Hard Times
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Review
David Timson reads Dickens's last complete novel with a sense of fun. As always, Dickens creates a fabulous array of characters: the nouveau riche Veneerings, the dwarf who makes doll clothes, the bizarre schoolmaster, and the abysmally poor who trawl the Thames for bodies or daily sift the dust and dirt of Victorian England for a skimpy living. Timson's dramatic talents add dimension to each personality-just the sort of acting that makes an audio experience so satisfying. Naxos has done a fine job of abridging the book (Timson also reads the unabridged version on 28 CDs). Not much is lost in terms of plot and characterization, and Dickens's great satiric and social themes come through clearly: the plight and misery of the poor and the greed and heartless stupidity of the rich. If the abridgment seems a bit disjointed, it simply follows the novel's narrative style. This is a wonderful listen for Dickens fans and novices alike. - Pulbisher's Weekly
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Kate Flint, University of Oxford
"This is an excellent edition - clear, authoritative and stimulating."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Hard Times' is one of Dickens' most evocative novels, painting a vivid picture of the grinding, soulless industrialisation that so troubled the author. Introducing a host of brilliantly conceived characters, it is a memorable read. Gradgrind and Bounderby earn a well deserved place in the canon of Dickens' finest literary creations. Although serious in purpose, with a biting social commentary, it is written in Dickens' customary vein of humour and the author's ear for dialect and vernacular is gloriously manifest. A good start for those who normally shy away from Dickens because of his lengthy novels as it is relatively short and a definite must for anyone interested in social novels or an amusing read.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read all but a couple of Dickens' works before this one, and being an avid Dickens fan, particularly of Bleak House (my all time favourite novel) and Great Expectations, I was disappointed by Hard Times. I felt it lacked his usual extraordinary flair for language and failed to touch me on either a comic or tragic level (Louisa is too sullen and "rebelliously submissive" to be interesting and Stephen Blackpool is too thinly sketched). In a world of instant gratification, it is of little merit to say that this book is a good introduction to Dickens because it is short (ie. easier for teachers and their limited-attention-span pupils to cope with). Instead it had to me the feeling of having been dashed off in a hurry, and I subsequently found this to be the case. Dickens had just finished Bleak House and was planning to do nothing for a year as he was exhausted (and who wouldn't be, after producing such a masterpiece?). Instead financial problems at a magazine he was involved in forced him to write a relatively short, serialised novel for quick publication. I believe the book was poorly received at the time and I would recommend it more in the context of completing your Dickens reading rather than being typical of his work. However, it still leaves him streets ahead of most modern novelists! For a social commentary on a slightly earlier time, read Barnaby Rudge, or the non-fiction "Condition of the Working Class in England" by Friedrich Engels.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This started off being very funny and quite promising, but seemed to lose its way rather. Although often thought of as a critique of the harshness of capitalism during the industrial revolution, this aspect forms more of a backdrop rather than imbuing the whole course of events as is the case with, for example, Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Gradgrind, the ultimate right-brained individual who learns the value of emotional responses alongside purely rational ones, and the deferential and tragic labourer Stephen Blackpool, are the most interesting characters.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not his best but still lots to enjoy....
Hard Times is not generally regarded as one of Dickens' best works but it is nonetheless worth a read. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Wynne Kelly
Hard Times
Dickens is an author I have long avoided reading due to the archaic language and usually overlong plots. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ms. S. Dyce
Serpents of Smoke
Hard Times is in many ways the least typically Dickensian of all Dickens' novels: it is the most streamlined of his books, coming in at about a third of the length of novels such... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Gregory S. Buzwell
Of money, social inequality and unhappiness
This is one of Dickens's shortest novels and as a result the story is acutely told, with no padding or excessively descriptive language. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Adrenalin Streams
A good story buried in a long social message
This is a fine book, of two halves.
The first part sets the scene for Dickens' social message: the inequality between rich and poor; the harsh living and working... Read more
The first part sets the scene for Dickens' social message: the inequality between rich and poor; the harsh living and working... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Donald Hughes
I love Dickens novels.
An excellent read and a mature Dickens novel. Not as ''light'' as some of his other works, but the juxtaposition of Josiah Bounderby. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alan
Fab reading!!
Book arrived in fab condition, it is exactly what I needed for college coursework. Easy to read, an essential for any A Level English students. Interesting and challenging.
Published 6 months ago by happyshopper
Hard Times by Dickens- new copy, poor condition.
I bought a copy of Hard Times by Dickens that was supposed to be 'new' but when it arrived, the spine was bent and crumpled and in poor condition. Read more
Published 7 months ago by greenteam
Great book....
Classic Dickens, great story....plenty of background information in the introduction, as usual with Penguin Classics, which makes this a great version for students - or people who... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Niki
excellent
This item was a very good price. It arrived surprisingly quickly, and was packaged well. I found it to be in excellent condition! I am very satisfied with purchase!
Published 7 months ago by Katy Townsend
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