Introduction to Dickens - Hardcover

Peter Ackroyd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1856190609 ISBN 13: 9781856190602

Publisher: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991

Synopsis

A sequel to "Dickens", this is a resume of all the scholarly research and imaginative reinterpretation which were the hallmarks of the previous book. It is a long essay on the life and work of Dickens in which Ackroyd demonstrates his argument for connecting the life and work, and, in the process, throws light upon both. In addition he has written 20 introductions to the whole range of Dickens' published work, from novels to journalism, in which he analyzes the writings themselves while at the same time providing an account of the novelist's career. The author also wrote "The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde", "Hawksmoor", "Chatterton" and "First Light" and his biography of T.S. Eliot was awarded the Whitbread PRize for the best biography of 1984.

About this title

From Library Journal

In this interesting, instructive, and well-written introduction, Ackroyd, who sees Dickens as epitomizing his era in his life and his work, provides an excellent overview of both for unacquainted readers. Though he successfully shows how Dickens turned personal concerns into stories of universal appeal, some of the connections he makes between Dickens's life and his work seem strained. Furthermore, the absence of a bibliography and an index limit the book's usefulness for students. This paperback is reasonably priced, but libraries may want to put the money toward something more substantial like Ackroyd's own Dickens: Life & Times ( LJ 2/15/91), which covers the same territory in much more depth.
-Judy Mimken, Saginaw Valley State Univ., Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sinclair-Stevenson
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 1856190609
• ISBN 13: 9781856190602
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176