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Charles Dickens

Born

in Portsmouth, England

February 07, 1812

Died

June 09, 1870

Genre

Historical Fiction, Fiction

Influences

Thomas Carlyle, Miguel de Cervantes, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Tob ...more

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Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaign Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

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Combine Editions
Charles Dickens’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 4,209,113 ratings · 163,362 reviews · 12,596 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Tale of Two Cities 3.88 avg rating — 1,008,592 ratings — published 1859 — 1131 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Christmas Carol 4.09 avg rating — 922,370 ratings — published 1843 — 10113 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Great Expectations 3.80 avg rating — 869,889 ratings — published 1861 — 885 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oliver Twist 3.88 avg rating — 425,959 ratings — published 1838 — 69 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	David Copperfield 4.04 avg rating — 257,428 ratings — published 1850 — 184 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bleak House 4.02 avg rating — 113,790 ratings — published 1853 — 1985 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hard Times 3.55 avg rating — 74,175 ratings — published 1854 — 3450 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Christmas Carol / The Chimes / The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens, Katharine Kroeber Wiley (Introduction) 4.14 avg rating — 59,018 ratings — published 1843	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Little Dorrit really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49,760 ratings — published 1857 — 1224 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nicholas Nickleby 3.94 avg rating — 46,795 ratings — published 1839 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Charles Dickens…

Series by Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend (3 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

Richard Gaughan (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)

4.09 avg rating — 31,350 ratings

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (3 books)
by

Charles Dickens

3.68 avg rating — 1,443 ratings

The Old Curiosity Shop (2 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

Michigan Historical Reprint Series

3.83 avg rating — 158 ratings

Dickens' Places (2 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

George Cruikshank (Illustrator)

3.74 avg rating — 69 ratings

Τα Έγγραφα Πίκγουικ (2 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

Ρένα Χατχούτ (Translator)

4.05 avg rating — 19 ratings

More series by Charles Dickens…

The daylight is plentiful. The temperatures are agreeable. The bookstore shelves are packed with new releases. Is there anything better...

Polls

2016 1st Quarter Long Read

1872, Middlemarch by George Eliot, 904 pages

25 votes, 17.9%

1996, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, 835 pages

17 votes, 12.1%

1853, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, 1017 pages

15 votes, 10.7%

1869, The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 667 pages

15 votes, 10.7%

1965, Dune by Frank Herbert, 604 pages

15 votes, 10.7%

1870, Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 733 pages

7 votes, 5.0%

1915, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, 684 pages

7 votes, 5.0%

1901, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann, 731 pages

6 votes, 4.3%

1982, North and South by John Jakes, 812 pages

6 votes, 4.3%

1925, An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, 859 pages

5 votes, 3.6%

1928, Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford, 836 pages

5 votes, 3.6%

1993, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, 1474 pages

4 votes, 2.9%

1985, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, 945 pages

3 votes, 2.1%

1836, Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens, 688 pages

3 votes, 2.1%

1987, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, 656 pages

2 votes, 1.4%

1983, Helliconia by Brian W. Aldiss, 1305 pages

2 votes, 1.4%

1980, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, 912 pages

1 vote, 0.7%

1948, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, 740 pages

1 vote, 0.7%

1863, Romola by George Eliot, 688 pages

1 vote, 0.7%

1951, A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement by Anthony Powell, 718 pages

0 votes, 0.0%

140 total votes

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Charles Dickens’s Followers (31,224)

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Charles Dickens

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Charles Dickens’s books