A Tale of Two Cities
Against the backdrop of the French Revolution, Dickens unfolds a masterpiece of
drama, adventure, and courage featuring Charles Darnay, a man falsely accused of
treason. He bears an uncanny resemblance to the dissolute, yet noble Sydney
Carton. Brilliantly plotted, the novel culminates in a daring prison escape in the
shadow of the guillotine.
Great Expectations
Humbled, orphaned Pip is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to
dream of becoming a gentleman — and one day he finds himself in possession of
"great expectations." One of Dickens' finest novels, this is a gripping tale of crime
and guilt, revenge and reward.
An absorbing mystery as well as a morality tale, the story of Pip, a poor village lad,
and his expectations of wealth is Dickens at his most deliciously readable. The cast of
characters includes kindly Joe Gargery, the loyal convict Abel Magwitch and the
haunting Miss Havisham. If you have heartstrings, count on them being tugged. A
young man's burning desire to fulfill his "great expectations" of fame and fortune is
presented in Charles Dickens's classic tale of love, madness, forgiveness, and
redemption. Simon Vance's masterful narration brings to life such diverse
personalities as Miss Havisham, the old woman who was abandoned on her wedding
day and is determined to wreak revenge through her beautiful adopted daughter
Estella; Joe, Pip's lumbering and slow-witted, but emotionally wise and faithful
friend; the mysterious Magwitch, a convict who turns out to be Pip's financial
benefactor; and Pip, the boy who longs for a destiny greater than that of living out
his days as a blacksmith's apprentice.
Bleak House
It is at once a complex mystery story that fully engages the reader in the work of
detection, and an unforgettable indictment of an indifferent society. Its
representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay,
draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. But it is his symbolic art
that projects these things in a vision that embraces black comedy, cosmic farce, and
tragic ruin. In a unique creative experiment, Dickens divides the narrative between
his heroine, Esther Summerson, who is psychologically interesting in her own right,
and an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements and challenges hers.
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. 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. 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.
David Copperfield
Growing up is never easy--especially if your name happens to be David Copperfield.
Orphaned as an infant, David must suffer the privation and cruelties of his evil
stepfather, Mr. Murdstone--who packs David away to a workhouse at the age of ten!
a trusting but vulnerable boy and practically alone in the world, David finds himself
time after time at the mercy of a rogue's gallery of characters: the dashing but
deceitful Steerforth, the detestable clerk Uriah Heep, and, last but not least, the
beautiful but ditzy Dora. With friends like these it's a miracle that David grows up at
all!
The Pickwick Papers
A comic masterpiece that catapulted its twenty-four-year-old author to immediate
fame. Readers were captivated by the adventures of the poet Snodgrass, the lover
Tupman, the sportsman Winkle and, above all, by that quintessentially English
Quixote, Mr Pickwick, and his cockney Sancho Panza, Sam Weller. From the hallowed
turf of Dingley Dell Cricket Club to the unholy fracas of the Eatanswill election, via
the Fleet debtor’s prison, characters and incidents sprang to life from Dickens’s pen,
to form an enduringly popular work of ebullient humour and literary invention.
Nicholas Nickleby
byThe social axe that Dickens had to grind in this story is man's injustice to children.
Modern readers my feel that his depiction of Dotheboys Academy is too
melodramatic. Alas, unfortunately, it was all too real. Charles Dickens helped create
a world where we can't believe that such things happen. Dickens even tell us in an
introduction that several Yorkshire schoolmasters were sure that Wackford Squeers
was based on them and threatened legal action.
The plot of Nicholas Nickleby is a miracle of invention. It is nothing more than a
series of adventures, in which Nicholas tries to make his way in the world, separate
himself from his evil uncle, and try to provide for his mother and sister.
The Old Curiosity Shop
Described as a "tragedy of sorrows", this story tells of a girl uprooted from a secure and
innocent childhood. Cast into a world where evil takes many shapes, little Nell meets the
stunted, lecherous Quilp, whose demonic energy dominates the book. Sometimes
fairytale and sometimes myth, this is Victorian life at its most bleak. Nell is on her way
home to the dusty shop where she and her grandfather live a rather mysterious life. The
old man disappears every night--visiting gambling dens with the naive hope of winning a
fortune. Instead he sinks deeper and deeper into debt. Enter Daniel Quilp, moneylender,
who becomes furious upon learning that the grandfather is a pauper and will never be
able to repay his tremendous debt. Quilp seizes the curiosity shop and begins making
lecherous overtures to Nell, so she and her grandfather steal away one morning to seek
their fortunes elsewhere. But the demonic dwarf is never far behind.