HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'Oliver Twist has asked for more!'Fleeing the workhouse, Oliver finds himself taken under the wing of the Artful Dodger and caught up with a group of pickpockets in London. As he tries to free himself from their clutches he becomes immersed in the seedy underbelly of the Capital, amongst criminals, prostitutes and the homeless. Dickens scathing attack on the cruelness of Victorian Society features some of his most memorable and enduring characters, including innocent Oliver himself, the Artful Dodger, Fagin, Bill Sikes and Nancy.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood, it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage.’Set in fictitious Coketown, England during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850s, Dickens wished to expose the enormous gulf between the rich and poor through his writing. In Hard Times, the social and moral purpose of his work is at its most evident. Openly ironic and satirical in its tone, Dickens suggests a mechanization of society, where the wealthy are ruthless and uncharitable towards those less fortunate than themselves.Siblings Louisa and Tom Gradgrind are raised by their father, a harsh and pragmatic educator and his influence means that they go on to lead lives that are lacking in all areas. Louisa marries the arrogant and greedy Josiah Bounderby, ending in an unhappy pairing and the unfeeling and villainous Tom robs his own brother-in-law’s bank. As their father watches their plight, he realises that his own principles may have led to their downfall.
HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.'Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on the condition that he moves to London to become a gentleman, Pip's adventure really begins. Epic, illuminating and memorable, Dickens mysterious tale of Pip's quest to find the truth about himself is one of his most enduring and popular novels to date.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.There is probably a smell of roasted chestnuts and other good comfortable things all the time, for we are telling Winter Stories…This heart-warming collection of festive short stories and novellas perfectly captures the spirit of Christmas. Focused on the journeys taken through life and the inherent goodness of mankind, these tales explore the true meaning of Christmas and revel in the joyful season of goodwill. Imbued with a moral message, Dickens’s writing gives a voice to the plight of working-class families during a period of social and political change in Victorian England.With such tales as ‘The Chimes’, ‘The Cricket on the Hearth’ and ‘What Christmas Is, As We Grow Older’, this is a beautiful collection for Dickens fans, and a wonderful companion for all those who cherish ‘A Christmas Carol’.
HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,' said the Spirit. 'Look upon me!'A celebration of Christmas, a tale of redemption and a critique on Victorian society, Dickens' atmospheric novella follows the miserly, penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge who views Christmas as 'humbug'. It is only through a series of eerie, life-changing visits from the ghost of his deceased business partner Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future that he begins to see the error of his ways. With heart-rending characters, rich imagery and evocative language, the message of A Christmas Carol remains as significant today as when it was first published.
HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…'Set before and during the French Revolution in the cities of Paris and London, A Tale of Two Cities tells the story of Dr Manette's release from imprisonment in the Bastille and his reunion with daughter, Lucie. A French aristocrat Darnay and English lawyer Carton compete in their love for Lucie and the ensuing tale plays out against the menacing backdrop of the French Revolution and the shadow of the guillotine.
The Chimes, is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol. It is the second in his series of «„Christmas books,“» five novellas with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840s. In addition to A Christmas Carol and The Chimes, the Christmas books include The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848). On New Year's Eve, Trotty, a poor elderly «„ticket-porter“» or casual messenger, is filled with gloom at the reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers, and wonders whether the working classes are simply wicked by nature. His daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry next day. Trotty hides his misgivings, but their happiness is dispelled by an encounter with the pompous Alderman Cute, plus a political economist and a young gentleman with a nostalgia, all of whom make Trotty, Meg and Richard feel they hardly have a right to exist, let alone marry… The Christmas stories of the famous authors: Gilbert Keith Chesterton – A Christmas Carol, Lucy Maud Montgomery – A Christmas Inspiration, A Christmas Mistake, Christmas at Red Butte, Lyman Frank Baum -A Kidnapped Santa Claus, Mark Twain – A Letter from Santa Claus, Louisa May Alcott – A Merry Christmas, Leo Tolstoy – A Russian Christmas Party, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Christmas Bells, Nikolai Gogol – Christmas Eve, William Dean Howells – Christmas Everyday, Joseph Rudyard Kipling – Christmas in India, Lyman Frank Baum – Little Bun Rabbit, Elizabeth Harrison – Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe, John Milton – On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, Charles Dickens – The Chimes, Nathaniel Hawthorne -The Christmas Banquet, Hans Christian Andersen – The Fir Tree, Selma Lagerlöf – The Holy Night, Hans Christian Andersen – The Little Match Girl, Clement Moore – The Night Before Christmas, Henry van Dyke – The Other Wise Man, William Dean Howells – The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express, Beatrix Potter – The Tailor of Gloucester, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – The Three Kings, Anton Chehov – Vanka.
