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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
3.75 stars, maybe 3.5.
I love Charles Dickens, but I don't think this is his best work. So far, my favorites are Great Expectations and David Copperfield, but I still have several Dickens novels on my to-read list. Dickens is the total package - great writer and storyteller with excellent characterization and dialogue. I love how he excels at every aspect of writing. This is something I don't see often in modern writers. As an aspiring writer, there's so much I can learn from reading his novels. If you've never read Dickens before, I recommend that you start with one of the two I mentioned above.
I love Charles Dickens, but I don't think this is his best work. So far, my favorites are Great Expectations and David Copperfield, but I still have several Dickens novels on my to-read list. Dickens is the total package - great writer and storyteller with excellent characterization and dialogue. I love how he excels at every aspect of writing. This is something I don't see often in modern writers. As an aspiring writer, there's so much I can learn from reading his novels. If you've never read Dickens before, I recommend that you start with one of the two I mentioned above.
A good book on capitalism and how it’s affected the class divide - which would describe all of Dickens’s books. But I really enjoyed how it leaves you more conscious of your everyday actions and the opinion that to be kind is to win.
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
I had read Oliver Twist and Great Expectations when I was younger and didn't fully appreciate them, and then ATOTC earlier this year as an adult. I definitely feel like you can't fully appreciate Dickens in school so waiting later to continue his work was worth it because I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's his shortest novel by a mile, and originally published in parts in his magazine - which makes sense when you read it.
This was written in 1854 and the same year as a similar novel, North and South by Gaskell. I found it hard to stop myself comparing the two, especially as they were written at the same time and neither lived in the north of England where their novels were set.
Despite being his shortest novel, he was still able to craft a rounded and well-written story, and highlighted the conditions of towns in the light of industrialization and the social commentary gives a perfect picture of the lives and conditions of living of working-class people and the dehumanising and dominating power of utilitarianism during this period.
I'm a big fan of Dickens' use of satire and realism very much and it's largely what makes him so popular. The use of Facts against Reason throughout the book was very clever and subtly mocked this ideology. I liked the character variety in the book. They ranged from kind and goodhearted, to arrogant and immoral. I hated Gradgrind and Bounderby with a passion, and I really empathised with the struggles Loo, Sissy and Stephen went through individually. I felt engaged in the story and development of the characters, and I was able to understand the message throughout this book; that the failure of utilitarianism is inevitable.
This was written in 1854 and the same year as a similar novel, North and South by Gaskell. I found it hard to stop myself comparing the two, especially as they were written at the same time and neither lived in the north of England where their novels were set.
Despite being his shortest novel, he was still able to craft a rounded and well-written story, and highlighted the conditions of towns in the light of industrialization and the social commentary gives a perfect picture of the lives and conditions of living of working-class people and the dehumanising and dominating power of utilitarianism during this period.
I'm a big fan of Dickens' use of satire and realism very much and it's largely what makes him so popular. The use of Facts against Reason throughout the book was very clever and subtly mocked this ideology. I liked the character variety in the book. They ranged from kind and goodhearted, to arrogant and immoral. I hated Gradgrind and Bounderby with a passion, and I really empathised with the struggles Loo, Sissy and Stephen went through individually. I felt engaged in the story and development of the characters, and I was able to understand the message throughout this book; that the failure of utilitarianism is inevitable.
slow-paced
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the mind of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them." #rating - 4.5/5
#hardtimes by #charlesdickens
I bought this book in the Kolkata Book fair this year -
a. Because it's in my syllabus and
b. Because a friend recommended it to me.
I am glad that like so many other books, I didn't keep it on my tbr pile and took the pains to read it .
#hardtimes by #charlesdickens
I bought this book in the Kolkata Book fair this year -
a. Because it's in my syllabus and
b. Because a friend recommended it to me.
I am glad that like so many other books, I didn't keep it on my tbr pile and took the pains to read it .
*3,5 only for the sake of those final chapters*
‘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!’
I had to do a quick search when I started reading this book, because I could not believe this story came from the same man who wrote such wonderful prose and called it A Tale of Two Cities. But, since this was written before it, perhaps I can forgive the change from one book to another.
As I read this, it was soon fairly obvious that it was not going to be my favourite book of the month. I found it dragging at times (ha!--sorry), and most of the characters were truly annoying for my taste to care. Also, when two characters came into the picture, I knew I was not going to even try to enjoy what might be happening because I had such a hard time (double ha!--double sorry) understanding what it was they were even saying. I am sure this was done with the purpose of making the story more realistic, especially when it involves at its core the social-class structure of Victorian England. Nonetheless of it, the use of this resource did not help me like this book more.
But like it says at the start of my rating, it earned its good half a star with its final moments. They were the best part of the entire book and I can only wish the entirety of it could have been devoted to explore and expand more of what was happening as the book was closing down. What a shame.
