Showing results by author "Charles Dickens" in All Categories

Dickens’s first novel, The Pickwick Papers was a huge success at the time of publication, and helped launch Dickens as the literary giant he is today. Originally serialised between 1836 and 1837, this comic and episodic tale follows the adventures of Samuel Pickwick and his companions. Together, they form the Pickwick Club, which aimed to gather scientific knowledge, investigating the curious customs of others and making general observations of their travels.

In a world torn apart by religious conflict, the Protestant Sir John Chester and the Catholic Geoffrey Haredale have been locked in a bitter feud for years. Mirroring the tragic romance of Romeo and Juliet, their children long to unite in marriage, but their families stand fiercely opposed. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1780, when an anti-Catholic mob wreaked havoc across London, this gripping tale weaves love and intrigue with the story of Barnaby, a simple young man who finds himself ensnared in a conflict he struggles to comprehend. (Brad Filippone)

Step into the turbulent world of 18th-century London with Charles Dickens historical novel, Barnaby Rudge. Set against the backdrop of the infamous Gordon riots of 1780, the story unfolds in 1775 as Barnaby, his mother, and their talking raven Grip flee from a blackmailer, seeking refuge. Meanwhile, Joe Willet is forced to abandon his home and the woman he adores to escape his fathers wrath. As the years pass, these characters, along with a host of others whose lives intertwine, find themselves swept up in the chaos of a violent Protestant uprising led by Sir George Gordon. With a mob swelling...

In a lively wayside tavern, local men gather to drink and exchange gossip, while a long-buried murder from a nearby mansion looms over the community. Enter Barnaby Rudge, a lovable yet simple-minded young man whose good nature draws people to him, even as his gullibility makes him a target for the unscrupulous. As he navigates a world filled with a talkative black raven, a London locksmith and his family, a man seemingly returned from the dead, an overly enthusiastic hangman, an anti-Catholic lord, a violent mob, and the British Militia, Barnaby’s journey raises the question can he escape ...

Charles Dickens was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. THE SHORT-TIMERS: Within so many yards of this Covent-garden lodging of mine, as within so many yards of Westminster Abbey, Saint Paul's Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, the Prisons, the Courts of Justice, all the Institutions that govern the land, I can find must find...

Through the story of Thomas Gradgrind, a strict, no-nonsense man who values "facts" above all else, Dickens explores the consequences of an education system that prioritizes logic and reason over imagination, emotion, and humanity. Gradgrind's rigid philosophy deeply affects his children and the lives of many others, including the innocent and idealistic Sissy Jupe, whose life is shaped by her connection to the circus and its emotional, colorful world.

A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman and Hall and first released on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

Robert Lindsay stars in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic novel by Charles Dickens. From the echo of the first line ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ to the final ‘It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done’, Dickens’...

After his father’s untimely death, Nicholas Nickleby is charged with supporting his mother and sister as he finds his way in the world. Broke, Nickleby goes to his maleficent uncle Ralph for help. The ruthless and resentful businessman appeases his nephew with a thankless position at a grim orphans’ home. Nickleby is swiftly conspired against, and the young man is forced to leave his family and London behind. Accompanied by colorful eccentrics and a rogues’ gallery of villains, Nickleby is tested at every turn on his journey home and to self-discovery.

This fine collection of intelligent, unabridged short stories about intriguing, interesting and sometimes inspirational men is an audio treat for young and old, male or female. A carefully compiled anthology featuring timeless tales from classic authors including Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anton Chekhov, read by a cast of acclaimed and respected actors, including Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis and Kerry Shale; this compilation will be enjoyed by the whole family.

In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.

Born and brought up in the appalling deprivation of the workhouse, the orphaned Oliver escapes and heads for London, only to fall into the hands of the notorious Fagin and his gang of child thieves. But Oliver is an innocent at heart, and the attempts by Fagin and the impudently witty Artful...

Slices of 19th-century London life from the pen of Charles Dickens. Here are 10 gloriously comic stories from Sketches by Boz, Charles Dickens's earliest collection of short pieces in which he honed his literary genius. Each tale is dramatised with a full cast. Cast and credits: written by Charles Dickens. Directed by Sally Avens. Starring Nicholas Farrell as Boz.

An astonishing collection of fifty of the greatest short stories ever written by some of literature's most highly acclaimed writers. 1. "Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D. H. Lawrence; 2. "Miss Harriet" by Guy de Maupassant; 3. "Twenty-six Men and a Girl" by Maxim Gorky; 4. "Hot Potatoes" by Arnold Bennett; 5. "Rats" by M. R. James; 6. "Zodomirsky’s Duel" by Alexandre Dumas; 7. "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; 8. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; 9. "The Encased Man" by Anton Chekhov.

Read by Juliet Stevenson and Simon Callow, A Literary Christmas is a seasonal anthology that collects together poems, short stories, and prose extracts by some of the greatest poets and writers in the English language. Like Charles Dickens’ ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, they are representative of times old and new - from John Donne’s Elizabethan hymn over the baby Jesus to Rudyard Kipling’s "Christmas in India", from Thomas Tusser counting the cost of a Tudor feast to Laurie Lee’s "Cider with Rosie".

Charles Dickens was a prolific writer of letters throughout his life. There are extant more than 13,000 letters that he wrote to friends, family, fellow authors, and actors as well as many letters written to people involved in good causes he espoused. In the hands of actor and writer Simon Callow, one of the most prominent Dickens interpreters of our time, this informative and entertaining selection shows Dickens in his many guises. We know Charles Dickens the author, but these letters offer a fascinating glimpse into Charles Dickens the man.

"The Battle of Life: A Love Story" is a novella by Charles Dickens, 1st published in 1846. It's the 4th of his five "Christmas Books", coming after "The Cricket on the Hearth", followed by "The Haunted Man & the Ghost's Bargain". The setting is an English village that stands on the site of a historic battle. Some characters refer to the battle as a metaphor for the struggles of life, hence the title.

Originally published in serial installments stretching from May 1849 through November 1850, the tale follows the titular David Copperfield throughout the course of his life in Victorian England. In parts a coming-of-age story, satire, and autobiographical novel, Dickens called David Copperfield ""a very complicated weaving of truth and invention""—as well as named it his favorite of his own works.

An einem kalten, verregneten Winterabend sitzt ein junger, erfolgloser Arzt in seiner Praxis, als plötzlich eine mysteriöse Frau erscheint. Ihr Gesicht ist unter einem dichten schwarzen Schleier verborgen, ihre Stimme zittert vor Verzweiflung. Sie bittet den Arzt um Hilfe für einen Patienten – doch es gibt einen verstörenden Haken: Der Mann, den er retten soll, ist noch gar nicht krank oder verletzt. Was als medizinischer Notfall beginnt, entwickelt sich zu einem psychologischen Albtraum über Schuld, Wahnsinn und das unausweichliche Schicksal.

This volume features William F Harvey's original undead hand story "The Beast with Five Fingers" that sparked many movies including Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead". Poe's classic "The Tell Tale Heart" is joined by Lovecraft's creepy tale of alienation "The Outsider", and a chilling Dickens ghost story "The Signalman".