Dickens' London - Folio Society Edition

Dickens' Places #1

by Charles Dickens, George Cruikshank (Illustrator)

This selection of celebrated essays by Charles Dickens conjures up a peerless, eyewitness account of the 19th-century capital, from the rarefied world of Whitehall to working-class conviviality and blighted slums.

With a total of 26 essays, including ‘Greenwich Fair’, ‘Early Coaches’, ‘Private Theatres’, ‘A Parliamentary Sketch’, ‘Gin-Shops’ and ‘Scotland Yard’, this collection, with original illustrations by George Cruikshank, remains one of the most popular titles ever published by The Folio Society in spite of being out of print for over thirty years. It is high time, then, that a new generation of Folio members has the chance to enjoy it.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics, Travel, Memoir

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dickens’ London is a collection of Dickens’ essays, published in magazines under the Name of Boz. He refers to himself in the texts as the Uncommercial Traveller. Dickens spent an enormous amount of time just wandering around London and he was not afraid of venturing into the darkest, most dangerous parts of the slums, docks and dingy pubs in dodgy areas. He documented the life of ordinary people just trying to get by, as well as commenting on ‘the system’ in the form of magistrates, the police, the courts and other official organisations, such as the workhouse.

He seems to have been permitted to enter almost everywhere, including Newgate Prison and a workhouse. These essays are occasionally dull in parts where we have no context but are mostly fascinating. We learn a great deal about life in mid-19th century London and its people. My Folio Society edition is liberally sprinkled with pen and ink drawings of various tradesmen of the day, and these are contemporaneous with the writing. Two of these are of a Parish Beadle and a Dustman, and I suspect they were used as templates for Mr Bumble, the Beadle in the musical version of Oliver! (brilliant film), and Eliza Doolittle’s father in the musical version of My Fair Lady.

This is a great legacy of London life and a boon to historians of the period, and an enjoyable read.

[Jamie Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was given to me by a relative who knew I had recently enjoyed a Dickens' novel . Not being fond of people choosing my reading material I just ignored it - that proved to be a mistake. Dickens London is a collection of short , but mesmerising essays ,which serve as a fantastic insight into the 19th century world he lived in . Who better to describe that era than Charles Dickens ? I will single out two essays of the twenty-six for special mention ;
Gone Astray ; his recollection of getting lost in London all day as a nine year old boy . You will be left in no doubt at how up shit's creek and panicked he felt .
A Visit To Newgate ; Sometime in the 1830's he was granted a tour of the notorious Newgate prison . It ends with his bleak and uncompromising comments on the 'Condemned Cells' , where men counted down the hours until they were taken to the gallows . You might lean back and take a breath after reading this one .
If this era fascinates you I strongly recommend you give this book a read .

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 2 out of 5]

London, Sylversteraben. Toby Veck ist Dienstmann, er stellt Briefe und Päckchen zu, schleppt Einkäufe, kurzum, er tut alles, um ein wenig Geld zu verdienen um sich und seine Neunzehnjährige Tochter Meg über die Runden zu bringen. Meg bringt ihrem Vater an diesem letzten Abend des alten Jahres ein besonderes Essen: Kuttelfelck und eröffnet ihm freudestrahlend, dass sie am nächsten Tag ihre langjährige Liebe, den Schwreiner Rochard Johnson heiraten wird, als Armenrichter Alderman Cute vorbeikommt. Zunächst malt er Meg Zukunft in den düstersten Tpnen und isst dann auch noch Toby sein Mittagessen weg. Immerhin hat er einen Auftrag für ihn, er soll einen Brief zustellen, der die Verhaftung eines angeblichen Landstreichers fordert, denn Toby, zusammen mit dessen kleiner Tochter, so in seiner eigenen Wohnung in Sicherheit bringen kann.
Nachts stürmen die von Alderman Cute heraufbeschworenen düsteren Zukunftsaussichten in Tobys Träumen auf ihn ein.

