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A review by aayjaysbookshelf
Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Jeff Nunokawa, Gage McWeeny
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
My first proper Dickens read, so it took me a while to get the hang of it. Once I did, and through the help of Sparknotes, I really really enjoyed it. The more you think about it, the more you realise what an intelligently written book it is. Based in a fictional 17th century UK town, the book has the recurring theme of the war between fact Vs fiction. It touches on topics like hierarchy, social mobility, industrialization in the Victorian era, the class system, poverty and the likes. Although Dickens characters are mainly written in a black and white format i.e. the characters being either all good or all bad, but through the character of Louisa, Gradgrind and even Tom, Dickens explores also the grey areas of a human being. My favourite part of the book has to be the intelligent categorization of it into three parts and the individual names of the chapters. Charles Dickens has a clever way of navigating readers into thinking along his lines, giving the characters a sympathetic touch where he wants to evoke pity for them, and a cunning one where he wants to evoke disdain for them, without being too obvious about it. The storyline is really good as well, with each character and part of the story getting its due conclusion and no loose ends being left.
All in all, a good read. A very impactful insight into the 17th century England and the documentation of the advent of industrialization and the succumbing of agriculture and the old ways of life to it. The general mood of the novel is a melancholic one, and has been kept so intentionally to reflect the greyness and dullness the wave of industrialization brought with it. Highly recommend reading the Sparks note summary along with it to understand it better.
All in all, a good read. A very impactful insight into the 17th century England and the documentation of the advent of industrialization and the succumbing of agriculture and the old ways of life to it. The general mood of the novel is a melancholic one, and has been kept so intentionally to reflect the greyness and dullness the wave of industrialization brought with it. Highly recommend reading the Sparks note summary along with it to understand it better.