I've always loved Dickens' novels but never knew about his youth. How beautiful that he transformed his suffering into a kind of glory through his works.
A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist are forever cemented in my mind as quintessential Christmas tales. The 1951 movie version with Alastair Sim is the best in my humble opinion, and what more can be said about the 1968 musical Oliver with the indomitable Oliver Reed, Ron Moody, Mark Lester and Shani Wallis - it's a forever classic take on Oliver Twist. Of course nothing tops reading the books!!
After reading your article it put me in the mood to rewatch them and I downloaded them again. The movie is actually a musical version as is called Oliver. IMDB link is here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063385/
"Charles Dickens had become world-famous by the time he died, but he remained a broken and flawed man. It goes to show that what happens during a child’s early years can affect them for life, regardless of their successes." - I had no idea.. wow
A simple tradition that my wife, daughters, and I started is to open our stockings on Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas morning, we make cinnamon rolls while I read the birth of Christ account in the Gospels. Even though our daughters (25 & 22) live 1200+ miles away from us, we still FaceTime with them to continue this each year.
Oh dear! Poor man! What a sad history. However, should that excuse the way he so badly treated his wife? Then again, we humans are such complicated creatures and childhood trauma can indeed cause us to act in ways contrary to our innate nature.
It’s definitely not an excuse. Catherine deserved better. But we are so lucky we were not alive in those times. We didn’t see what those factories were like; we only read about them. I think a lot of people back then were just so, so broken!
I really enjoyed reading this essay. Beautifully rich in detail. Dickens is one of my favourites too, ever since I read ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at school.
Something that I found very interesting… the family put tuition money into their daughter… they may have been the only family at that time to favor a daughter over a son for schooling… and it ended up that their son became famous as it is! So funny.
Ì have read Dickens loved putting on acting parties. Sometimes he held previews of his latest work as parties for select guests, staged in his own house.
I am so enjoying learning more about the life of Charles Dickens, thank you for sharing! 😊 I am really enjoying reading A Christmas Carol. 🤍
I’m so glad! Dickens is one of my absolute favorites! 🤍🤍🎄
I've always loved Dickens' novels but never knew about his youth. How beautiful that he transformed his suffering into a kind of glory through his works.
That’s one of the great things about writing - bad memories can be used for good! And Dickens was such a talented storyteller!
A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist are forever cemented in my mind as quintessential Christmas tales. The 1951 movie version with Alastair Sim is the best in my humble opinion, and what more can be said about the 1968 musical Oliver with the indomitable Oliver Reed, Ron Moody, Mark Lester and Shani Wallis - it's a forever classic take on Oliver Twist. Of course nothing tops reading the books!!
I’ve never seen Oliver Twist the movie but now I want to! I’ve always liked books more than television!
Thank you so much for your comment!
After reading your article it put me in the mood to rewatch them and I downloaded them again. The movie is actually a musical version as is called Oliver. IMDB link is here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063385/
You might like this book I just finished called Mr. Dickens and His Carol— about his inspiration & process to writing A Christmas Carol.
"Charles Dickens had become world-famous by the time he died, but he remained a broken and flawed man. It goes to show that what happens during a child’s early years can affect them for life, regardless of their successes." - I had no idea.. wow
A simple tradition that my wife, daughters, and I started is to open our stockings on Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas morning, we make cinnamon rolls while I read the birth of Christ account in the Gospels. Even though our daughters (25 & 22) live 1200+ miles away from us, we still FaceTime with them to continue this each year.
Oh dear! Poor man! What a sad history. However, should that excuse the way he so badly treated his wife? Then again, we humans are such complicated creatures and childhood trauma can indeed cause us to act in ways contrary to our innate nature.
It’s definitely not an excuse. Catherine deserved better. But we are so lucky we were not alive in those times. We didn’t see what those factories were like; we only read about them. I think a lot of people back then were just so, so broken!
Thank you for your comment xx
I really enjoyed reading this essay. Beautifully rich in detail. Dickens is one of my favourites too, ever since I read ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at school.
An extraordinarily insightful essay.
Something that I found very interesting… the family put tuition money into their daughter… they may have been the only family at that time to favor a daughter over a son for schooling… and it ended up that their son became famous as it is! So funny.
That was fascinating. Thanks.
Ì have read Dickens loved putting on acting parties. Sometimes he held previews of his latest work as parties for select guests, staged in his own house.
He was a complex and complicated character.
The answer to your question is no, but I enjoyed these interesting tidbits about Dickens' life. :)