Showing results by author "Charles Dickens" in All Categories

Murder, a bitter love triangle, and a mysterious inheritance. In the last of Dickens's completed novels, the power of money ultimately motivates both character and action. One night Hexam, who makes his living pulling bodies from the Thames, pulls out a body bearing the identification of John Harmon, heir to the fortune of a 'dust-collector'. In fact, Harmon has swapped clothes and identities with a sailor, John Rokesmith.

A warming edition of the timeless Victorian Christmas ghost story: a full cast of Yuletide characters brought to life by an English rose with an affinity for Dickens.

With well over 200 million copies sold, this novel ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.

Great Expectations is hailed as Charles Dickens' masterpiece. A gripping tale of love and loss, aspiration and moral redemption, the story follows the young orphan Xiaomao (Pip) from poverty to a life of unexpected opportunity and wealth. In part two, Xiaomao (Pip) leaves his life of poverty behind to seek his fortunes in Shanghai and win the heart of the beautiful yet cold-hearted Bingbing (Estella). Xiaomao’s world is turned upside down when his mysterious benefactor is revealed and his deepest secrets are brought into the light of day.

Published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels. A complex plot, it challenges the reader to make connections--between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and the victims.

Serialised between December 1860 to August 1861, it tells the heartwarming story of Pip, a poor boy who gets an unexpected chance to move up in society. Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

One of a series of retellings of classic world literature from publisher Real Reads. True to the original plot, characters and theme, this Real Read also reflects the original author's style and syntax.

This novel centers around Mr. Dombey, a wealthy merchant who struggles to cope with the death of his wife and the care of his infant son as the story opens. He hires a nurse to bring up little Paul. Meanwhile, other new characters are brought into the story, including Captain Cuttle, Sol Gills, and Walter Gay. As their lives come into contact with the Dombey household, complications arise. When Dombey discovers that Walter, a lowly clerk in his office, is infatuated with his daughter, Florence, he sends him to the West Indies to prevent any possibility of a romance developing.

Eine spannende, dramatische Geschichte über Liebe und Verrat, Heldentum und Opferbereitschaft, Niedertracht und Tot. Der Roman schildert außerdem die katastrophalen Lebensverhältnisse jener Zeit in Paris und London um 1790. Frankreich steht am Rande des Chaos der französischen Revolution und dem Niedergang der Aristokratie, während London sich in einem noch stabilen gesellschaftlichen Wandel wähnt.

The short story is considered to be one of the most challenging genres because of the need for compact plotlines and the ability to conjure up atmosphere and character in a few sentences and to engage the reader instantly. This collection presents 66 of the greatest examples of the genre - many of them well known, some hidden literary treasures, all of them exquisite examples of the short story at its finest.

In this, Dickens' most openly political novel, we discover the terrible human consequences of a ruthlessly materialistic philosophy in the lives of Thomas Gradgrind's family, brought up to believe that only "Facts! Facts! Facts!" have any meaning. Set in Coketown, a typical Lancashire milltown, the novel graphically exposes the truth about Victorian "progress".

Pip's life was stricken with tragedy as a small boy, being orphaned with the loss of his mother, father, and siblings. Pip forms a relationship with the odd Miss Havisham and her lovely adopted daughter, Estella. An anonymous benefactor whisks Pip away from the life he once knew and the people he cared for to one of class and high society. When his beloved Estella enters his life once more after many years apart, she denies him the affections he longs for.

Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Barnaby Rudge, one of only two historical novels by Dickens, deals with the "Popery" riots of 1780. It is read here by one of Britain's most popular readers, Sean Barrett, whose reading of Bleak House was widely praised. This recording is part of the extended Dickens collection offered in both abridged and unabridged form by Naxos AudioBooks.

When Nicholas befriends Smyke, a physically challenged runaway from a deplorable Yorkshire school, he risks his livelihood and the livelihoods of his sister and mother. Through many hardships and adventures, Nicholas demonstrates that loyalty and integrity can overcome the most devious machinations. Featuring a glorious cast of Dickensian heroes and villains, Nicholas Nickleby is a tour de force Victorian novel.

A selection of stories to entertain for when you have a spare 10 minutes, including "After the Race", by James Joyce; "Three Questions", by Leo Tolstoy; "The Child's Story", by Charles Dickens; and "A Transgression", by Anton Chekhov, read by Sir Michael Redgrave.

In this, perhaps Dickens' most profound and personal novel, we are invited to share in the sentimental education of Pip, the poor boy from the village forge who risks losing himself in snobbery and selfishness when he mysteriously inherits a fortune. The story moves from the bleak Kentish marshes of Pip's childhood to a thrilling climax that mingles tragedy and triumph.

"Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens is a story of a young orphan's struggle in the grim underworld of Victorian London. This podcast explores themes of poverty, crime, and survival as Oliver encounters a host of memorable characters, from the sinister Fagin to the kind-hearted Mr. Brownlow. A timeless tale of hope and redemption.

The story is told from the point of view of Pip, an orphan of humble origins who dreams of being a gentleman. From a chilling encounter with a convict when he was seven, through his coming of age and early adulthood, he tells of his "memorable days" and the "great changes" they wrought in him.

London in the 1830s was no place to be if you were a hungry 10-year-old boy, an orphan without friends or family, with no home to go to, and only a penny in your pocket to buy a piece of bread.But Oliver Twist finds some friends – Fagin, the Artful Dodger, and Charley Bates. They give him food and shelter, and play games with him, but it is not until some days later that Oliver finds out what kind of friends they are and what kind of ’games’ they play. An Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English, adapted from the Charles Dickens original by Richard Rogers.