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A review by rebelbelle13
Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Jeff Nunokawa, Gage McWeeny
3.0
Hard Times is rather typical of Dickens' style, in several ways; it is about Victorian England, it is dark and bleak, and most of the characters are miserable. In this particular story, Dickens focuses on the fictional Coketown, an industrial, factory-laden town, instead of London and its surrounding area. His setting, as always, is gorgeously described, likening the smokestacks to great elephants, and the smoke itself to a grand serpent. He also talks about the poor workers and how they toil and work in filth day after day without reprieve, and how they suffer and die without notice.
Dickens' other skill is with forming his characters. As usual, he gives them wonderful names- Gradgrind, M'choakemchild, Bounderby, Sparsit, etc. Their discourse and personal arcs are, truly, along with the setting, the backbone of Hard Times. The rest is just extra, and it truly reads that way. There's not much of a plot here, besides Gradgrind imposing facts instead of feelings upon his children, and their eventual suffering because of such an upbringing. The book reads like a rebuttal and argument against fact-only learning and the harsh conditions of the factories at the time. If you go into the novel expecting that, you won't be disappointed.
As it stands, it is an okay read, and one of Dickens' shortest. I would not recommend it as your first Dickens, as it's quite dry at times and not one of his best works.
Dickens' other skill is with forming his characters. As usual, he gives them wonderful names- Gradgrind, M'choakemchild, Bounderby, Sparsit, etc. Their discourse and personal arcs are, truly, along with the setting, the backbone of Hard Times. The rest is just extra, and it truly reads that way. There's not much of a plot here, besides Gradgrind imposing facts instead of feelings upon his children, and their eventual suffering because of such an upbringing. The book reads like a rebuttal and argument against fact-only learning and the harsh conditions of the factories at the time. If you go into the novel expecting that, you won't be disappointed.
As it stands, it is an okay read, and one of Dickens' shortest. I would not recommend it as your first Dickens, as it's quite dry at times and not one of his best works.