Our Mutual Friend

Charles Dickens

The tongues of London high society gossips begin to wag when John Harmon --a young man whose inheritance depended on his marrying a woman he had never met-- is found dead in the River Thames. The fortune passes into the hands of the working-class Boffins, who take into their new home both Bella Wilfer (Harmons would-be bride), and a mysterious secretary known as Rokesmith. Meanwhile, Lizzie Hexam, the daughter of the boatman suspected of Harmons murder, is pursued by two suitors: obsessive and self-righteous Bradley Headstone and roguish and lethargic Eugene Wrayburn. Our Mutual Friend is one of the most sophisticated and sadly the last novel by Charles Dickens with a rare combination of social insight and psychological analysis.The main focus of the novel is on the significance of money in an individuals life but also stresses on the fact that one should never ignore human values in the face of money.

Samotnia

Charles Dickens

Powieść posiada opinię szczytowego osiągnięcia Charlesa Dickensa. Dzięki nowatorskiej jak na owe czasy podwójnej narracji historię poznajemy z perspektywy Esther Summerson - niepewnej siebie sieroty, oraz wyniosłej i bajecznie bogatej Lady Dedlock. Losy kobiet przecinają się, gdy obie biorą udział w sądowym procesie spadkowym. Sprawa ciągnie się latami, komplikuje życia kolejnych osób, a na horyzoncie nie pojawia się żaden finał. Tylko adwokaci i sędziowie zacierają ręce.

Samotnia I

Charles Dickens

Wielu wśród nich Vladimir Nabokov i G.K. Chesterton określa Samotnię najlepszą i najbardziej dojrzałą powieścią Charlesa Dickensa, a Stephen King zalicza ją do swoich dziesięciu ulubionych książek. Przede wszystkim jest to oparta na prawdziwych sądowniczych przypadkach historia o bezwzględnym działaniu absurdalnego brytyjskiego prawa, na pierwszy plan wysuwają się w niej jednak kobiece losy. Wprowadzenie rozdziałów pisanych z perspektywy Esther Summerson, sieroty z nizin społecznych, jest niezwykle nowatorskim chwytem w wiktoriańskiej prozie. Zarówno wyjątkowa konstrukcja jak i społeczno-prawnicza tematyka czynią tę powieść zaskakująco współczesną. Doczekała się wielu adaptacji scenicznych, radiowych oraz telewizyjnych, i wciąż zyskuje uznanie czytelników.

Samotnia II

Charles Dickens

W drugim tomie satyry na brytyjski system sądowniczy klasyczna powieść nabiera detektywistycznego charakteru. Dickens prowadzi czytelnika tropem morderstwa, podsuwa fałszywe wskazówki i ukryte przesłanki, przez co Samotnia staje się prekursorem współczesnych kryminałów. Zarówno ta wyjątkowa konstrukcja, jak i nowoczesny detektywistyczny wątek sprawiają, że Samotnia cieszy się niesłabnącym zainteresowaniem współczesnych czytelników, którzy z przejęciem wyczekują wielkiego finału kilkudziesięcioletniego procesu Jarndyce przeciw Jarndyce. Pierwsze filmowe adaptacje Samotni sięgają aż 1920 roku, kiedy Maurice Elvey wyreżyserował czarno-biały, niemy film Bleak House. Później BBC wyprodukowało aż trzy seriale na podstawie tej powieści Dickensa w 1959, 1985 i 2005 roku. W najnowszym, nagrodzonym Peabody Award, wystąpiły m.in. Gillian Anderson i Carey Mulligan.

Sketches by Boz. Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People

Charles Dickens

Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People is a collection of short pieces published by Charles Dickens in 1836. The 56 sketches concern London scenes and people and are divided into four sections: Our Parish, Scenes, Characters, and Tales. The material in the first three of these sections is non-fiction. The last section comprises fictional stories. It was Dickenss first book, published when he was twenty-four, and in it we find him walking the London streets, in theatres, pawnshops, law-courts, prisons, along the Thames, and on the omnibus, missing nothing, recording and transforming urban and suburban life into new terrain for literature. Originally, the sketches were published in various newspapers and periodicals from 1833-1836 before being published collectively in one volume. If you enjoy the works of Charles Dickens then this collection is highly recommended for your book collection.

