Hard Times Pdf Summary
“My satire is against those who see figures and averages, and nothing else,” proclaimed Charles Dickens in explaining the theme of this classic novel. Published in 1854, the story concerns one Thomas Gradgrind, a “fanatic of the demonstrable fact,” who raises his children, Tom and Louisa, in a stifling and arid atmosphere of grim practicality.
Without a moral compass to guide them, the children sink into lives of desperation and despair, played out against the grim background of Coketown, a wretched community shadowed by an industrial behemoth. Louisa falls into a loveless marriage with Josiah Bouderby, a vulgar banker, while the unscrupulous Tom, totally lacking in principle, becomes a thief who frames an innocent man for his crime. Witnessing the degradation and downfall of his children, Gradgrind realizes that his own misguided principles have ruined their lives.
Considered Dickens’ harshest indictment of mid-19th-century industrial practices and their dehumanizing effects, this novel offers a fascinating tapestry of Victorian life, filled with the richness of detail, brilliant characterization, and passionate social concern that typify the novelist’s finest creations.
Of Dickens’ work, the eminent Victorian critic John Ruskin had this to say: “He is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially Hard Times, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions.”
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About Charles Dicken Author of Hard Times Pdf Book
The author of a Hard Times pdf Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist. In 1833 he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of Pickwick Papers. Thereafter, Dickens published his major novels over the course of the next twenty years, from Nicholas Nickleby to Little Dorrit. He also edited the journals Household Words and All the Year Round. Dickens died in June 1870.
Hard Times pdf, Paperback, Hardcover Book Information
- Publisher : Pearson; 1st edition (October 9, 2003)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0321107217
- ISBN-13 : 978-0321107213
- Reading age : 4 – 9 years
- Lexile measure : 750L
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,640,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,197 in English Literature
- #2,734 in British & Irish Literary Criticism (Books)
- #11,016 in Literary Criticism & Theory
- Customer Reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,208 ratings
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