Selected Journalism: 1850-1870 (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Charles Dickens (Author), David Pascoe (Editor, Contributor) "I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree..." (more)
Key Phrases: late brutal assaults, associated silent system, very queer small boy, Household Words, New Year's Day, Reprinted Pieces (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Those of us who, unconsciously, perhaps, think of Charles Dickens as more a phenomenon than a man may take special delight in his Selected Journalism for on every page his sense of himself as a particular man in a particular place and time is apparent in every sentence, and yet that ineffable other thing is there as well, that abiding inexhaustibility, that transcendent mastery of all the richnesses of the English language. -- The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Jane Smiley

Product Description
Throughout his writing career Charles Dickens was a hugely prolific journalist. This volume of his later work is selected from pieces that he wrote after he founded the journal "Household Words" in 1850 up until his death in 1870. Here subjects as varied as his nocturnal walks around London slums, prisons, theatres and Inns of Court, journeys to the continent and his childhood in Kent and London are captured in remarkable pieces such as "Night Walks", "On Strike", "New Year's Day" and "Lying Awake". Aiming to catch the imagination of a public besieged by hack journalism, these writings are an extraordinary blend of public and private, news and recollection, reality and fantastic description.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140435808
• ISBN-13: 978-0140435801
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #787,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Selected Journalism of Charles Dickens is a festschrift for Dickensions, January 2, 2009

By	C. M Mills "Michael Mills" (Knoxville Tennessee) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the greatest of the Victorian English novelists. He authored such masterpieces as "Pickwick Papers"; "David Copperfield"; "Bleak House"; "Oliver Twist"; "Barnaby Rudge: and "A Tale of Two Cities". Most of his novels were doorstops in size. They were often involved tales of murder, deceit, poverty, child abuse, romance and mystery. Dickens was a master at drawing unusual characters which stick in a reader's mind. He was also a comic genius and a skilled storyteller who wove intricate plots in the loom of his brilliant mind.
However, few readers are conversant with Dickens many articles penned during his long literary career. Dickens began as a parliamentary reporter and continued to write articles on the passing scene throughout his life.
In "Selected Journalism 1850-1870; we peruse a generous selection of articles Dickens authored as editor of the periodicals "Household Words" and "All the Year Round." Other articles in this thick 600 page collection have been culled from such Victorian staples as "Cornhill" magazine. (in which Dickens eulogized his fellow author William Makepeace Thackery in 1863)
Within these many Penguin pages you will find articles on a whole gamut of subjects. Such articles deal with crime in London streets, poor houses,
Christmas and memories of the author's childhood school, racing at Epsom and the various locales the Dickens family lived in during summers abroad and in seaside towns in England.
The neophyte Dickens reader should start with the novels but these articles are also delightful. Well recommended for hours of reading pleasure.