dickens, charles

The theft of some of Charles Dickens's papers by an Irish stowaway on a ship from Liverpool to the U.S. brings Dickens unexpectedly and reluctantly together with Edgar Allan Poe, who has information on a woman's murder and has faked his death in an attempt to escape the Irish mob.

Becoming Dickens tells the story of how an ambitious young Londoner became England's greatest novelist. In following the twists and turns of Charles Dickens's early career, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst examines a remarkable double transformation: in reinventing himself Dickens reinvented the form of the novel. It was a high-stakes gamble, and Dickens never forgot how differently things could have turned out. From his traumatized childhood to the suicide of his first collaborator and the sudden death of the woman who had a good claim to being the love of his life, Dickens faced powerful obstacles. Douglas-Fairhurst's provocative new biography, focused on the 1830s, portrays a restless and uncertain Dickens who could not decide on the career path he should take and would never feel secure in his considerable achievements--From publisher description.

Chronicles the life of the nineteenth-century literary master from the challenges he faced as the imprisoned son of a profligate father, his rise to one of England's foremost novelists, and the personal demons that challenged his relationships.

The first part of the book is on Realism, with essays on Balzac, Dickens, and Gogol. The second part of the book shows how Dostoevsky this tradition and made it his own.

This tale of the orphan who is reared in a workhouse, runs away to London where he is captured by thieves and finally escapes, is a novel of social protest, a morality tale, and a detective story.

A reprinting of the 1843 first edition, complete with the original illustrations, is supplemented by over eighty related sketches and annotations on and analyses of the text and historical notes on the writing of "The Christmas Carol.".

A graphic novel retelling of Charles Dickens' novel in which Pip, an orphan in Victorian England, learns that a mysterious benefactor has ensured that he will be educated and raised as a gentleman.