Dickens – Cannonball Read 17

Hard Times for These Times

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

November 30, 2020 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

So, Hard Times. Or to give the book its full title, Hard Times for These Times. And has there ever been a more perfect title for These Days? If you are unfamiliar with Charles Dickens, besides, perhaps, A Christmas Carol, there are a few things you ought to know about the man. The man is, nearly always, On A Mission. (OK, the Pickwick Papers is just plain fun.) He’s from the Victorian era, newspapers have just been, more or less, invented, and his books are […]

This reimagining just doesn’t do justice to the old classic

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

December 14, 2019 by KimMiE" Leave a Comment

Almost every year I’ll take a time-out from holiday mayhem and revisit A Christmas Carol. I was reluctant to review it for CBR, though, because I did that already, back in 2014. So I hit the internet and searched for something Christmas-related that I hadn’t read before and found Mr. Dickens and His Carol on several lists of best Christmas books. Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a fictional account of how Dickens came to write that famous Christmas ghost story. A few details do come […]

An Artful Novel

December 30, 2014 by Walking Widdershins Leave a Comment

So Dickens chose to write about Oliver Twist, the cherubic little orphan lost in the big bad world. But I think we all know who the more interesting character is – Jack Dawkins, otherwise known as the Artful Dodger. In fact, that’s how the book starts: the preface “reintroduces us to the acclaimed Mr. Jack Dawkins, known to sundry as the Artful Dodger, and laments the inattention paid him as compared to more simpering examples of the day.” The author goes on to explain why […]

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

October 30, 2014 by reginadelmar Leave a Comment

As I read Great Expectations a lot of questions popped up for me. Do people struggle through some of this old language like I am doing? Is this book still relevant, or is it a quaint morality tale belonging to 19th century England? What was Dicken’s own stance on class? And, was Helena Bonham Carter’s portrayal of Miss Haversham over the top? (I haven’t seen the film adaptation, a friend described her performance as contained). I actually had a heavily annotated edition of the book, […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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