lunes, 31 de enero de 2011

Let's learn about Charles Dickens

"Everybody is aware of the faults of Dickens- his inability to construct a convincing plot, his clumsy and sometimes ungrammatical prose, his sentimentality, his lack of real characters in the Shakespearian sense- but he is read still, while more finished artists are neglected. The secret of his popularity lies in an immense vitality, comparable to Shakespeare's, which (...) creates a special Dickensian world which, if it does not resemble the real world, at least has its own logic and laws and its own special atmosphere.(...)The world created by Dickens is mainly a kind of nightmare London of chop-houses, prisons, lawywers' offices and taverns, dark, foggy,and cold, but very much alive.(...) he is concerned with the problems of crime and povery, but he does not seem to believe that matters can be improved by legislation or reforma movements-everything depends on the individual.(...)If he has a doctrine, it is one of love"
Anthony Burgess: English Literature,Longman,1989.
This review of A. Burgess helped me understand Dicken's work when I was a student because I found it quite hard to read endless novels about people suffering.As he stated Dickens is read by eveybody and everywhere because he created a world that may help us evade from our reality or perhaps it isn't differnt from our own world: I am sure you feel a sense of injustice like in most Dicken's novels.
I would like you to share with us what you know about Dickens, your feelings about his novels or tales and whether you agree or not with A. Burgess.