Originally published in the 1850 Christmas edition of Dickens' journal Household Words, A Christmas Tree is considered to be one of Dickens's more autobiographical pieces. In it, decorations on the Christmas tree trigger the narrator's memories of Christmases past. This version of A Christmas Tree is part of Dreamscape's The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens.
In the 1840s Charles Dickens wrote 5 short stories with strong social and moral messages. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rand an Old Year Out and a New Year In, is the second of these stories, whose predecessor was the famous A Christmas Carol. The Chimes focuses on Trotty, a poor elderly messenger who is filled with gloom over reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers. After losing faith in the society, Trotty follows a call to the church bell tower where he encounters Goblins that teach him, and listeners, lessons in the form of visions about the mistreatment of the lower class in society. This story of social awakening inspires listeners to treat everyone with fair kindness.
Originally published in the 1852 Christmas edition of Dickens' journal Household Words, The Child's Story is the account of a man's life from childhood to the present as told to his grandson in the form of a fairytale about a traveler and the people he meets. This version of The Child's Story is part of Dreamscape's The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens.
No other author made a greater contribution to the literature of Christmas than the master himself, Charles Dickens. Collected here in one volume are his five famous Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain. Read and reread these heartwarming classics to yourself or to a loved one every holiday season.
No other author made a greater contribution to the literature of Christmas than Charles Dickens. Collected here are the five Christmas Novellas (A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain), plus twenty-three other short works on the theme of kindness and goodwill from “A Christmas Dinner” (1835) to “No Thoroughfare” (1867). Read and reread these heartwarming classics every holiday season.
Two photographers from very different cultures swap cities. Chinese photographer Yu Haibo travels to Canberra to capture the young Australian capital, and Canberra photographer Lee Grant travels to Beijing to capture images of the ancient Chinese city. As the two of them photograph the sister cities, they discover new perspectives and come to realize that these two national capitals with their different types of government and their contrasting populations have much in common.
Pip's life was striken with tragedy as a small boy, being orphaned with the loss of his mother, father and siblings. Pip forms a relationship with the odd Miss Havisham and her lovely adopted daughter Estella. An anonymous benefactor whisks Pip away from the life he once knew and the people he cared for to one of class and high society. When his beloved Estella enters his life once more, after many years apart, she denies him the affections he longs for. Pip has life-altering experiences throughout this story that will keep the listeners intrigued until the end.
Marley was dead, to begin with…' And yet, he manages to visit his old partner, the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, and send him on a transformative journey, led by three ghosts. First to his own past, where he sees again the love he spurned, then to the present, where he sees those around him going about their holiday preparations, and then into his own future, to see his just reward. A Christmas favorite, it will warm your heart with favorite memories, and remind you how the true Christmas spirit comes from giving with love.
In A Tale of Two Cities, French aristocrat Darnay and English lawyer Carton compete in their love for Darnay’s wife Lucie against the menacing backdrop of the French Revolution and the shadow of the guillotine. David Copperfield draws on Dickens's life to provide a vivid story mixed with comedy and sorrow. Born into poverty, young David Copperfield overcomes a cruel stepfather and frequent tragedies to enjoy success as an author. In Great Expectations, Dickens, creates a dark tale of suspense and satire around young orphan Pip, who longs for the life of a gentleman, and through a series of coincidences, a secret benefactor makes it possible for him to travel to London and chase his dreams. Dickens was a critic of the social stratification and poverty that was prevalent in Victorian society. Hard Times criticizes utilitarianism as it tells the story of a man and his children as they struggle with class conflict, and the horrible working conditions in Victorian factories.