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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 · 4,311,063 ratings · 171,739 reviews · 12,720 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Tale of Two Cities 3.88 avg rating — 1,026,918 ratings — published 1859 — 10124 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 — 955,512 ratings — published 1843 — 338 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 — 887,990 ratings — published 1861 — 7140 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 — 434,394 ratings — published 1838 — 89 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 4.05 avg rating — 264,061 ratings — published 1850 — 193 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 — 116,045 ratings — published 1853 — 1991 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 — 75,863 ratings — published 1854 — 1342 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 — 59,198 ratings — published 1843 — 56 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
	Little Dorrit really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 50,314 ratings — published 1857 — 968 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 3.95 avg rating — 47,435 ratings — published 1839 — 1408 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)

4.10 avg rating — 31,935 ratings

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

Charles Dickens

3.68 avg rating — 1,507 ratings

Bleak House (3 books)
by

Charles Dickens

4.21 avg rating — 724 ratings

The Old Curiosity Shop (2 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

Michigan Historical Reprint Series

3.84 avg rating — 163 ratings

Dickens' Places (2 books)
by

Charles Dickens,

George Cruikshank (Illustrator)

3.76 avg rating — 71 ratings

More series by Charles Dickens…

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March 2018 Revisit the Shelf Reread

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, 489 pages, 1859, Last Read November 2014

45 votes, 12.2%

1984 by George Orwell, 328 pages, 1949, Last Read November 2015

32 votes, 8.7%

Persuasion by Jane Austen, 256 pages, 1817, Last Read August 2015

29 votes, 7.9%

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, 449 pages, 1938, Last Read May 2015

28 votes, 7.6%

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, 258 pages, 1989, Last Read January 2017

27 votes, 7.3%

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 671 pages, 1866, Last Read June 2014

25 votes, 6.8%

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, 542 pages, 1848, Last Read April 2015

24 votes, 6.5%

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 867 pages, 1847, Last Read October 2011

24 votes, 6.5%

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 254 pages, 1890, Last Read November 2016

23 votes, 6.2%

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, 505 pages, 1853, Last Read August 2014

20 votes, 5.4%

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, 343 pages, 1966, Last Read November 2016

18 votes, 4.9%

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, 296 pages, 1929, Last Read September 2015

17 votes, 4.6%

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, 154 pages, 1900, Last Read February 2012

14 votes, 3.8%

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, 146 pages, 1962, Last Read September 2016

12 votes, 3.3%

The Iliad by Homer, 683 pages, -750, Last Read July 2012

11 votes, 3.0%

King Lear by William Shakespeare, 316 pages, 1603, Last Read October 2012

11 votes, 3.0%

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, 251 pages, 1853, Lasr Read January 2015

9 votes, 2.4%

369 total votes

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Charles Dickens’s Followers (32,006)

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