Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
It took me a lot longer to get into this than A Tale Of Two Cities, but I did end up enjoying it. Bit sentimental at times, especially where the younger women are concerned. Other than that, glad I read it!
7/10. I actually liked this more than I was expecting. It was nice to read Dickens on the shorter side... this being his shortest novel (although he has a rather famous novella *wink*). The characters were just as marvelous and just as perfectly named as I would expect. I think he did many things in this which he did better in his other books or I may have gone up a star.
This is definitely, for me, Charles Dickens' best writing ever. The philosophical tumult that flows through the Gadgrind family affecting not only them but others surrounding them is unparalleled. Character development has always been Dickens' strong suit and it holds true more than ever during Hard Times.
slow-paced
DNFed about 15% in, I wanted to like this. This was my first foray into Dickens as I wanted somethin short. I did like his writing style, but the characters and story werent gripping me. So I'll still try some of his more well known works and maybe I'll come back to this if I enjoy those
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
The beginning was the hardest thing to read and the ending was super easy and i did suffer reading Stephen death i do think louisa is either lesbian or ace but that was interesting. I wouldn't recommend reading this if not necessary like my case
Dickens hasn't done all that much for me yet. His characters and plotting strike me as unconvincing, his wordy circus prose is gratuitous and usually lacking the twinkly endearment found in any garrulous Hardy or Trollope passage, and he can be irritatingly overt in trying to show you how clever and funny he is. He certainly is clever, and can be funny too, but at the expense of any sort of humility or ingenuous warmth. In saying all this, I did quite like A Tale of Two Cities, and Hard Times does have a few nice moments, but it did largely fall flat for me. I'm not going to give up on Dickens yet, though - his reputation certainly commands me to give his works some more attention, and I certainly have plenty to choose from.