Sketches of Young Couples

Charles Dickens

Sketches of Young Couples is similarly a relatively early and short work by Charles Dickens in which he outlines in a humorous and vaguely satirical way various types of couples (young, old and matured) in society under different subjects describing their actions, thoughts and decisions as couple. These subjects are chosen as a moral essay to raise the awareness and information in young couple for coming generation of both sexes. As always, Dickens scatterings of humor help make it an enjoyable read. Its mainly an exercise in characterization, but each little chapter reads like a story, or part of a story. These satirical portraits, specially timed to Queen Victorias 1839 engagement to the future Prince Albert, not only reveal the dazzling brilliance of young Dickenss genius, but also offer a humorous glimpse into Victorian mores and attitudes.

Sketches of Young Gentlemen

Charles Dickens

Following the phenomenal popularity of Sketches by Boz, Dickens produced two short volumes of Sketches of Young Gentlemen and Sketches Young Couples". Dedicated to The Young Ladies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as to other young ladies, Sketches of Young Gentlemen scrutinizes in a very witty and humorous fashion certain familiar characteristics of Victorian men and women. Indeed, the sketches center around certain social stereotypes developed by the author. Whimsical, satirical, witty and exuberant, the sketches ridicule the behavior of their subjects with perfect comic effect, offering fascinating evidence of a writer learning his craft and refining his style. To modern readers, these sketches reveal a hidden facet of the great Victorian novelist as they give a glimpse of his little-known beginnings. Highly recommended!

Some Christmas Stories

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens work is ranked among the finest writing in the Western canon, and the author specialized in seasonal stories to warm the hearts of his adoring fans during the holiday season. Dickenss relationship with Christmas extends far beyond the success of A Christmas Carol, with five short Christmas books and countless slighter stories on a festive theme. In all of them he uses Christmas as a time to wake up the dozing conscience of the prosperous urban middle classes. This collection of Christmas-themed tales are an entertaining read during the holidays or any time you need a quick pick-me-up. In this volume you will find the following entertaining holiday tales: The Christmas Tree, What Christmas is as We Grow Older, The Poor Relations Story, The Childs Story, The Schoolboys Story, Nobodys Story. Elegantly written, in pure Dickensian style, these short stories evoke the magic of Christmas and its true meaning.

Tajemnica Edwina Drooda

Charles Dickens

,,Tajemnica Edwina Drooda" to bardzo mroczna, niedokończona powieść kryminalna Dickensa, na przestrzeni wieków pojawiło się wiele spekulacji dotyczących jej związków ze śmiercią pisarza. Głównym bohaterem jest tutaj młody architekt Edwin Drood, który zgodnie z obietnicą daną jeszcze w czasach dzieciństwa ma zostać mężem pięknej Rosie Bud. Para jest do siebie bardzo przywiązana, choć płomienne uczucie między nimi już dawno wygasło. Pewnego dnia Drood znika w tajemniczych okolicznościach i ginie wszelki ślad po nim. Czy ma to związek z jego osobliwą narzeczoną albo pobliską palarnią opium? Powieść doczekała się wielu interpretacji, alternatywnych zakończeń oraz rozwiązań zagadkowego zniknięcia młodego architekta. Jeśli gustujesz w mrocznych historiach z epoki wiktoriańskiej, na pewno będziesz pod wrażeniem tej pełnej teorii spiskowych i dwuznacznego erotyzmu lektury.

The Battle of Life

Charles Dickens

The Battle of Life - a novel by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.   Two sisters, Grace and Marion, live happily in an English village with their two servants, Clemency Newcome and Ben Britain, and their good-natured widower father Dr Jeddler. Dr Jeddler is a man whose philosophy is to treat life as a farce. Marion, the younger sister, is betrothed to Alfred Heathfield, Jeddler's ward who is leaving the village to complete his studies. He entrusts Marion to Grace's care and makes a promise to return to win Marion's hand.  

