Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens

Book Overview

For anyone wishing to learn more about Dickens's life and works and the literary, political, and social milieu in which he lived, there is no better place to turn than The Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens. Written by a distinguished team of over 60 scholars, and edited by Paul Schlicke, former president of The Dickens Society, The Companion offers a detailed exploration of the private man and the public figure. More than 500 alphabetical entries chart the age in which Dickens lived and worked, the places which were significant to him, and the ideas and social theories of his time. Contributors draw upon recent work in areas such as publishing history, book illustration, periodical reviewing, women's studies, and cultural studies to offer a synthesis of the current state of Dickens scholarship. Also included is a complete chronology of Dickens's life, a list of characters and of abbreviations, a thematic overview, an extensive bibliography, and over 50 beautiful black-and-white illustrations and four maps to complement the volume. Most importantly, The Companion illuminates the intricate connections between Dickens's life, his writings, and his time. Anyone wishing to more fully enjoy the crowded world of Dickens's imagination will be superbly aided by the wealth of information gathered here on Dickens's reality.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019866253X
• ISBN13: 9780198662532
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Encyclopedic literary biography of Dickens

Encyclopedic literary biography of Dickens is thorough but not exhaustive. Alphabetic entries of varying length by a large team of Dickens experts cover events, places, people, and subjects in Dickens' writing and public and private life. Longer entries include bibliographies for further research, and a general bibliography is provided. Each major Dickens work is given a separate section documenting its --inception and composition, --contract, text, and publication history --illustrations --sources and context --plot character and theme --reception There are some pictures and maps, although more would be better, and appendices providing an alphabetic list of characters and timeline of Dickens' life and career with parallel literary and historical events. The companion packs a lot of information into its 650 heavy pages of small print. If you plan to spent extensive time perusing sections, keep that in mind--I wear bifocals, but the print was too small even for my reading lenses, so I had to read longer sections without my glasses. Maybe that's more about me than about the book--but you are forewarned if you are of a certain age, and you know who you are out there! The coverage of Dickens seems scrupulously fair, documenting both the good and bad of Dickens' life and career. And yes, there are bad in both, despite his rise to the pantheon of literary demi-gods (I have read and reviewed six of his novels, and rated all as 5-star classics). His well-kept secret affair with Ellen Ternan is mentioned but neither sensationalized nor explained away. I didn't read every entry word for word (this is a reference work, after all, and like all encyclopedia suffers from some repetition of information between entries), but I learned much new and fascinating about Dickens: --every one of his novels was written and originally published as weekly or monthly serials --he wrote over 14,000 letters that are documented as of the publication date, with more still being discovered. --while known for his novels, his output in other styles (journalism, essays, short stories) actually exceeds his novels. --he was friends with novelist Bulwer-Lytton, infamous for the opening phrase "It was a dark and stormy night", and immortalized in the annual prize for worst fiction writing. Fortunately, the association seems not to have effected Dickens' ability. --Dickens attacked writing like a day job, keeping a strict daily schedule, for several years working on two series in parallel on journalistic deadlines (which were nearly always met), while engaging in a vigorous public life of amateur stage productions, speeches, travels, and book reading tours that both made and benefited from his groundbreaking celebrity status. --perhaps the most intriguing personal biographic detail (notwithstanding the unknown and never-knowable details of his affair) is his undying love for his wife's sisters, including a deep period of mourning for one who died as a teenager

Everything You Wanted to Know About Dickens

The Oxford Readers Companion to Charles Dickens serves as an alphabetical tour of the life of the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. With entries ranging from "A Becket, Gilbert" to "Yates, Frederick" this wonderfully engrossing reference book offers readers information about every aspect of the life, work, and historical environment in which the great man created magic. From analytical entries about every novel to biographical sketches of his friends and foes, this book truly brings Dickens to vivid and enjoyable life. No scholar of the 19th century novel should miss this comprenhensive work.