turn from chimneys to the birds. So strange to have the road-dust on his feet instead of the coal-grit. So strange to have lived to his time of life, and yet to be beginning like a boy this summer morning! With these musings in his mind, and his bundle under his arm, Stephen took his attentive face along the high road. And the trees arched over him, whispering that he left a true and loving heart behind.
By the place where Rachael lived, though it was not in his way, by the red brick streets; by the great silent factories, not trembling yet; by the railway, where the danger-lights were waning in the strengthening day; by the railway's crazy neighbourhood, half pulled down and half built up; by scattered red brick villas, where the besmoked evergreens were sprinkled with a dirty powder, like untidy snuff-takers; by coal dust paths and many varieties of ugliness; Stephen got to the top of the hill, and looked back.
Day was shining, radiantly upon the town then, and the bells were going for the morning work. Domestic fires were not yet lighted, and the high chimneys had the sky to themselves. Puffing out their poisonous volumes, they would not be long in hiding it; but, for half an hour, some of the many windows were golden, which showed the Coketown people a sun eternally in eclipse, through a medium of smoked glass.
So strange to turn from chimneys to the birds. So strange to have the road-dust on his feet instead of the coal-grit. So strange to have lived to his time of life, and yet to be beginning like a boy this summer morning! With these musings in his mind, and his bundle under his arm, Stephen took his attentive face along the high road. And the trees arched over him, whispering that he left a true and loving heart behind.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
No voy a puntuarlo, porque me ha gustado tan poco que no merece puntuación. No he conectado con los personajes, la historia ni el ambiente. La narración del autor me parece lenta y muy poco interesante. Las críticas hacia la sociedad, aunque tienen buenas intenciones, quedan muy poco elaboradas y simples. No hay casi plot (???), solo una sucesión de escenas conectadas entre ellas y un final abrupto. Louisa y Sissy son lo único que salvaría de la novela. En definitiva, me ha defraudado mucho y esperaba mucho más del autor, aunque le daré otra oportunidad.
(jamás había tardado tanto en leer un libro de 240 páginas)
(jamás había tardado tanto en leer un libro de 240 páginas)