The work of Dickens opened the eyes of the middle and upper classes, and several of them went on to push for the British Parliamentary Papers in 1842 (aka the British Blue Books). They were a series of investigative inquiries and reports on multiple issues in Victorian Britain, including child labour, coal mine and factory conditions, sanitation, living conditions, etc. I had to reference them quite a bit in my fourth year history thesis, and the interviews with children are utterly heartbreaking.
"“I, The Inimitable, holding this office of mine, and firmly believing that I hold it by the permission of Heaven and not by the appointment of Satan, have the honor to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth, which disfigured the earth with the late abominable atrocities" - Charles Dickens
@@kaceym6903 That is a appalling thing to write, but I believe it was written at the time of the Indian Mutiny, when large numbers of European women and children and their Indian servants were brutally murdered.
Wow, interesting... I didn't know any of that, or at least don't remember any of that. I'm actually watching this because I don't know anything about Charles Dickens except for he is an author, and also that the saying, "What the dickins??" or other quotes using the term "Dickens" comes from him 💯 I know he is a legend, that's for sure‼️💯
Charles Dickens has been my favorite author since I was six. His books helpled to make so many positive changes for the downtrodden, while entertaining readers at the same time. That is the mark of a great writer!
0:45 - Chapter 1 - Early life 5:05 - Chapter 2 - Writing career 9:50 - Chapter 3 - On the road & making a difference 11:45 - Chapter 4 - A new chapter 15:05 - Chapter 5 - Death & legacy
Charles Dickens lived a few years in his youth on Bayham Street in Camden, London. It was and still is a rough place. I lived on the same street for a year a few doors down from where his old place would have been. His old home was demolished and is now a block of council flats. Found this out from the local library. 😉
Thank You for this bio. Good work. I've been a Dickens fan since childhood. When my children were small, I would read A Christmas Carol to them every year. I am happy to say that they loved it so much that they in turn have continued the tradition with their own children.
If anything this amazing man proves that someone “being a product of their time” is NEVER an excuse for turning a blind eye to social injustice. He was very forward thinking and beyond his years,
Tbh, the man wanted the ethnic cleansing of Hindus or 'HINDOOS' as he called it. So yeah no matter how much you try you will still have some prejudices of your times.
"“I, The Inimitable, holding this office of mine, and firmly believing that I hold it by the permission of Heaven and not by the appointment of Satan, have the honor to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth, which disfigured the earth with the late abominable atrocities" - Charles Dickens
One of my favorite writers. As a teen I walked around at home carrying one of his books reading dramatically out loud until someone in my family would tell me to go away....God I was a geek.
Don’t worry my dad makes fun of me (in a good way) of being the nerdiest guy he has ever seen and that he was lucky to not be my classmate for I’d have made time in school extremely boring. (he was the popular guy in school)
@deekat3279 For sure, you said you'll have to read it... so I just helped you. :) I remembered the movie version definitely being "I want some more," but wasn't certain myself what was in the original until I looked it up for you.
I never knew about his early life. It's heartbreaking. Now I understand why some of his works are so dark. Bleak House is a favorite of mine. As for his relationship with an 18 year old....no one can really know what was going on, so I won't judge. I especially loved this one, Simon and Shell! Thank you! 👍🏻❤🤗
Charles Dickens on his travels stayed in Barnard Castle, County Durham. It is reported he visited Schools and Work Houses in the area included one in Bowes a few miles from Barnard Castle. Can I also mention, it is a Train Guard who would have tried to apply the brakes, the U.K. don’t have conductors on the Railway.
I know this family who has flowers from his funeral pressed in a book and funeral program. A Christmas Story or Great Expectations the book was printed 1839 or 1843. I held them with gloves on. The things you remember. And the things forget!
13:53 What a coincidence! I grew up in Langley (about 15mins in the car from Staplehurst), went to Cornwallis School, caught the train from Staplehurst to Tonbridge for college for three years and worked at DK Holdings (on the estate next to the train station) for a short while. I have several friends (including a couple of ex-bandmates) who lived in Staplehurst at one time or another, and I know the place well!