‘I beg your pardon for interrupting you, sir,’ returned Bitzer; ‘but I am sure you know that the whole social system is a question of selfinterest. What you must always appeal to, is a person’s self-interest. It’s your only hold. We are so constituted. I was brought up in that catechism when I was very young, sir, as you are aware.’
Unlike A Tale of Two Cities, the female repertoire of this novel was the best part of it. I was quite surprised in finding such a varied cast of women, all different and all with their proper resolutions. There is this talk of writing strong female characters without having to make the mental assimilation of strength with the ability to use a gun properly. These women--or almost, all of them--were genuinely strong in their own ways, amidst their crude and inescapable social backgrounds. In a world where they do not get a vote or say, they still managed to be the ones left at a better stand from the most insufferable men.
Who, of all the people in the place, alone appeared to have compassion on a degraded, drunken wretch of her own sex, who was sometimes seen in the town secretly begging of her, and crying to
her; a woman working, ever working, but content to do it, and preferring to do it as her natural lot, until she should be too old to labour any more? Did Louisa see this? Such a thing was to be.
Louisa was the most confusing of them, and for it, the biggest shame. She was presented as this intelligent, serious and yet, still innocent girl. I was really rooting for her and I admired her decisions, almost to the very end. One would have expected for her to have her final moment of BAMF!ness by the end of it, smack that little brother of hers with a piece of reality where she will assert her new place and new understanding of life. One expected it; one missed it.
Regardless of this outcome, I would still rather spend my time reading about Louisa, and Sissy, and Rachael and even Mrs Sparsit, than to waste another moment reading about Mr Josiah Bounderby of Coketown ever again.
‘Pray don’t name it, sir,’ returned Mrs. Sparsit. ‘If that portrait could speak, sir - but it has the advantage over the original of not possessing the power of committing itself and disgusting others, - it would testify, that a long period has elapsed since I first habitually addressed it as the picture of a Noodle. Nothing that a Noodle does, can awaken surprise or indignation; the proceedings of a Noodle can only inspire contempt.’
And may I add... bitch at the end of that part.
‘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!’
I had to do a quick search when I started reading this book, because I could not believe this story came from the same man who wrote such wonderful prose and called it A Tale of Two Cities. But, since this was written before it, perhaps I can forgive the change from one book to another.
As I read this, it was soon fairly obvious that it was not going to be my favourite book of the month. I found it dragging at times (ha!--sorry), and most of the characters were truly annoying for my taste to care. Also, when two characters came into the picture, I knew I was not going to even try to enjoy what might be happening because I had such a hard time (double ha!--double sorry) understanding what it was they were even saying. I am sure this was done with the purpose of making the story more realistic, especially when it involves at its core the social-class structure of Victorian England. Nonetheless of it, the use of this resource did not help me like this book more.
But like it says at the start of my rating, it earned its good half a star with its final moments. They were the best part of the entire book and I can only wish the entirety of it could have been devoted to explore and expand more of what was happening as the book was closing down. What a shame.
‘I beg your pardon for interrupting you, sir,’ returned Bitzer; ‘but I am sure you know that the whole social system is a question of selfinterest. What you must always appeal to, is a person’s self-interest. It’s your only hold. We are so constituted. I was brought up in that catechism when I was very young, sir, as you are aware.’
Unlike A Tale of Two Cities, the female repertoire of this novel was the best part of it. I was quite surprised in finding such a varied cast of women, all different and all with their proper resolutions. There is this talk of writing strong female characters without having to make the mental assimilation of strength with the ability to use a gun properly. These women--or almost, all of them--were genuinely strong in their own ways, amidst their crude and inescapable social backgrounds. In a world where they do not get a vote or say, they still managed to be the ones left at a better stand from the most insufferable men.
Who, of all the people in the place, alone appeared to have compassion on a degraded, drunken wretch of her own sex, who was sometimes seen in the town secretly begging of her, and crying to
her; a woman working, ever working, but content to do it, and preferring to do it as her natural lot, until she should be too old to labour any more? Did Louisa see this? Such a thing was to be.
Louisa was the most confusing of them, and for it, the biggest shame. She was presented as this intelligent, serious and yet, still innocent girl. I was really rooting for her and I admired her decisions, almost to the very end. One would have expected for her to have her final moment of BAMF!ness by the end of it, smack that little brother of hers with a piece of reality where she will assert her new place and new understanding of life. One expected it; one missed it.
Regardless of this outcome, I would still rather spend my time reading about Louisa, and Sissy, and Rachael and even Mrs Sparsit, than to waste another moment reading about Mr Josiah Bounderby of Coketown ever again.
‘Pray don’t name it, sir,’ returned Mrs. Sparsit. ‘If that portrait could speak, sir - but it has the advantage over the original of not possessing the power of committing itself and disgusting others, - it would testify, that a long period has elapsed since I first habitually addressed it as the picture of a Noodle. Nothing that a Noodle does, can awaken surprise or indignation; the proceedings of a Noodle can only inspire contempt.’
And may I add... bitch at the end of that part.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes