Charles Dickensin syntymästä 200 vuotta

Päivi Brink kirjoittaa:

Onneksi olkoon englantilaisen realistisen romaanin mestari Charles Dickens!Raymond Williams kirjoitti kirjassaan "The English Novel from Dickens to Lawrens" näin:
"He is able to dramatise those social institutions and consequences which are not accessible to ordinary physical observation. He takes them and presents them as if they were persons or natural phenomena." Dickens tunnetaankin juuri yhteiskunnallisena kirjailija, jonka kirjat viihdyttävät, mutta puhuvat samalla merkityksellisistä sosiaalisista ongelmista. Hänet muistetaan myös Lontoon kuvaajana - uuden, räjähdysmäisesti kasvaneen suurkaupungin ilmiöiden pohtijana.

The Guardian julkaisi tänään Dickensin elämäkerran kirjoittajan Claire Tomalinin kirjeen Dickensille. Tässä ote siitä, mitä Dickens Tomalinin mukaan ajattelisi nykyajasta:

"In London, you would notice at once that the great black bulging dome of St Paul's, as you described it, is no longer black. The fog, the mud and the filthiest slums have gone. The absence of workhouses and the small number of street children would please you, and the lack of blatant prostitution in the Haymarket.

But you would see the same gulf between the rich, at ease enjoying their money and power, and the poor, relying on out-of-date food thrown out by supermarkets and food parcels from charities, and fearing for their jobs. And since you were obsessively interested in prisons all your life, you might be daunted by the huge increase in our prisons and number of prisoners."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/07/letter-charles-dickens-200th-birthday

New York Times kirjoittaa Dickensin vauhdikkaasta persoonasta:
"It’s a wonder Dickens didn’t explode and perish long before his death in 1870, at age 58. Quite apart from the act of composing his novels, he was a whirlwind, living a life that is nearly unmatched in its vigor. He had one entire career as a magazine editor, another as an actor and manager of theatrical productions, still another as a philanthropist and social reformer. The record of his private engagements alone — dinners, outings, peregrinations with his entourage of family and friends — is exhausting to read. The novels stand out against the backdrop of hundreds of other compositions, all of them written against tight deadlines."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-whirling-sound-of-planet-dickens.html?_r=2

Ja täällä Dickensiä esitellään laajemmin: http://dickens.fi/dickens.html

Tässä vain pari netistä löytämääni Dickens-sivua. Nyt jos koskaan kannattaa tutustua Dickensiin ensimmäistä kertaa tai uudestaan! Lopuksi vielä puheenvuoro sankarille itselleen, joka rakasti yöllisiä kävelyretkiä Lontoon kaduilla:

"Although I am an old man, night is generally my time for walking. In the summer I often leave home early in the morning, and roam about the fields and lanes all day, or even escape for days or weeks together; but, saving in the country, I seldom go out until after dark, though, Heaven be thanked, I love its light and feel the cheerfulness it sheds upon the earth as much as any creature living."
Näin alkaa romaani The Old Curiosity Shop.