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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Read this for one of my essays in Social History. A good novel about the social problems that arose during the industrialization in England.
One of Dickens shortest novels, and the one that took me the longest to get through. If I wasn't committed to reading his entire bibliography, I'd probably have abandoned it, unfinished.
challenging
emotional
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
Loved this book even more the second time I've read it. The names are just as fantastic as the plot. I love when college throws a good novel my way.
I remember crying in class when we finished this and the sadness still plagues me today :(
Praise for the work of Charles Dickens is hardly groundbreaking, new, or unexpected. But there is a reason for this and it is written clearly on every page of any of his books, even the ones that aren’t as commonly read in high schools across the country. There is a level of realism in all his works that helps create a believable balance, even in subject and time specific satires like Hard Times.
The Industrial Revolution changed the way people thought about how the world works and that translated to an educational machine that focused on the facts at hand and the ways they could be put to use to produce more efficiently functioning systems. In Hard Times, Charles Dickens takes this idea of a fact-focused education to an extreme, using it to demonstrate the necessity of imagination and the tragedy of a lacking that sustaining creative force.
For the complete review, visit my blog:
http://nightmaresdaydreamsandimaginedconversations.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/book-review-hard-times-by-charles-dickens/
The Industrial Revolution changed the way people thought about how the world works and that translated to an educational machine that focused on the facts at hand and the ways they could be put to use to produce more efficiently functioning systems. In Hard Times, Charles Dickens takes this idea of a fact-focused education to an extreme, using it to demonstrate the necessity of imagination and the tragedy of a lacking that sustaining creative force.
For the complete review, visit my blog:
http://nightmaresdaydreamsandimaginedconversations.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/book-review-hard-times-by-charles-dickens/
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ah, that's more like it... I've been on a bit of a Dickens binge recently, but found several of them, while good, were not as good as I'd been hoping. [b:David Copperfield|58696|David Copperfield|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461452762l/58696._SY75_.jpg|4711940] still stands proud at the top of my Dickens rankings...
After Hard Times that is still the case, but this one came far closer than the others I read this year have. Gradgrind and Bounderby are hilarious, and Mrs Sparsit is priceless!
While the setting is fictional, it would be very much at home here in Yorkshire (seriously, I've known several "Bounderbys" in the 22 years I've lived here!).
A lot of fun, and much less of a commitment time-wise than most of Dickens' other works.
After Hard Times that is still the case, but this one came far closer than the others I read this year have. Gradgrind and Bounderby are hilarious, and Mrs Sparsit is priceless!
While the setting is fictional, it would be very much at home here in Yorkshire (seriously, I've known several "Bounderbys" in the 22 years I've lived here!).
A lot of fun, and much less of a commitment time-wise than most of Dickens' other works.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Eh read it for school
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
charcoalville: the plight of the scab seeking divorce