I have had this book on my shelf since my wife studied it at college in 1979. I had avoided reading it (although I've enjoyed every Dickens Book I've read). I suppose I associated Hard Times with Hard Book. Who wants to read about industial strife? It's grim oop t'North etc. The way round this for me was the relatively painless outlay of 95p on a download of the book on to the MP3 to listen to while running. The skill of the narrator immediately transports you into the world of Mr Gradgrind's school and house, the travelling circus and the characters of Coketown (based on Preston but I'm not sure which end). Dickens populates this tale with a smaller cast than usual and, thankfully, it's a shorter novel - just over 11 hours running-time (literally). To get ahead of the narrator I read the novel after my run (and a bath) and found that I slowed my reading down to his pace and could hear his voice as I read. Most of the characters are more or less irritating in some way or another with the honourable exception of Sissy Jupe who, as a force for goodness, could hardly be bettered and if I'd known about her in 1979 the wife would have had to look out.