Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was the literary superstar who singlehandedly set the bar for popular fiction in the mid to late nineteenth century. As a result of his fame, Dickens was also in great demand as a speaker. This collection brings together dozens of the author's lectures and talks on topics ranging from the literature of the day to the toughest social issues.
42) Reprinted Pieces
43) Doctor Marigold
Craving some feel-good fiction? Curl up with Doctor Marigold, a heartwarming tale from the pen of beloved author Charles Dickens. The story follows the tragedies and triumphs of a street vendor who loses a child and then adopts a young deaf girl and raises her to adulthood. The story is both a masterpiece of social realism and a reminder of the inherent potential inside every person.
This charming collection of sketches from Victorian literary master Charles Dickens brings together a number of pieces that were originally published in various popular periodicals of the era. Most notable are the tales about the imaginary town of Mudfog, which detail, among other things, the political ascendancy and personal devolution of the town's mayor, as well as the lofty ambitions and intellectual pretensions of the town's scientific society.
...The "Christmas Story" (often a "Christmas Ghost Story") was a popular Victorian tradition. Charles Dickens, who surely needs no introduction today, took part with gusto, penning dozens of Christmas tales (the most famous being A Christmas Carol). We are delighted to include not just the standard fare of A Christmas Carol, but a total of 25 great stories (more than 1,000 pages!) Dickens penned for Yuletide reading in this volume. Included
...Though he is best remembered today as one of the most renowned novelists of the Victorian era, British author Charles Dickens was deeply engaged with the political and social debates of his time and often wrote essays and opinion pieces staking out his position in topical debates. In the essay "Sunday Under Three Heads," which Dickens originally published under a pseudonym, the writer argues in favor of the working classes having Sundays free to
...Nicholas Nickleby is left responsible for his mother and sister when his father dies. The novel follows his attempt to succeed in supporting them, despite his uncle Ralph's antagonistic lack of belief in him. It is one of Dickens' early comic novels.
Over the course of his career, Charles Dickens wrote a series of Christmas-themed short stories that were serialized in popular magazines of the era. The Holly Tree Inn, like many of these tales, reflects on the deeper meaning of the holiday, using the loneliness of the solitary traveler as a lens through which to examine society.
This story, one in Dickens' decades-long run of Christmas-themed tales, takes its name from a popular schoolyard game. It centers on a hermit who closes himself off from humanity as a result of painful childhood experiences — and his quest to gradually reconnect with the world around him.
The last major story that Dickens completed before his death, "George Silverman's Explanation" is something of a departure for the famed master of Victorian fiction. One of the rare tales Dickens wrote in the first person, the story is a narrative account of one man's horrific start in life, the ripples of which seem to fan out and negatively impact everything else that happens to him.
60) Mugby Junction
Though he ranked as the most popular Victorian-era novelist by far, Charles Dickens craved creative innovation and often collaborated with other writers of the era. This clever collection of collaborative stories written by Dickens and a who's-who of Victorian literary luminaries is a series of linked tales that all relate to railway travel in some way.