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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Bounderby was absolutely ridiculous. I don't understand why Gardgrind wanted Louisa to marry him. I also don't know why Louisa agreed to marry Bounderby when she is almost completely repelled by him. Dickens claims that it was Louisa's love of her brother, Tom (by far the most undeserving character in here as much as Bounderby annoyed me) that drove her to marry Bounderby. Tom doesn't deserve Louisa's loyalty. It earns him an apprenticeship with Bounderby. He's a scumbag who robs Bounderby's bank and then blames it on a poor factory worker, Stephen Blackpool, who can't defend himself.
Louisa falls in love with Harthhouse who isn't much better than Bounderby. He's slightly more age appropriate as he's in his thirties when she's twenty instead of her husband who's around fifty. He's sketchy in his own way because he's trying to get Louisa to betray her husband and become his lover. He suggests to Tom that he should rob the bank to distract him away from being near Louisa. Tom is stupid and follows what he believes is his friend's great advice. Louisa is already a married woman so all the blame for the non-affair falls upon her. They never get anywhere for Louisa pushes Harthhouse away but everyone acts as if a full fledged affair happened. She is shamed and forced to move back to her father's house. Honestly, I didn't like her story very much as she was pretty much forced into her situation both times. She was like 16 when she was married to Bounderby so you can't really convince me that she's completely responsible for her fate. Her father heavily suggested that she should marry his annoying friend since she didn't know what else to do, she accepted the proposal though it would do nothing for her.
I was able to predict most of the plot twists. I figured out who Bounderby's mother was long before she reveals herself. I thought it was very suspicious how Bounderby bragged about "being from the gutter" as he says so many times over. That wouldn't be something a person in classist Victorian England would be openly and proudly admitting about themselves if they were wealthy. Even being new money (someone who earned their own money by work rather than inheriting it) was stigmatized in some circles. Especially because Bounderby is the richest character (aside from maybe Harthouse) in the novel, so I thought it was very strange that he'd do this.
Dickens has two major themes in this work. One is that the rich are greedy and they will literally be the death of the poor. Stephen Blackpool, the man Tom scapegoats, ultimately pays for the wealthy man's greed with his life. He dies after being trapped in a mine shaft because he couldn't work anywhere else after his reputation was destroyed. Bounderby could have prevented Stephen's death but he fires Blackpool from his factory after he suspects him of dealing with the chartists who are almost violent in their protesting their poor working conditions (though it was more than fair for them to be outraged at the conditions under which they worked).
The second message is that an education without imagination is worthless. Gardgrind is a teacher who banishes wonder in his students, including his children, Tom and Louisa. His method of "Never Wonder" injures both of his children. Tom becomes a thief and Louisa is considered a shame for deserting her husband. Sissy Jupe, the circus orphan that Gardgrind adopts after her father abandons her, ends up being the happiest character because she never gives up her imagination and her hopes of her father's return.
I can appreciate Dickens' political views which were a bit radical in his day. I feel like his two messages about educational and class issues can still apply today. Our current era with it's severely polarized politics, reminds me a lot of what I read in Hard Times.
3.5 Stars out of 5
Louisa falls in love with Harthhouse who isn't much better than Bounderby. He's slightly more age appropriate as he's in his thirties when she's twenty instead of her husband who's around fifty. He's sketchy in his own way because he's trying to get Louisa to betray her husband and become his lover. He suggests to Tom that he should rob the bank to distract him away from being near Louisa. Tom is stupid and follows what he believes is his friend's great advice. Louisa is already a married woman so all the blame for the non-affair falls upon her. They never get anywhere for Louisa pushes Harthhouse away but everyone acts as if a full fledged affair happened. She is shamed and forced to move back to her father's house. Honestly, I didn't like her story very much as she was pretty much forced into her situation both times. She was like 16 when she was married to Bounderby so you can't really convince me that she's completely responsible for her fate. Her father heavily suggested that she should marry his annoying friend since she didn't know what else to do, she accepted the proposal though it would do nothing for her.
I was able to predict most of the plot twists. I figured out who Bounderby's mother was long before she reveals herself. I thought it was very suspicious how Bounderby bragged about "being from the gutter" as he says so many times over. That wouldn't be something a person in classist Victorian England would be openly and proudly admitting about themselves if they were wealthy. Even being new money (someone who earned their own money by work rather than inheriting it) was stigmatized in some circles. Especially because Bounderby is the richest character (aside from maybe Harthouse) in the novel, so I thought it was very strange that he'd do this.
Dickens has two major themes in this work. One is that the rich are greedy and they will literally be the death of the poor. Stephen Blackpool, the man Tom scapegoats, ultimately pays for the wealthy man's greed with his life. He dies after being trapped in a mine shaft because he couldn't work anywhere else after his reputation was destroyed. Bounderby could have prevented Stephen's death but he fires Blackpool from his factory after he suspects him of dealing with the chartists who are almost violent in their protesting their poor working conditions (though it was more than fair for them to be outraged at the conditions under which they worked).
The second message is that an education without imagination is worthless. Gardgrind is a teacher who banishes wonder in his students, including his children, Tom and Louisa. His method of "Never Wonder" injures both of his children. Tom becomes a thief and Louisa is considered a shame for deserting her husband. Sissy Jupe, the circus orphan that Gardgrind adopts after her father abandons her, ends up being the happiest character because she never gives up her imagination and her hopes of her father's return.
I can appreciate Dickens' political views which were a bit radical in his day. I feel like his two messages about educational and class issues can still apply today. Our current era with it's severely polarized politics, reminds me a lot of what I read in Hard Times.
3.5 Stars out of 5
The moral aim of this novel is certainly timeless. Virtue over value; imagination over fact. I'm left wanting to raise my hat to Dickens, the only sly smartass who could craft a character of the likes of one Josiah Bounderby.
3.0 out of 5 stars
They killed off one of my two favorite characters so a bit pissed about that
They killed off one of my two favorite characters so a bit pissed about that
Reseña pronto. Espero poder iluminarme y escribir una acorde al libro. Tengo varias cosas que explicar. No me pareció la historia más lúcida de Dickens. De hecho, me resultó desconcertante. La escritura sigue siendo espectacular, aunque está un poco más deslucida que en otros libros del mismo autor.
A Dickens without a happy ending? Not an improvement.
emotional
reflective
slow-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
It was Hard Times reading this, I can tell you that.
REALLY not my thing, but I had to read it for uni. And when I say read it, I mean read just 2 chapters and saying 'fuck it'
Bah. I'll watch the movie version. Me and classics don't mix.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-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
Good book. Like the slow turn of Gradgrind to being anti utilitarian, and the way that all the failures of utilitarianism are presented and contrasted in Louisa, Tom and Bitzer