I thought this story about Charles Dickens was simply marvellous and thoughtfully put together. And because Simon is a witty intelligent fellow with a quick state of mind, he can also quicken us with his unique style of narration. Excellent work indeed.
There's a film about Dickens called "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017). Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" changed the way the world celebrates the holiday, from a somber, holy time of fasting and meditation, to a time for family get-togethers, with joy and merriment.
Dickens, like many well-meaninged people, misdiagnosed the problem with the society. They believed that poverty is caused by greed and cruelty of the upper class. That's entirely untrue. Poverty was the natural consequence of early industrialization. In an agricultural economy, everyone is self employed, everyone is poor, so there is no poverty to talk about. In industry economy, there is employment and unemployment. The industries were not enough to hire everyone. Welfare? If you have more people unemployed, can you afford welfare? It is not because the up class are cruel, there is not much they can do. Allow Dickens in power, what could he do? Nothing. He can only write stories complain about it, he didn't have solution for it. Nobody did. Good intention often go with ignorance.
@@seanleith5312 bro, chill, its a story about the giving spirit of christmas and love for your fellow person using the issues of the time as a familiar backdrop, its not a fucking economics treatise
I always write the end first, editing as needed, and then tell the story, I figure that an ending without any beginning isn't very engaging, but the beginning and climax absent the conclusion, will drive you insane.
@deekat3279 you like russian lit i would recommend nobakovs lolita or dostoevskys the brothers karmazarov vonneguts slaughter house five is amazing as well
Dickens was very attracted to unintelligent, rather flighty women like Dolly Varden from one of his books. However, he was an intelligent man so he lost respect for his wife. Also he was very frenetic because he was haunted by awful memories so that made his wife feel over-anxious. They were trapped in their unhappy marriage which brought out the worst in him. Thank goodness we can more easily get divorces these days.
Fantastic video @Biographics ! One of the best I can recall. You compellingly told the story of one of the greatest Brits of all time. Well done! Here's hoping you choose a few more renowned authors!
One of the first authors I discovered as a child. I read the Christmas Carols and David Copperfield around the age of 9-10, after Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo and Les Mille et Un Fanfômes. I immediately fell in love with Dickens, especially D. Copperfield, which made me cry (literally) at times. I wondered how a book could touch someone so deeply that elicits such emotions. So I decided to read more of his novels. The Pickwick Papers was especially page-turning. I loved its humor immensely and didn't find it dated at all. Although the style may strike some modern readers as "stiff" and, well, "Victorian", it's only a question of the slightly obsolete spelling and once you get over the small distance it may create, you can ultimately enter into Dickens' universe and be penetrated by it completely. To me, what makes his novels so unique and fascinating is his rare ability to speak to the heart directly. He could not only create immortal characters (so many of them!), but he had this rare faculty of translating emotions into writing almost without filters. He could depict poverty, solitude, hunger in such a way that one could feel these things without having any previous experience with them. That's the ability of creating a universal language, and few authors have managed to develop such a faculty at least not to that degree. Not having received an academic background in English (my mother tongue is French), I am wondering if millenials still read Dickens. Are his works still on the curriculum? Do they study him at all? I'm sure his books will still be read centuries from now (assuming we make it thst far as a species), but will he still be taught at school so that his name stays as well knoen as it still is today? I hope so from rhe bottom of my heart. David Copperfield would doubtlessly one of my 5 desert island books. Along with Notre-Dame de Paris (Hugo), Gargantua ,(Rabelais), Dumas (Coubt of Monte Cristo) and Les Misérables (Hugo again). Not too bad,: my only English language novel...
@martin corderoyNice words. I've read quite a few novels by Zola, some mandatory (L'Assommoir was required reading for college). I had my Zola period, but after a while, I started to find his style and approach a bit repetitive. I saw a "formula" at some point, and it sort of had the effect of making the reading duller. Which isn't exactly a quality you're looking for, is it? I liked Nana and La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret (that was forbidden reading at the seminary where I studied ! Making the book far more interesting!). But I haven't read anything by him after I discovered Balzac. I didn't mention Balzac in my "desert island" books mostly because I wouldn't know which one to pick up and would end up packing the whole Conédie Humaine !! Seriously, Balzac and Flaubert, who may be comparable with Zola for many reasons, are far better authors of the 19th century. I can't say enough good about Balzac. I have read perhaps one quarter of La Comédie Humaine, and keep going through it little by little. Thanks for the Dickens tips. I agree with what you said about the works of a famous authors. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have known what to pick up (out of Dickens opus, so I went with the reputation first. I'm now able to read him in the original version (=in English) which took me a looong time as his vocabulary is quite extensive and I didn't master rarer words well enough to read him without looking a word up every 2 minutes... I don't like versions anymore. Well, except of course , for things like Dostoievsky or Tolstoy !!
I hated Dickens, but I can't deny the influence his works have left on literature. Hell, I use the same methods he did to talk about social issues in my own stories. And I've been lucky enough that a few have been published.
I remember "Oliver Twist " as a child, and later on, the other novels turned into TV series, and I saw the movie "The Invisible Woman " . They had a great effect on me. Along with Charlotte Bronte. Well done indeed again, Simon!
It was amazing... I am a literature student from India and your video really helped to link various facts from the biography. Your style of presenting as story in impeccable.
Love this! I live in Portsmouth where he was born and literally 2 mins from his Birthplace house, this video helped my son do his homework on how Dickens was important and why😁
I went to Charles Dickens house in London. Inside of the House was big but outside of the house was small. Charles Dickens is my inspiration. I also write short stories.
I met his great great great great? grandson Harry Lloyd a few times (I honestly don’t know how many generations it is). But he’s a direct descendant. He’s an actor. We have friends in common. The family still benefit heavily from Dickens legacy. He was a wonderful writer and a very empathetic/compassionate human being.
I love Charles Dickens. I read a Christmas Carol and watch the Alistair Sim version every Christmas. No other author instilled in me a love of books and reading.
This and Poe are one of my favorites. Can you please do one on Mark Twain,Alexandre Dumas, Hans Christian Anderson, and the Grimm brothers? Please and thank you in advance if you! 🤗
John Stroud well I'm interested. The reason being is that he was Bruce Lee's wing chun teacher. A fictionalized movie franchise with Donnie Yen about Ip Man is really cool. First two were good anyways, third was garbage. We will see how the 4th does. Anyways, there's my reason 🙂
@@norgepalm7315 He was a real person, and Bruce Lee's teacher. However, there's the possibility that his true story isn't as interesting as the dramatised films. You never know though, he did exist in pretty turbulent times
The very 1st book I ever read was an abbreviated version of Oliver twist with big glossy pictures published especially for children, gifted from my mother. I liked it so much that I decided I wanted to read the full version. I was 7 years old and it took me a while, but I read it all the way through. It was the book that encourage me to read from that point onward.
Out standing team, another great Bio :) Thank you very much for doing this one :) His books even after all this time are still relevant and moving in a lot of ways, as well as providing the reader with the occasional "Lark". "Nicholas Nickleby" and "Great Expectations" were me two favorites ;) I swear my old primary school head master was the true life incarnation of "Mr Wackford Squeers" :( :( :(
While William Shakespeare may be the greatest poet in English literature, Charles Dickens is its greatest writer of prose. I didn't learn to appreciate Dickens until I was in my late 50's, but since then, I've read almost all his works with great enjoyment. Dickens uses a lot of words because he has a lot to say. Unlike the dominant style of writing in the first half of the 19th century, his writing is remarkably free of excessive verbiage. When I read _David_Copperfield_, I would sometimes go back and reread the previous few paragraphs, not because I hadn't understood them, but for the sheer joy of reading those words to myself again. A friend who is a Professor of English at a local university summed it up best: "When I read Dickens, I know that I know all these words but I just can't arrange them on page the way he does." richard -- All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretense did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else's manufacture is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make as good money! An obliging stranger, under pretense of compactly folding up my bank-notes for security's sake, abstracts the notes and gives me nutshells; but what is his sleight of hand to mine, when I fold up my own nutshells and pass them on myself as notes! - Charles Dickens, in _Great_Expectations_
@deekat3279 It is from Vintage Classics, I believe. One of the best novels I've read this year is "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read it, I so recommend it.
