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| Portrait of Charles Dickens. Wit and Wisdom from Dickens (1912) Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, SFPL |
Read something by Charles Dickens. It doesn't have to be long; my favorites are Bleak House and Dombey and Son (long novels) and David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities (short novels).
Did you know that Charles Dickens founded and edited several magazines in addition to writing the novels he's known for? Take a peek at Household Words and All the Year Round, where many of his novels have been serialized. Available in the Magazines & Newspapers Center on the Fifth Floor of the Main Library (these titles may be requested with 24-hour notice).
Find out more about the life of Charles Dickens by reading one of the many biographies about him: here are a just a few. How about listening to NPR's Morning Edition for a dip into all things Dickens? Or read the always excellent and informative Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for a scholarly yet entertaining essay on the life and work. You'll read about how Dickens made two trips to America. He wrote about his first trip in Martin Chuzzlewit and American Notes.
The world of Dickens is romantic, repellant, hopeful, and fascinating. In the thick of becoming the modern world we now know, Dickens delighted in everything that was right about life in England, as well as railing against all that was wrong. His ability to describe in minute detail and color minor characters as well as major figures in some of the most memorable stories ever written has literally changed the landscape of our language (after Shakespeare). For more about that read Ben Zimmer's post on The Visual Thesaurus.
The international celebration is on! For events around the world see Dickens2012 and don't forget to visit your public library!
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| Cover illustration by George Cruikshank. Albert M. Cohn. A Few Notes Upon Some Rare Cruikshankiana (1915) Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, SFPL |
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