What do you think?
Rate this book
The Hidden Charles Dickens: A Collection of Little-Known Dickens
A collection of his lesser-known works, stories that in recent years have not received the attention they deserve. Also included is his novel "Dombey and Son".
The first section of the book covers the early writing of Dickens, touches on some of his major concerns--the plight of the poor and the social change brought on by the Industrial Revolution.
Dombey and Son is an excellent example of Dickens's work as a novelist.
The final section portrays Dickens in his later years, and the pieces reflect his maturation as a man and as a writer.
The Hidden Charles Dickens shows the complete spectrum of his oeuvre, from the early years to his final works. It shows Dickens to be an author of depth and complexity, one who deserves to be remembered for the entire volume of his work, rather than just a handful of titles.
The first section of the book covers the early writing of Dickens, touches on some of his major concerns--the plight of the poor and the social change brought on by the Industrial Revolution.
Dombey and Son is an excellent example of Dickens's work as a novelist.
The final section portrays Dickens in his later years, and the pieces reflect his maturation as a man and as a writer.
The Hidden Charles Dickens shows the complete spectrum of his oeuvre, from the early years to his final works. It shows Dickens to be an author of depth and complexity, one who deserves to be remembered for the entire volume of his work, rather than just a handful of titles.
- GenresShort StoriesClassics
764 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 1984
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 1, 2026
The Hidden Charles Dickens: A Collection of Little-Known Charles Dickens is his novel Dombey and Son sandwiched between two sets of eight short stories.
The majority of the book (629 out of 764 pages) is Dombey and Son. Which is my least favorite Dickens novel I've read so far. 😅 There were some good parts to it, but also a lot of uninteresting chapters and a couple side plots that don't affect the narrative. (Plus, the title is only relevant for less than a third of the book.)
Of the sixteen short stories, the only ones I found interesting were The Boarding-House, The Haunted Signal-Man, and George Silverman's Explanation. TBH was pretty funny, THSM was shocking, and GSE was just plain interesting. 😄
The majority of the book (629 out of 764 pages) is Dombey and Son. Which is my least favorite Dickens novel I've read so far. 😅 There were some good parts to it, but also a lot of uninteresting chapters and a couple side plots that don't affect the narrative. (Plus, the title is only relevant for less than a third of the book.)
Of the sixteen short stories, the only ones I found interesting were The Boarding-House, The Haunted Signal-Man, and George Silverman's Explanation. TBH was pretty funny, THSM was shocking, and GSE was just plain interesting. 😄
May 3, 2020
This is a book of about 16 stories, with a novel sandwiched between them. Altho called the “hidden” Charles Dickens, I’ve read the novel and at least two of the stories before, but they are generally lesser known works.
The first set of stories are from Dickens’ earlier days, the second set from later years. The one that moved me the most is called “A Small Star In The East”, from the last part of the book. It was different from the others, as there were none of the usual “characters” you usually expect to find in his works. This was a description of a walk down poverty-stricken streets, looking in on the people who lived there, and sometimes talking to them. It described hungry people living in dark, dirty circumstances, and how they simply tried to live. Then it turned to a children’s hospital and the insufficient food and unwholesome living that brought disease and sometimes death. Dickens was always a voice for the underdog and helped to support different shelters and charities, and this story seemed like it was written to help bring the need for change to light a little more.
I tend to prefer Dickens’ novels to his stories, mostly because his characters are my favorite part of his writing, and the novels give him much more time to let them come alive. The stories are more often observations, and don’t always have memorable characters in them, altho the one mentioned above was one I’ll remember favorably.
Between the stories in this book is the novel “Dombey and Son”, which I had read twice before, tho not for quite a few years. Its a long novel, and involves pride, betrayal, love, forgiveness, and characters you have to love or hate. Florence Dombey is an innocent child whose only desire was to be loved by her father, while he barely gave her a thought, simply because she wasn’t born a son. This is the main pulse of the novel, but of course there are several side stories that intertwine with it, full of colorful characters. One example is Captain Cuttle, who, altho very likable and a good man, has a very strange way of speaking, so that many around him never really understand the whole of what he is trying to convey. He is typical of a Dickens character, as there is usually someone like him to add some lightness to whatever else is going on.
I always read Dickens pretty slowly, because sometimes there are things that are very relevant to understanding the story that are almost hidden in someone’s speech or a long paragraph of description. And there is always a lot of both in any of his novels.
The first set of stories are from Dickens’ earlier days, the second set from later years. The one that moved me the most is called “A Small Star In The East”, from the last part of the book. It was different from the others, as there were none of the usual “characters” you usually expect to find in his works. This was a description of a walk down poverty-stricken streets, looking in on the people who lived there, and sometimes talking to them. It described hungry people living in dark, dirty circumstances, and how they simply tried to live. Then it turned to a children’s hospital and the insufficient food and unwholesome living that brought disease and sometimes death. Dickens was always a voice for the underdog and helped to support different shelters and charities, and this story seemed like it was written to help bring the need for change to light a little more.
I tend to prefer Dickens’ novels to his stories, mostly because his characters are my favorite part of his writing, and the novels give him much more time to let them come alive. The stories are more often observations, and don’t always have memorable characters in them, altho the one mentioned above was one I’ll remember favorably.
Between the stories in this book is the novel “Dombey and Son”, which I had read twice before, tho not for quite a few years. Its a long novel, and involves pride, betrayal, love, forgiveness, and characters you have to love or hate. Florence Dombey is an innocent child whose only desire was to be loved by her father, while he barely gave her a thought, simply because she wasn’t born a son. This is the main pulse of the novel, but of course there are several side stories that intertwine with it, full of colorful characters. One example is Captain Cuttle, who, altho very likable and a good man, has a very strange way of speaking, so that many around him never really understand the whole of what he is trying to convey. He is typical of a Dickens character, as there is usually someone like him to add some lightness to whatever else is going on.
I always read Dickens pretty slowly, because sometimes there are things that are very relevant to understanding the story that are almost hidden in someone’s speech or a long paragraph of description. And there is always a lot of both in any of his novels.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews