Book description
With an essay by F. R. Leavis.
'Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing
but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and
root out everything else'
Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school
owner and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and
his family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from young minds. As a
consequence his obedient daughter Louisa marries the loveless
businessman and 'bully of humility' Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom
rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery. And, as their
fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and
victimised weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to
recognise the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery.
The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in
the English language, from the eighteenth century and the first novels
to the beginning of the First World War.
Charles Dickens (1812-70) had his first, astounding success with
his first novel The Pickwick Papers and never looked back. In
an extraordinarily full life he wrote, campaigned and spoke on a huge
range of issues, and was involved in many of the key aspects of
Victorian life, by turns cajoling, moving and irritating. He completed
fourteen full-length novels and volume after volume of journalism.
Hard Times delivers a powerful indictment of materialism in
industrial society, and vividly portrays the perils of the
institutionalised crushing of imagination and creativity.
The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas
Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge,
A Christmas Carol, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and
Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Litte
Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations,
Our Mutual Friend and The Mystery of Edwin Drood are
also published in the Penguin English Library.