Dickens hat mehrere Weihnachtsgeschichten geschrieben. "The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In" erschien 1844, also ein Jahr nach dem berühmtem "Christmas Carol” und ist zu Recht eher unbekannt. Natürlich geht es auch in dieser Geschcihte um das Gefühls- und Seelenleben des damaligen Präkariats. Aber es passiert einfach nichts. Toby Weck träumt eine schreckliche Zukunft, die die Glocken seiner Tochter prophezeihen, er hat Angst, dass diese Ehe eine schlechte Idee ist, er wacht auf und alles wird gut. Langweilig, fasst es gut zusammen.
Das Hörspiel wurde 1957 vom RIAS/SWF/RB produziert und hat eine Läuflänge von 82 Min. Die Umsetzung ist solide, aber nicht berauschend. Damals wurde in Mono aufgenommen, das ist OK, auch die Sprecher sind allesamt gut, keiner klingt abgelesen. Die Stimmen sint unterschiedlich genug, dass man die Rollen gut auseinanderhalten kann, aber die akustische Untermalung ist sehr sparsam. Und die Handlung, aufgrund der gewählten Vorlage so gut wie nichtexistent. Immer im Weihnachten rum findet man diesen Hörspielklassiker auf einem der staatlichen Sender. Käuflich ist es nicht zu erwerben.

http://www.phonostar.de/radiomagazin/...

Sprecher:
Toby Veck, Dienstmann: Karl Hellmer
Dorothy Chickenstalker: Lina Carstens
Meg: Marion Degler
Alderman Cute, Armenrichter: Artur Menz
Richard Johnson: Walter Starz
Sir Joseph Bowley: Viktor Stefan Görtz
Lady Sophy Bowley: Edith Heerdegen
Will Fern: Walter Richter
Linian: Kristin Hausmann
Jim, Portier: Robert Rathke
Heidi Hausmann, Henriette Peters, Barbara Schaab-Hinnen, Ulrich Goetsch, Paul Dättel, Helene Elcka, Johannes Grossmann, Ernst Ehlert, Horst-Werner Loos, Helga Marold, Agathe Winkler, Max Grothusen, Paul Paulschmidt, Eva Maria Müller, Karen Wellmann-Eichhorst

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays written by Dickens between about 1830 and about 1860. They appeared in the Morning and Evening Chronicle, Sketches by Boz, Household Words, All the Year Round and the Uncommerical Traveller, and are essentially tours of the London of Dickens' time or sometimes the remembered London of his youth. Dickens is a delightful guide, and one sees that his description of the people of London has much in common with the characters of his novels. As a sidelight, one also sees here that the various opinions and prejudices that Dickens has some of his characters say, are indeed his own.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Title: London's Dickens

Culled primarily from Sketches by Boz, All the Year Round, and Household Words, this collection of short stories paints portraits of the city and the people Dickens' loved. Many of these I had already read in other collections but reading them here in London among the places he describes gives a special feeling to this collection, and it will mean the most to those who have seen the streets he paints.

Of course, most of these articles (stories? fiction? reports?) are available in other collections so this isn't a unique find. The concept that makes it interesting is the focus on the London locations. It is best read with a current map, or even a contemporary map if you can find one, because so much of the city Dickens walked and loved has disappeared. But even then it was such a dynamic city that writing just a few years after the scenes he witnessed he must often point out change that has obscured or obliterated the scene.

Would he be surprised to see the notorious slum areas of Seven Dials now a trendy shopping area flooded with tourists? I doubt it, any more than he would be surprised to see Covent Garden Market still a great place to find a coffee and companionship, as he describes in "Night Walks", the fitting final entry here. And take your map and trace the route he describes to really get a feel for just how energetic and peripatetic he was. I think he would be most surprised by the changes to his urban landscape made by the embankment of the Thames, and he would be delighted by the progress and improvements to the general quality of life that that massive sewer and water project made to the subjects of his paintings.