"He is my favorite author at the moment." May you never lose this moment then. I found him 20 years ago and he still remains my favorite author. I have all of his books and I read them all once every few years.
Excuse my ignorance or naivety but.... Does TH-cam practice such an indirect censorship policy? Because I watch quite a few YT videos without any beeping off "foul" language - I don''t f***g mind :). People like Bill Maher, Chelsea Handler, even Samanrha Bee: are they demonetized on YT? Because if so, and if based on the frequency of usage, very little $$$ must be left for them at the end of the day..... Which would be a pity with all the hypocritical beeping off on nat'l network TV....
I was Scrooge in a play at my elementary school. All I remember was that most of us couldn't memorise all of our lines and we had teachers just beyond the set whispering them to us.
Could you please profile Jane Addams, American social reformer and founder of Hull House in Chicago? She was one of my favorite role models growing up.
That was a wonderful presentation. Dickens was a magnificent genius. Writers' biographies are always interesting because they suffer so much to produce such beautiful art. Could you do a presentation on the life of Dylan Thomas? John Clare would be a good one to do, too. Thank you for what you do.
Thank you Simon. I teaching a literature class in Cambodia and our next book is The Tale of Two Cities. You've given me some interesting background information on the author I think the students will like. My goal is for them to immulate his rise from poverty and attempt to change society in such a unique way.
Good one. Thanks Simon and team. I *did* think, however that you’re rather naive to say that because Dickens helped the poor, and showed empathy for the unfortunate he would never have had his wife committed involuntarily. Unfortunately, just because someone is admirable in some ways doesn’t mean that applies to all their dealings. I’m here because I watched another vid about Catherine and was curious about the divorce because I know the restrictions in place at the time. If Dickens wanted out of the marriage, having his wife committed was one of the few ways he could do it. Maybe he went on that inspection tour and decided he couldn’t do that to her. It must have been some really shocking things in that marriage for either of them to want a divorce. It would have made them into social outcasts, and his sales and tours would have dropped precipitously. I think though that I’ve read his mistress accompanied him on the tours, so he had quite a compartmented life.
@deekat3279 oh my cousin knew this famous person is like saying your gf goes to a different school everyone knows your lying and you look stupid doing so.
@@jessemcelroy2776 Rasputin was one of the many causes for the destruction of the Imperial Russian royal family. It wasn't just Lenin. The Russian Revolution was a direct result of World War One if anything.
@deekat3279 i don't even like bob marley of course I cant prove you wrong you haven't stated any reported facts i don't know your cousin im just going out on a limb to say you're lying and i cant prove your opinions on bob marley wrong it's your opinion. You're the quintessential keyboard intellectual my friend
@deekat3279 a smaller cause i would say of course his being close to the tsar and tsarina was a good reason for the public to turn on them but i would say most of the reason was lenin trotsky and the Bolsheviks led under marxist ideology as most historians would agree with me
First Poe, now Dickens?! My little bookworm heart can't take so much joy. 😍😍😍
oh damn! i missed the Poe bio! gonna watch that one after this :D
What's next Fyodor Dostoyevsky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, perhaps ken kesey he had a very interesting life.
i just want Hans Christan Anderson as a bio my disney heart would be happy
So you died shortly after writing this ?
Jesse Mcelroy Brothers Grimm?
The work of Dickens opened the eyes of the middle and upper classes, and several of them went on to push for the British Parliamentary Papers in 1842 (aka the British Blue Books). They were a series of investigative inquiries and reports on multiple issues in Victorian Britain, including child labour, coal mine and factory conditions, sanitation, living conditions, etc. I had to reference them quite a bit in my fourth year history thesis, and the interviews with children are utterly heartbreaking.
"“I, The Inimitable, holding this office of mine, and firmly believing that I hold it by the permission of Heaven and not by the appointment of Satan, have the honor to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth, which disfigured the earth with the late abominable atrocities" - Charles Dickens
Is your thesis available to read anywhere?
@@kaceym6903 That is a appalling thing to write, but I believe it was written at the time of the Indian Mutiny, when large numbers of European women and children and their Indian servants were brutally murdered.
@@stevebarlow3154 *raped, and murdered.
