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Dickens 1812 - 1870 (58)

There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.


QUOTES

A tale of 2 cities

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Charles Dickens was an English writer, the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Among many others, he wrote the beloved classic novels Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Bleak House, A tale of two cities. He was born in Portsmouth, on February 7, 1812; in 1824 at the age of 12, as his father was imprisoned for debt, he was forced to live alone (the rest of the family followed the father) and work in a shoe making factory. It was a traumatic experience that haunted him all of his life and had influence on his work. After his father’s release, he managed to go for 3 years in a day time school, then had to stop in order to work and help his family. He found a position in an office but in 1829 left it and became a free-lance reporter. By 1832 he was a successful newspaper reporter. He had an affair at that time with a banker’s daughter but in 1832 they separated as her father didn’t want him. In 1835 Charles met and became engaged to Catherine Hogarth; he soon married her and had with her 10 children.

In 1836 he had his first book published, in 1837 his wife’s younger sister, who lived with them, died and his grief was great; he stopped writing for a while his monthly novel “The Adventures of Oliver Twist” in Bentley's Miscellany magazine. He finished the book though in 1839 and had great success. Over the next years, he struggled to match Oliver Twist’s success. In 1842, Dickens and his wife, embarked on a five-month lecture tour of the United States, where he declared his opposition to slavery and expressed his support for reforms. In 1845 he lived with his family for a year in Italy. From 1849 to 1850, Dickens worked on David Copperfield, the novel he considered as his personal favorite. In 1858 he separated from his wife and started living with a young actress. From 1860 to 1863, he did public readings in Paris and London. In 1865 he was returning from Paris when they had a railway accident and he was injured. He never fully recovered. Despite his fragile condition, he continued to tour. He launched a second U.S. tour from 1867 to 1868 and with 76 readings, he earned a fortune, approximately $1.5 million in current U.S. dollars. He returned to England and on June 9, 1870, had a stroke and died at his country home in Kent.