The Battle of Life. A Love Story

Charles Dickens

While The Battle of Life is one of Charles Dickens Christmas Books his annual release of a story just before Christmas this one breaks the tradition by not being concerned with Christmas. Rather, its subtitle, A Love Story, reveals more of the plot. The setting is an English village that stands on the site of a historic battle. Some characters refer to the battle as a metaphor for the struggles of life, hence the title. This novel basically depicts the battles one faces in life and winning them. Grace and Marion are sisters, saying goodbye to their childhood friend, Alfred, who has just come of age after growing up as a ward to the girls father, Dr. Jeddler. Alfred promises to come back someday to marry Marion when he has finished medical school and made his fortune. The years pass, but their happy plans take a sorrowful turn, and it will take all their courage to survive the battle of life...

The Chimes

Charles Dickens

The Chimes - a novella by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.   On New Year's Eve, Trotty, a poor elderly "ticket-porter" or casual messenger, is filled with gloom at the reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers, and wonders whether the working classes are simply wicked by nature. His daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry next day.  

The Cricket on the Hearth

Charles Dickens

The Cricket on the Hearth - a novella by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.   John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his young wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.  

The Haunted Man and the Ghost\'s Bargain

Charles Dickens

The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain - a novella by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.   Redlaw is a teacher of chemistry who often broods over wrongs done him and grief from his past. He is haunted by a spirit, who is not so much a ghost as Redlaw's phantom twin and is "an awful likeness of himself...with his features, and his bright eyes, and his grizzled hair, and dressed in the gloomy shadow of his dress..." This spectre appears and proposes to Redlaw that he can allow him to "forget the sorrow, wrong, and trouble you have known...to cancel their remembrance..." Redlaw is hesitant at first, but finally agrees.  

The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain

Charles Dickens

The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain is an 1848 ghost story by Charles Dickens. It is the final novella in Dickens series of five Christmas Books, the first and best known of which is A Christmas Carol. For Victorians these ghost stories began to be associated with Christmas time, and the end of the year. In this story, Dickens narrates the hair-raising experiences of a teacher of chemistry Redlaw. As the protagonist dwells on his past sorrows and mistakes, a phantom visits him. It offers him a bizarre escape from painful recollections of yesteryear by offering to eradicate his memory. Where he once felt interest, compassion, and sympathy, he is filled with selfishness and ingratitude, and this affliction spreads to everyone the man has contact with. The only one not affected by this is Milly. In this, like Mr. Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, the man learns some important life lessons and is given another chance at life and being a better person.

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices

Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens

This story is about two students who go on a journey to find a way to completely relax. Along the way, they encounter some problems and humorous incidents. The reader can distinguish the voice of Dickens and Collins in the narration. Especially memorable is the sensational story of Collins and Dickenss wonderful story about the wedding chamber. This is just one of many texts that are not widely used, but they are definitely worth reading.

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit

Charles Dickens

Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens is a story of selfishness, greed, and hypocrisy. The central character is old Martin Chuzzlewit, whose selfishness and cynicism, combined with his great wealth, cause him to mistrust everyone around him. Also a major character in the story is his relative, Mr. Pecksniff, an accomplished hypocrite, who covers his avarice with a mask of smooth piety and humility. Martin Chuzzlewit is a picaresque novel, which follows the genre convention of depicting the humorous adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits and corrupts society. As in most picaresque novels, the primary objective is social satire or criticism.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Charles Dickens

Nineteenth century England. When Nicholas Nicklebys father dies and leaves his family destitute, his uncle, the greedy moneylender, Ralph Nickleby, finds Nicholas a job teaching in a repulsive school in Yorkshire. Nicholas flees the school taking with him one of the persecuted boys, Smike, and they join a troop of actors. Nicholas then has to protect Smike, while trying to stop his Uncle Ralph taking advantage of his sister Kate, and later his sweetheart, Madeline Bray, whose father is in debtors prison. A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle. After many adventures Nicholas finally triumphs over his Uncle, although his success is also tinged with sadness.

