Product Description

Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from any young minds. As a consequence his obedient daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman and 'bully of humanity' Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery. And, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and victimized weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognize the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23316 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Barry V. Qualls, Rutgers University
"Graham Law’s edition of Hard Times is the most useful edition for teaching Dickens that I have seen."

Kate Flint, University of Oxford
"This is an excellent edition - clear, authoritative and stimulating."

About the Author
Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a political reporter and journalist before establishing his reputation as a novelist with PICKWICK PAPERS (1836-7). His novels captured and held the public imagination over a period of more than thirty years. Kate Flint is Professor of English at Rutgers University. Her published work includes The Victorians and the Visual Imagination (2000).

Customer Reviews

Hard times ahead if you're reading this tome
I had to read this for GCSE in 1994 and it was a struggle from start to finish. It truly was 'hard times' reading this book, but something in it did appeal to me, because it didn't turn me off of Dickens. I have read further novels by him since - and not always because I have been forced to! There was a good TV series made of this book (the teacher made us watch it), with Bob Peck in it - that white hunter-type character from the first Jurassic Park film, who has since died, apparently.

Best Dickens that I have read
A fantastic read, with wonderfully descriptive moments. Very moving towards the end with a great ending.

Doesn't quite live up to its promise
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.