Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol has had significant influence on our ideas about the Christmas spirit, and the season as a time for celebration, and charity.The story tells of sour,stingy,miser Ebenezer Scrooge, whose name is now synonymous with greed and parsimony,believes Christmas to be "humbug." Refusing to donate any of his fortune to the poor, and states "I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry." The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. However A Christmas Carol has proved one of his most well loved works. Written and published in early Victorian Era Britain, a period when there was both strong nostalgia for old Christmas traditions and an initiation of new practices such as Christmas trees and greeting cards.Dickens's sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales. The tale has been viewed by critics as an indictment of 19th-century industrial capitalism.It has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Birch Tree Publishing
• Seitenzahl: 86
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. Mai 2013
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 5mm
• Gewicht: 139g
• ISBN-13: 9781927558362
• ISBN-10: 1927558360
• Artikelnr.: 38544896

Autorenporträt

Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.[1] His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. 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 readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.[4][5] Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense.[6] The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback.[5] For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features.[7] His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives.[8] Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.[9] His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities (set in London and Paris) is his best-known work of historical fiction. The most famous celebrity of his era, he undertook, in response to public demand, a series of public reading tours in the later part of his career.[10] Dickens has been praised by many of his fellow writers-from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell, G. K. Chesterton, and Tom Wolfe-for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. However, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of sentimentalism.