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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
This story is somewhat different from Charles Dickens' other stories. It is set in an imaginary city (Coketown) and is a dark and sad story of people's daily struggles in an industrial era. Where beauty and love is replaced by smoke and grime. There are the usual Dickens' characters, with their ironic names, such as Gradgrind, M'Choakumchild and Bounderby...The ending is neither happy nor sad and it is practically a Dickensian ending "reap what you sow".
There is a paragraph in the conversation between Mr. Gradgrind and his daughter Louisa the second time they talk in his study, which touched me deeply.
Louisa to her father: 'How could you give me life, and take from me all the inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done, O father, what have you done, with the garden that should have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here!'
There is a paragraph in the conversation between Mr. Gradgrind and his daughter Louisa the second time they talk in his study, which touched me deeply.
Louisa to her father: 'How could you give me life, and take from me all the inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done, O father, what have you done, with the garden that should have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here!'
Me encantó el giro final y definitivamente no lo esperaba. Ciertamente seguimos viviendo en Tiempos difíciles.
If you don’t like repetitively banging your head against a wall- this book is not for you. In all honesty, I can say that this is without a doubt, the worst book I have ever read. The rating I have given being one star, was rather generous because I think it deserved negative five. Maybe this sort of plot was popular in 1854 and audiences felt they could relate to it but the only thing I found relatable was the students disliking towards Mr. Gradgrind. The writing, while somewhat elaborate, was persistently trying to spark your interest at absolutely nothing. I tried time after time to find something that intrigued me but was let down so many times by Charles Dickens. Some of Dickens’s works may be great and profound but from this experience alone I am EXTREMELY hesitant to give his other works a chance. The number of times I wanted to throw this book against a wall or rip it into shreds was too high to count. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of absolute dread and boredom I had while reading this book. I found the title extremely comical because it described in few words, my experience reading this book. The only time it may be of use to anyone is if they are desperately trying to fall asleep. In that case, Hard Times may come in handy but other than that I can’t think of a time where it should be read. Please save yourself 389 pages of pure misery and don’t read this book. Just don’t.
John Ruskin declared Hard Times Dickens' best novel. It is worth asking why this was Ruskin's opinion since he would have been the first to recognize that comparing works of art with each other and discussing which is the best is a sportsman's habit, not a judge of enlightened art. Let us understand that Ruskin meant Hard Times was one of his favorites among Dickens's books. Was it a whim of taste? Or is there another rational explanation for the preference? I think so.
Excerpt from the Introduction to Hard Times, in 1911 by Bernard Shaw.
In this very committed novel, but also profoundly moving (from my point of view, in any case), Charles Dickens denounces, beyond the living conditions of the workers of the first mechanized spinning mills in the North of England, the Industrial Revolution in his outfit. This historical process was not content with modifying the landscapes, the scales, and the ways of living, thinking, and producing; it simply replaced them with others, without resemblances or standard measures with the landscapes, the scales, and the ways of living, thinking, and producing of the agricultural and artisanal age that preceded. In this way, the Industrial Revolution was a fundamental change of civilization. A shift in civilization of such brutality that the sky adopted another color, the earth no longer had the same consistency or the same relief, and the two no longer joined on the same line as before. Before that, the air changed its smell and density, and disoriented men and women experienced the most difficulty adapting to the furiously utilitarian, madly materialistic, hideously disfigured world they had created. In this respect, Difficult Times is undoubtedly among the first novels describing the Anthropocene.
These proletarians and these bourgeois who were born in the space of a handful of years were all individuals thrown into the unknown at the speed of throwing stones. Of course, they did not all land in the same place. Still, whatever their point of fall, all had been forced to conceive new ways of living or surviving in this new world; all had to reinvent themselves as human beings in this society dedicated to machinery, perpetual motion, and profitability; everyone had to find justifications or explanations for their existence as rich or poor. It is the stories of some of these men and women that Dickens tells us in this dark social novel, which, beyond its biting irony and its virulent criticism of a greedy, contemptuous bourgeoisie sure of its good right (but also of a working class that is too gullible and easily influenced), is also a plea in favor of imagination and fantasy.