A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843. This is a very kind fairy tale that evokes bright feelings and wishes. After reading it, you want to be a little kinder. The plot is uncomplicated. There lives in the world a very, very greedy old man named Scrooge. He is such a miser – he saves on everything, is constantly dissatisfied with something, tries to earn all the money in the world. On one of the pre-Christmas days, his companion named Marley appears at his house. And all would be nothing, but Marley died seven years ago. However, he wants to help the old man to rethink his life. To this idea are connected and three Spirits. And one fine morning Scrooge turns into a cheerful old man, ready to help everyone. The treatment of the poor and the ability of a selfish man to redeem himself by transforming into a more sympathetic character are the key themes of the story. There is discussion among academics as to whether this was a fully secular story, or if it is a Christian allegory. Famous works of the author Charles Dickens: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations
This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works or all the significant works – the Œuvre – of this famous and brilliant writer in one ebook – 24000 pages easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate: • The Woman in White • The Moonstone • No Name • The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice • A House to Let (Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, and Adelaide Anne Procter) • Armadale • After Dark • The Lazy Tour of Two Idle ApprenticesCharles Dickens and • The Law and the Lady • The Frozen Deep • Stories by English Authors: England • The Queen of Hearts • Poor Miss Finch • The Dead Secret • The Black Robe • Man and Wife • No ThoroughfareCharles Dickens and • Basil • Hide and Seek • The Dead Alive • Miss or Mrs.? • Heart and Science: A Story of the Present Time • Blind Love • The Fallen Leaves • Little Novels • «I Say No» • Antonina; Or, The Fall of Rome • The Legacy of Cain • A Rogue's Life • My Lady's Money • The Two Destinies • The New Magdalen • Jezebel's Daughter • The Evil Genius: A Domestic Story • Rambles Beyond Railways; or, Notes in Cornwall taken A-foot • My Miscellanies • The Guilty River • A Fair Penitent • My Miscellanies • The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices (Charles Dickens)
GREAT EXPECTATIONS is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel and his penultimate completed novel; a bildungsroman which depicts the personal growth and personal development of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens's second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman and Hall published the novel in three volumes. It is set among marshes in Kent, and in London, in the early to mid-1800s, and contains some of Dickens' most memorable scenes, including the opening, in a graveyard, where the young Pip is accosted by the escaped convict, Abel Magwitch. GREAT EXPECTATIONS is full of extreme imagery -poverty; prison ships and chains, and fights to the death-and has a colorful cast of characters who have entered popular culture. Dickens's themes include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil. GREAT EXPECTATIONS is popular both with readers and literary critics, and has been translated into many languages, and adapted numerous times into various media. Upon its release, the novel received near universal acclaim. Thomas Carlyle spoke disparagingly of «all that Pip's nonsense». Later, George Bernard Shaw praised the novel, as «All of one piece and consistently truthful.» During the serial publication, Dickens was pleased with public response to GREAT EXPECTATIONS and its sales; when the plot first formed in his mind, he called it «a very fine, new and grotesque idea.» (more on www.wisehouse-classics.com)