The Mudfog and Other Sketches

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. This charming collection of sketches from Victorian literary master brings together a number of pieces that were originally published in various popular periodicals of the era. The Mudfog Papers describes the local politics of the fictional town of Mudfog. It also describes the delusions of its mayor Nicholas Tulrumble, his disastrous attempts at putting on a public show and the meetings of its Society for the Advancement of Everything, during which the town is overrun by illustrious scientists and professors conducting ostensibly pointless research. Written at the same time as Oliver Twist indeed the serialized version of the novel referred to Mudfog as the protagonists home town The Mudfog Papers lampoons all manner of journalistic and scientific writing of the time and showcases the young Dickens at his satirical best.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Charles Dickens

As in many of Dickenss greatest novels, the gulf between appearance and reality drives the action. Set in the seemingly innocuous cathedral town of Cloisterham, the story rapidly darkens with a sense of impending evil. Charles Dickenss final, unfinished novel is in many ways his most intriguing. A highly atmospheric tale of murder, The Mystery of Edwin Drood foreshadows both the detective stories of Conan Doyle and the nightmarish novels of Kafka. Though The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of its authors darkest books, it also bustles with a vast roster of memorable-and delightfully named-minor characters: Mrs. Billikins, the landlady; the foolish Mr. Sapsea; the philanthropist, Mr. Honeythunder; and the mysterious Datchery. Several attempts have been made over the years to complete the novel and solve the mystery, but even in its unfinished state it is a gripping and haunting masterpiece.

The Old Curiosity Shop

Charles Dickens

1839. It tells the story of Nelly Trent and her grandfather as they wander the English countryside, north of London, trying to evade Daniel Quilp, probably Dickens most evil villain. Nells grandfather has borrowed money from Quilp to support a gambling habit and has lost everything, including the curiosity shop. But Quilp isnt sitting still, his spies are everywhere. Meanwhile a stranger is also looking for Nells grandfather. Dickenss depiction of the fate of his main characters is famously harrowing and unfailingly suspenseful, but not the least of its charms is that it is embellished with a supporting cast of figures as grotesque and colorful as anything in the Old Curiosity Shop itself.

The Pickwick Papers

Charles Dickens

This novel demonstrates Dickens experimenting with building his own voice. The Pickwick Papers is a series of linear adventures, unlike the convoluted plots of Dickenss later novels. In other words, we follow our heroes from one stop to the next and meet interesting characters, rather than unraveling a mystery. The novel is a late example of the picaresque, a style of story in which we follow a rough, but still likable, hero through his adventures.The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find. In the course of their travels, they repeatedly encounter the friendly but disreputable Mr. Jingle, who becomes a continual source of trouble for all who know him. Pickwick himself is the victim of a number of misunderstandings that bring him both embarrassment and problems with the law.

The Pickwick Papers

Charles Dickens

The Pickwick Papers - a novel by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.   The novel's protagonist Samuel Pickwick, Esquire is a kind and wealthy old gentleman, the founder and perpetual president of the Pickwick Club. He suggests that he and three other "Pickwickians" should make journeys to places remote from London and report on their findings to the other members of the club. Their travels throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief subject matter of the novel.  

Three Ghost Stories

Charles Dickens

As a gifted writer with a strong interest in supernatural phenomena, Charles Dickens produced a string of ghost stories with enduring charm. While the three ghosts that visited Ebenezer Scrooge was Charles Dickens most famous apparitions, his interest in the supernatural did not end there. Three Ghost Stories includes three different stories that are true Gothic classics and were sensational for their time and continue to hold up well, thanks to Charles Dickens superb skills at storytelling. In The Haunted House, a new homeowner discovers he is sharing his bed with the skeleton of the houses former master. In The Trial for Murder, a revengeful ghost haunts a juror serving at his killers trial. In The Signal-Man, an apparition warns a man of impending disaster. If you like Dickens and tales of specters and the supernatural, youll love Three Ghost Stories.