Dickens Library (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

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Beloved by readers the world over, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the second of eight children in a family burdened with financial troubles. Despite difficult early years, he went on to become the most successful British writer of the Victorian age -- and possibly the greatest novelist England ever produced. Drawing on his own life experiences as well as things he witnessed as a young Parliamentary reporter, he created some of the most repugnant villains in literature, as well as some of the most likeable (and unlikely) heroes.

Now you can dip into Dickens’s gallery of characters with this specially priced set of eight novels spanning his extraordinary writing career:

Oliver Twist (1837-38)
Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39)
A Christmas Carol (1843)
David Copperfield (1849-50)
Bleak House (1852-53)
Hard Times (1854)
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
Great Expectations (1860-61)

Renowned as much as for their detailed depictions of the social conditions of the day as for their vivid characters, Dickens's novels were rooted in his keen sense of the need for social reforms. But it was his vivid characterizations and intricate plots that turned his sympathies into enduring art. Dickens's friend and biographer, John Forster, observed that Dickens made "characters real existences, not by describing them but by letting them describe themselves." T. S. Eliot commented that "Dickens's figures belong to poetry, like figures of Dante or Shakespeare, in that a single phrase, either by them or about them, may be enough to set them wholly before us."

The Barnes & Noble Classics series offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:

New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
Biographies of the authors
Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
Footnotes and endnotes
Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
Comments by other famous authors
Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
Bibliographies for further reading
Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781400500383
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Publication date: 11/4/2009
Series: Barnes & Noble Classics Series
Edition description: Eight-volume set
Sales rank: 50956
Product dimensions: 11.00 (w) x 14.10 (h) x 6.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is probably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life -- along with his memorable characters -- have made him beloved by readers the world over. In Dickens' books live some of the most repugnant villains in literature, as well as some of the most likeable (and unlikely) heroes.

Biography

Born on February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens was the second of eight children in a family burdened with financial troubles. Despite difficult early years, he became the most successful British writer of the Victorian age.

In 1824, young Charles was withdrawn from school and forced to work at a boot-blacking factory when his improvident father, accompanied by his mother and siblings, was sentenced to three months in a debtor's prison. Once they were released, Charles attended a private school for three years. The young man then became a solicitor's clerk, mastered shorthand, and before long was employed as a Parliamentary reporter. When he was in his early twenties, Dickens began to publish stories and sketches of London life in a variety of periodicals.

It was the publication of Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) that catapulted the twenty-five-year-old author to national renown. Dickens wrote with unequaled speed and often worked on several novels at a time, publishing them first in monthly installments and then as books. His early novels Oliver Twist (1837-1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1841), and A Christmas Carol (1843) solidified his enormous, ongoing popularity. As Dickens matured, his social criticism became increasingly biting, his humor dark, and his view of poverty darker still. David Copperfield (1849-1850), Bleak House (1852-1853), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-1861), and Our Mutual Friend (1864-1865) are the great works of his masterful and prolific period.

In 1858 Dickens's twenty-three-year marriage to Catherine Hogarth dissolved when he fell in love with Ellen Ternan, a young actress. The last years of his life were filled with intense activity: writing, managing amateur theatricals, and undertaking several reading tours that reinforced the public's favorable view of his work but took an enormous toll on his health. Working feverishly to the last, Dickens collapsed and died on June 8, 1870, leaving The Mystery of Edwin Drood uncompleted.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of David Copperfield.

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