Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Fiction, Classics

Hard Times is regarded as one of Dickens' darker novels. It introduces the character of Thomas Gradgrind. Like many of Dickens' characters, Gradgrind's name tells the reader much of what they need to know. As schoolmaster Gradgrind says, "Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any servic...