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GRAMMAR:
Comparatives and Superlatives
BOOK CORNER
CHARLES
DICKENS
Charles
Dickens is one of the greatest novelists in the English language. He
wrote about the real world of Victorian England and many of his
characters were not rich, middle-class ladies and gentlemen, but poor
and hungry people.
 His
Childhood
Charles
Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth. His parents were
John and Elizabeth Dickens. Charles was the second of their eight
children.
John
was a clerk (=one employed to keep
records or accounts or to perform general office work) in a payroll
office
(=office in charge of paying employees)of the navy. He and Elizabeth were an outgoing
(=openly friendly),
social couple. They loved parties, dinners and family functions. In fact,
Elizabeth attended a ball (=a large
formal gathering for social dancing) on the night that she gave birth
to Charles.
Mary
Weller was an early influence on Charles. She was hired
(=she was employed) to
care for the Dickens children. Her bedtime stories, stories she swore
were quite true, featured people like Captain Murder who would make pies
out of his wives.
Finances
were a constant concern (=matter of
consideration; worry) for the family. The costs of
entertaining along with the expenses of having a large family were too
much for John's salary. In fact, when Charles was just four months old
the family moved to a smaller home to cut expenses.
At
a very young age, despite his family's financial situation, Charles
dreamed of becoming a gentleman. However when he was 12 it looked like
his dreams would never come true. John Dickens was arrested and sent to
jail for failure to pay a debt (=did
not pay the money he owed others). When
Charles' father was imprisoned
(=put in a prison) for debt his wife and
younger children moved into the prison with him. In debtors
(=people who owe money to others) prison the family was permitted to come and go as they pleased until the
gates were locked at night. 12-year-old Charles visited his family there
but did not live in the prison. He lived in a rented room in nearby Lant
Street and worked in a boot-blacking factory on the other side of the
river. Charles
worked ten hours a day and earned six shillings (30p) a week. Every
night, after work, he walked four miles back to his room. Charles hated
it and never forgot the experience. He used it in many novels,
especially David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.
He
did not attend school during this time.
Charles was deeply marked by these experiences. He rarely spoke of this
time of his life.
Luckily
the situation improved within a year. Charles was released from his
duties at the factory and his father was released from jail.
Dickens
the writer
When
he was sixteen, he started work for a newspaper. He visited law courts
and the Houses of Parliament. Soon he was one of the Morning
Chronicle's best journalists. He also wrote short stories for
magazines. These were funny descriptions of people that he met. Dickens'
characters were full of colour and life - good people were very, very
good and bad people were horrible. His books became popular in many
countries and he spent a lot of time abroad, in America, Italy and
Switzerland.
 Dickens
the man
Dickens
had ten children, but he didn't have a happy family life. He was
successful in his work but not at home, and his wife left him. He never
stopped writing and travelling, and he died very suddenly in 1870.
His
books
David
Copperfield or The Personal History Experience and
Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery
was first published in 1849. Like most of his other works, it originally
appeared in serial form (published in monthly installments).
Many elements within the novel closely follow events in Dickens's own
life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all
of his novels. It is also Dickens' favourite novel.
Here
is a list of some of his many other novels:
The Pickwick Papers (1836)
Oliver Twist (1837-38)
Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39)
A Christmas Carol (1843)
Bleak House (1852)
Little Dorrit (1855)
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
Great Expectations (1860-61)
Our Mutual Friend (1864)
(Excerpts
taken from:www.victorianweb.org)
Our
very special thanks to David Perdue. Visit his site:
The Charles Dickens Page:http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/
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