His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.ĭickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.ĭickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison.

His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius.

Guppy.Ĭharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Listeners must pay close attention in order to keep up with the multiple narratives and cast of curious characters, including the memorable Inspector Bucket and Mr. However, to abridge Dickens is, well, a Dickensian task, the results of which make for a story in which the author's convoluted plot lines and twists of fate play out in what seems to be a fast-forward format. The articulate reading by the acclaimed British actor Paul Scofield, whose distinctive broad English accent lends just the right degree of sonority and humor to the text, brings out the color in this classic social commentary disguised as a Victorian drama. The first-person narrative related by the orphan Esther is particularly sweet. Likewise, the characters run from murderous villains to virtuous girls, from a devoted lover to a 'fallen woman,' all of whom are affected by a legal suit in which there will, of course, be no winner. Dickens's tale takes us from the foggy dank streets of London and the maze of the Inns of Court to the peaceful countryside of England. Bleak House is a satirical look at the Byzantine legal system in London as it consumes the minds and talents of the greedy and nearly destroys the lives of innocents-a contemporary tale indeed.

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