Showing results for "Hard Times" in Literary Fiction

Despite the title, Dickens's portrayal of early industrial society is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love and to have no empathy, their lives completely devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination. Only after a series of crises does their father realise that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives.

'Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.' So says Thomas Gradgrind, a wealthy, utilitarian school board superintendent. Father to Tom and Louisa, he shapes the minds of all the young children, including his own, with the exception of only one: the circus-born Sissy Jupe.

Through the story of Thomas Gradgrind, a strict, no-nonsense man who values "facts" above all else, Dickens explores the consequences of an education system that prioritizes logic and reason over imagination, emotion, and humanity. Gradgrind's rigid philosophy deeply affects his children and the lives of many others, including the innocent and idealistic Sissy Jupe, whose life is shaped by her connection to the circus and its emotional, colorful world.

An extraordinary crime novel from a rising star, that follows the ripple effects of a tragic shooting throughout a Chicago community from the view of the teachers, police officers, and students impacted “A deeply satisfying story with as much, heart, grit and history as the city that it’s...

In this, Dickens' most openly political novel, we discover the terrible human consequences of a ruthlessly materialistic philosophy in the lives of Thomas Gradgrind's family, brought up to believe that only "Facts! Facts! Facts!" have any meaning. Set in Coketown, a typical Lancashire milltown, the novel graphically exposes the truth about Victorian "progress".

Hard Times is set in and around Coketown, a fictitious, Victorian mill town in the North of England. A town of red brick, machinery, and tall chimneys. A town blackened by soot, shrouded in mist, and choked by smoke. The working men and women of Coketown, referred to generally as "Hands" as if they were merely extensions of the machinery they operate, and not individuals with loves and likes, memories and inclinations, souls to weary and souls to hope.

Dickens wrote into life some of the most beloved and well-known characters in the history of English literature, introducing us to Pip, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Scrooge, Nicholas Nickleby, Miss Haversham, and many more who have lived in the imagination of generations. In this definitive and beautifully curated collection, you'll discover some of Dickens's most beloved classics and walk the streets of London, Paris...

Published in 1854, the story describes class conflict in Victorian England and serves as a powerful critique of the social injustices that plagued the Industrial Revolution. Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

This short novel follows the fate of Sissy Jupe, a warm-hearted circus child, and the family that adopts her. Deserted by her ailing father, Sissy is taken into the cold household of the Gradgrind family, which operates a school. The "eminently practical" Thomas Gradgrind believes only in facts and figures and has raised his children accordingly, thoroughly suppressing the imaginative side of their nature, and the consequences are devastating.

Even before I met them I knew they were trouble. It was supposed to be a simple prison transfer that ended up anything but. Hunter and Ryker were two hardened criminals that shouldn’t look as good as they do. As a police officer it was my job to follow the rules and that meant ignoring whatever feelings these men stirred in me. I read their files. Ryker likes to torture people to death. So when they kidnap me, I know my fate is sealed.

Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens' novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London.

In the spare, no-nonsense Gradgrind household, Tom and Louisa are raised according to their father's unyielding guiding philosophy: facts - nothing but facts. But while a ban on imagination is mere policy for the Gradgrind children, lack of whimsy is a necessary survival skill in Coketown, the grimy and grim working-class burg devoted to nothing but the relentless advance of industry...

Penguin Classics presents Hard Times, Charles Dickens's stark exposé of capitalist exploitation during the industrial revolution, now adapted for downloadable audiobook. Read by the actor Michael Pennington. Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model...

Self-made cotton mill owner and braggart Josiah Bounderby marries Thomas Gradgrind's daughter, Louisa. He later accuses a dismissed laborer of stealing from his bank, but the culprit's identity is revealed as a surprise to everyone! This Dickens tale, about the pratfalls of utilitarianism and the gifts of joy and love, is an underappreciated classic.

Here is E. L. Doctorow’s debut novel, a searing allegory of frontier life that sets the stage for his subsequent classics. Hard Times is the name of a town in the barren hills of the Dakota Territory. To this town there comes one day one of the reckless sociopaths who wander the West to kill...

Guatemala, 1954. El golpe militar perpetrado por Carlos Castillo Armas y auspiciado por Estados Unidos a través de la CIA derroca el gobierno de Jacobo Árbenz. Detrás de este acto violento se encuentra una mentira que pasó por verdad y que cambió el devenir de América Latina: la acusación por parte del gobierno de Eisenhower de que Árbenz alentaba la entrada del comunismo soviético en el continente.

In Coketown, England, wealthy retiree Thomas Gradgrind has founded a school based on his belief that life should be factual - not fanciful. Among his pupils are his children, Thomas and Louisa, who are raised on his teachings of rational self-interest and grow into loveless, despairing adults. As he bears witness to his children’s suffering, Gradgrind is forced to confront the dangers of his dispassionate, utilitarian philosophy.

Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens' novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London.

Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens' novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London.

Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens' novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London.