And paintings I think is the best word to describe these short pieces. I shelved this as fiction mostly because Dickens is considered most a writer of fiction, but many of these are really journalism, or memoirs, or travelogues. But even in the nonfiction pieces, he paints words that enhance, embellish, and extend the account from the specific to the universal. So is it "fictionalized" like the worst of the "new journalism" so wrongly labeled decades ago and unlamented now? No rather it is painted in words so perfect, so lifelike, so funny, that it elevates its subjects, the city and its people, to instantly recognizable human landscapes.

[Los libros de Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué bien se siente el corazón después de leer una historia que nos enseña una verdadera lección. Los libros que nos hacen sentir, emocionarnos y replantearnos aspectos de nuestra vida, son aquéllos a los que yo llamo buena literatura. Charles Dickens escribió “Cuento de Navidad” en 1843, y aquí está este extraordinario escritor, 180 años después, dejándonos un gran mensaje con esta novela suya.

¿Quién no ha escuchado acerca de Scrooge? Ese viejo avaro, tacaño, que no le interesa ayudar a nadie, que se vuelve ciego ante la necesidad humana, que desprecia a los pobres y evita a toda costa convivir con su familia. Es época de Navidad y Scrooge está más ciego e ignorante que nunca. Una segunda oportunidad se le presentará a Scrooge, esa oportunidad que a pocos les es concedida. Tres fantasmas lo visitarán y le mostrarán imágenes de lo que fue, es y será. Nosotros como lectores nos sentimos muy cerca de Scrooge, así nos hace sentir Dickens desde el inicio. Nos transportamos al pasado de este singular personaje, donde lo conocemos de niño solitario, hermano querido, joven enamorado. Después el presente, donde confirmamos que al protagonista de esta historia le falta corazón, para con todo ser humano, no importa si es familiar, empleado o un desconocido. Finalmente, visiones del futuro, un futuro cruel que Scrooge no quiere, que le asusta, que le estruja el corazón. Es precisamente ante el fantasma de las Navidades por venir, que Scrooge lanza al espectro que lo guía, las siguientes palabras, como una especie de plegaria, de súplica:

“Honraré la Navidad en mi corazón y procuraré mantener el espíritu todo el año. Viviré en el pasado, en el presente y el futuro. Los espíritus de los tres vivirán en mi interior. No me cerraré ante las lecciones aprendidas”.

Y al leerte Ebenezer Scrooge, desesperado, rabiando estas palabras para ser escuchado, yo decido ser cada vez un poco más como tu nuevo yo. Tu historia es la segunda oportunidad que todos necesitamos.

Feliz Navidad a todos y como dijo el pequeño Tim: “que Dios bendiga a cada uno de nosotros”.

[Julia Trujillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuento de navidad es precioso. El otro relato sobre al año nuevo me pareció curioso, pero no me gustó especialmente.

[Mae · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an entire book of world-building.
I didn't hate it but it was just ok.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dickens' London is a compilation of some of his short works that appeared in newsprint such as Sketches by Boz and the Uncommercial Traveller. He gives little snippets into parts of London or places in London with interesting characters he meets along the way. One is on Scotland Yard, the region, shortly after the police moved their headquarters there, another on the toll-man on Waterloo Bridge while he is out with the Thames Police keeping an eye out for smugglers or suicides. It's a great little glimpse into London in the mid 1800s and written in classic Dickensian style. Very enjoyable overall.

[Verónica Juárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué se puede decir de dos clásicos sobre los que ya se ha dicho todo. Quizá lo rescatable en esta reseña sea habla denla edición, pues explica el contexto en el cual fueron escritas ambos cuentos (novelas cortad) y también presenta información extra como fotografías, las portadas, en fin, ubica al lector en el momento histórico para que tenga una lectura más completa de la obra.