- Unknown Binding
- Publisher: Bernhardt furniture (1991)
- Language English
- ASIN: B0006DGK1Y
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When you first pick up this book in a bookshop or look at it online the first thing that hits you is obviously the size of it. From beginning to end Ackroyd's "Dickens" spans 1256 pages and to read it may seem like a daunting mission. This is not the case; Ackroyd is one of the best historical-biographial writers of our time and he knows how to make sure that long does not equal tedious. For fans and students of Dickens alike every word in this biography is essential; you may even find that you wish it was longer, I certainly did. The book chronicles everything Dickens from his birth through all of his works in periodicals and theatre to his sad and sudden death in 1870. To try and list the contents of this book would make the review over 200000 words long so i won't even try, but when I say everything I mean EVERYthing is in here from Dickens's family to his railway accident, his feelings, emotions, beliefs, experiences and relationships. There are also many caricatures and photographs of Dickens's life and times included, that add delight to what is already a wonderful read. If, however, you feel that 1300 pages really is too long but you still want to read Ackroyd's version of Dickens (which you should) try the abridged 500-page tie-in version that accompanied the BBC series in 2002. If you can manage the full version, you will not be disappointed.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know that Peter Ackroyd has researchers working for him, so I assume the facts which he offers about Dickens are true. That being so, I greatly admire the way he so brilliantly weaves his material together, creating a picture of a living, breathing man - a genius who was irritating, temperamental, likeable, egocentric, self contradictory and generally almost impossible. Not only this but he puts Dickens in his period: he shows us what public life was like at the time and sketches in many individuals that Dickens knew, lived and worked with. He suggests what Dickens might have been aiming for at various times of his life, and what he might have felt and thought. There is inevitably some guesswork in this but after all, nobody can REALLY know another person, and Ackroyd's portrait, based as it is on research, probably contains more truth than the social front Dickens presented to most of the people who knew him personally. So I do believe this is the nearest we will ever get to understanding him, and highly recommend the book. By the way, this is the abridged version, but it is so illuminating and fascinating that I will now go and investigate the longer version.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was looking for a new Ackroyd to read when I stumbled across the only reader review of this magnificent biography - which gave a rating of one star!! I urge you not to take any notice of this curious judgement! 'Dickens' is one of the best biographies I have ever read, and a magnificent addition to Peter Ackroyd's magnificent bibliography. The writing style is wonderful, very reminiscent of Mr. Dickens himself, and the story of this great man's eventful life fascinates from beginning to end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
'Brilliant'
Having been a Dickens fan since as along as I can remember, this book was purchased for me as a Christmas gift. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. Kathleen E. Raynor
The Greatest Biography?
I pose this title as a question, since I can't quite claim to have read all the others. But seriously, though, this is certainly the greatest biography I have ever read, and,... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Keith M
Abridged Ackroyd
CAUTION - THERE ARE MANY ACKROYD BIOGRAPHIES OF DICKENS - AMAZON ALLOWS ONLY ONE REVIEW PER PRODUCT
Amazon's website structure allows only one review "per book" and... Read more
Amazon's website structure allows only one review "per book" and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by RR Waller
Dickens - the greates
I love anything about Dickens and this book didn't disappoint. It was a detailed account of his life (with pictures)and times, told in an easy to read manner. Read more
Published 12 months ago by E. A. Day
Massively detailed, insightful and enjoyable
Exhaustive (and, at well over a thousand pages, sometimes exhausting) biography of possibly the greatest novelist of the 19th century. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jeremy Bevan
Better than Dickens
I started by reading the one-star review, and I sympathise with the writer, because I know how it feels when you feel that a book stinks. Only I didn't feel it here at all. Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2010 by John Davison
What the dickens
OK, so I am only a little way into this book at the moment, but so far it seems to be that the writer spends a lot of time trying to fit parts of Dickens' early life into the books... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by bookworm
ACKROYD'S DICKENS
PETER ACKROYD on CHARLES DICKENS
Nobody could have been better equipped to write a major biography of England's greatest novelist than Peter Ackroyd. Read more
Nobody could have been better equipped to write a major biography of England's greatest novelist than Peter Ackroyd. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2010 by Rev. R. D. Robinson
A very challenging read, but the ultimate biography
At last, after two months and 21 days of reading. There is no doubt that this biography, at 1144 exhaustively researched pages, is a monumental literary achievement. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by John Hopper
Life, Autobiography, Biography - The Links
Dickens
by Peter Ackroyd
Astonishingly detailed research managed in a most readable and page-turning style. Read more
by Peter Ackroyd
Astonishingly detailed research managed in a most readable and page-turning style. Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2009 by Mr. C. J. Heyworth
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