It would seem that Hard Times was the subject, for various reasons, of numerous negative reviews, whether at the time of its publication or more recently. It is profoundly different from the author's previous great novels, if only because it is or seems more austere, more desperate, and we do not find as many truculent characters as usual, but I loved it. All the more adored because it could be that the questions he asks about the thirst for power, the taste for profit, economic alienation, or education have lost none of their relevance since 1854.
Excerpt from the Introduction to Hard Times, in 1911 by Bernard Shaw.
In this very committed novel, but also profoundly moving (from my point of view, in any case), Charles Dickens denounces, beyond the living conditions of the workers of the first mechanized spinning mills in the North of England, the Industrial Revolution in his outfit. This historical process was not content with modifying the landscapes, the scales, and the ways of living, thinking, and producing; it simply replaced them with others, without resemblances or standard measures with the landscapes, the scales, and the ways of living, thinking, and producing of the agricultural and artisanal age that preceded. In this way, the Industrial Revolution was a fundamental change of civilization. A shift in civilization of such brutality that the sky adopted another color, the earth no longer had the same consistency or the same relief, and the two no longer joined on the same line as before. Before that, the air changed its smell and density, and disoriented men and women experienced the most difficulty adapting to the furiously utilitarian, madly materialistic, hideously disfigured world they had created. In this respect, Difficult Times is undoubtedly among the first novels describing the Anthropocene.
These proletarians and these bourgeois who were born in the space of a handful of years were all individuals thrown into the unknown at the speed of throwing stones. Of course, they did not all land in the same place. Still, whatever their point of fall, all had been forced to conceive new ways of living or surviving in this new world; all had to reinvent themselves as human beings in this society dedicated to machinery, perpetual motion, and profitability; everyone had to find justifications or explanations for their existence as rich or poor. It is the stories of some of these men and women that Dickens tells us in this dark social novel, which, beyond its biting irony and its virulent criticism of a greedy, contemptuous bourgeoisie sure of its good right (but also of a working class that is too gullible and easily influenced), is also a plea in favor of imagination and fantasy.
It would seem that Hard Times was the subject, for various reasons, of numerous negative reviews, whether at the time of its publication or more recently. It is profoundly different from the author's previous great novels, if only because it is or seems more austere, more desperate, and we do not find as many truculent characters as usual, but I loved it. All the more adored because it could be that the questions he asks about the thirst for power, the taste for profit, economic alienation, or education have lost none of their relevance since 1854.
slow-paced
The first book I have ever given zero star rating.
had a Hard Time not reverting to illiteracy after reading this
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Encontré personalmente este libro aburrido. El marco socioeconómico en el que está situado está un tanto caricaturizado como para que resuene demasiado conmigo. Supongo que ahora que se conoce tanto sobre los percances que tuvo la revolución industrial, el libro perdió algo de relevancia.
De todas formas, siempre dirijo mi apego a los personajes al leer algo; pero en este caso terminé también insatisfecho. Los villanos de Charles Dickens son siempre de lo más desagradable: charlatanes, clasistas, corruptos e hipócritas. No es algo que esté mal. Lo que sucede es que no me resulta una lectura placentera, y en esta historia éstos son los que mayormente mueven la trama. Tenía enormes expectativas respecto a Luisa o Ceci, quienes, al final, jamás salieron de su rol de víctima.
Supongo que prefiero las historias donde los héroes tengan mayores riendas sobre su destino. No que sean perfectos o que tengan todo el camino allanado, sino que sean activos.
De todas formas, siempre dirijo mi apego a los personajes al leer algo; pero en este caso terminé también insatisfecho. Los villanos de Charles Dickens son siempre de lo más desagradable: charlatanes, clasistas, corruptos e hipócritas. No es algo que esté mal. Lo que sucede es que no me resulta una lectura placentera, y en esta historia éstos son los que mayormente mueven la trama. Tenía enormes expectativas respecto a Luisa o Ceci, quienes, al final, jamás salieron de su rol de víctima.
Supongo que prefiero las historias donde los héroes tengan mayores riendas sobre su destino. No que sean perfectos o que tengan todo el camino allanado, sino que sean activos.
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes