Pages

Monday, February 7, 2011

Happy birthday, Charles Dickens!

English novelist Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in what is now Portsmouth, England.

Facts about Dickens...
  • He was one of eight children in a family that struggled with financial issues, and his father eventually ended up in debtor's prison. 
  • By the time Dickens was a teenager he was already working in the law courts as a freelance reporter and stenographer. 
  • At the age of 20 he worked as a news reporter and then began submitting sketches to various publications; this work was later published as Sketches by Boz
  • Dickens was also quite popular in the United States and went on a lecture tour in 1842.  
  • He had ten children with his wife Catherine (he separated from his wife in 1858).
  • His public readings of his novels were very popular.
  • Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870.
  • Thinking about visiting London? Visit the Charles Dickens Museum!
Books by Dickens:
  • Nicholas Nickleby
  • The Old Curiosity Shop
  • Oliver Twist
  • A Christmas Carol
  • David Copperfield
  • Bleak House
  • Little Dorrit
  • A Tale of Two Cities
  • Great Expectations
One of my favorite books, and one that I continue to go back to re-read, is Great Expectations. I love Dickens' manner of telling a story and how he writes his characters. Have you read anything by Charles Dickens? What do you think of his writing?