Charles Dickens Turns 200

Yesterday was a very special day. Exactly 200 years ago, a great man was born, an English novelist, whose books are still widely read today, whose name is known by most people.

Charles Dickens.

I have only just become properly acquainted with Charles Dickens and his novels. I have only read four of his many novels, but I have to admit, he is a genius with words. His stories wind through many complex twists and turns, introducing hosts of memorable characters, revealing unexpected secrets, and finishing with satisfying ending.

His characters are amazing. He based many of them on real live people he knew. Even his mother wasn’t safe from his imagination. He used her as a model for ‘Mrs Nickleby. So memorable are his characters that even people who have never read his books can name a few.

He visited America and wanted to visit Australia. He knew other famous authors like Elizabeth Gaskill and Wilkie Collins. He wrote and wrote and only missed two deadlines in his thirty years of writing. One he missed at his sister-in-law’s death, and the other he missed because of his own.

My favourite of all his books I have read so far, has to be Little Dorrit, closely followed by Bleak House. Coincidentally these both have mini series adaptations.

Charles Dickens remains one of the greatest writers of all times. No one can dream up characters quite like him. No one can spend pages and pages describing a ‘London Particular’ fog and get away with it quite like him. Charles Dickens is unique among writers.

See David Perdue's Charles Dickens page for more information.

See Charles Dickens at Madam Tussaud's.