Wow, interesting... I didn't know any of that, or at least don't remember any of that. I'm actually watching this because I don't know anything about Charles Dickens except for he is an author, and also that the saying, "What the dickins??" or other quotes using the term "Dickens" comes from him 💯 I know he is a legend, that's for sure‼️💯
Charles Dickens has been my favorite author since I was six. His books helpled to make so many positive changes for the downtrodden, while entertaining readers at the same time. That is the mark of a great writer!
Same here. I haven't read every book he wrote, but I've read 6. My favorite is "A Tale of Two Cities"
@@danny8292 I LOVE that book!
@@danny8292 I love the many BBC film versions of David Copperfield and Great Expectations.
0:45 - Chapter 1 - Early life
5:05 - Chapter 2 - Writing career
9:50 - Chapter 3 - On the road & making a difference
11:45 - Chapter 4 - A new chapter
15:05 - Chapter 5 - Death & legacy
Charles Dickens lived a few years in his youth on Bayham Street in Camden, London. It was and still is a rough place. I lived on the same street for a year a few doors down from where his old place would have been. His old home was demolished and is now a block of council flats. Found this out from the local library. 😉
Thank You for this bio. Good work. I've been a Dickens fan since childhood. When my children were small, I would read A Christmas Carol to them every year. I am happy to say that they loved it so much that they in turn have continued the tradition with their own children.
If anything this amazing man proves that someone “being a product of their time” is NEVER an excuse for turning a blind eye to social injustice. He was very forward thinking and beyond his years,
Duran
Tbh, the man wanted the ethnic cleansing of Hindus or 'HINDOOS' as he called it. So yeah no matter how much you try you will still have some prejudices of your times.
I've been looking forward to the biography of Charles Dickens. Thank you ❤️👍
"“I, The Inimitable, holding this office of mine, and firmly believing that I hold it by the permission of Heaven and not by the appointment of Satan, have the honor to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth, which disfigured the earth with the late abominable atrocities" - Charles Dickens
I have read some of his novels at school
I’m always walking past his place on my way to work. Awesome video!
One of my favorite writers. As a teen I walked around at home carrying one of his books reading dramatically out loud until someone in my family would tell me to go away....God I was a geek.
Don’t worry my dad makes fun of me (in a good way) of being the nerdiest guy he has ever seen and that he was lucky to not be my classmate for I’d have made time in school extremely boring. (he was the popular guy in school)
Not a geek......an attention seeker.
@@stumarston6812 That too!! LMAO.
@@deemariedubois4916 Good on you for really enjoying his books.
Thank you! Charles Dickens is my favorite author.
Great video. I read many of his novels in school. Great Expectations was my favourite. Thanks much.
_"Please sir, I want some more."_
*~ Oliver Twist (1839)*
Me after watching all of the biographics episodes
@deekat3279 For sure, you said you'll have to read it... so I just helped you. :) I remembered the movie version definitely being "I want some more," but wasn't certain myself what was in the original until I looked it up for you.
More boy????
Mr. Friendship moreeeeeeeeee?!
My FAVORITE classic author
I truly enjoy these segments, thank you
I absolutely loved the way you narrated this biography Simon! I feel it would have made Dickens proud!
Thanks :)
You’re welcome! 😊
Charles. What a hero and genius man. Not many had this feelings and aktings for other people. Olaf Copenhagen Denmark
I'm very familiar with Dickens' story but have never seen these photos. A big thank you!
Absolutely love this channel, Bravo!
Can't wait for a Bio on: Molière, Dumas and Victor Hugo
Can we get a bio on Bob Marley?
Victor Hugo especially; he was France's answer to Charles Dickens👍
This should have been one of the long ass videos y'all make but it was still wonderful thank you.
I never knew about his early life. It's heartbreaking. Now I understand why some of his works are so dark. Bleak House is a favorite of mine. As for his relationship with an 18 year old....no one can really know what was going on, so I won't judge. I especially loved this one, Simon and Shell! Thank you! 👍🏻❤🤗
I love this channel the most
Thanks :) :)
Charles Dickens on his travels stayed in Barnard Castle, County Durham. It is reported he visited Schools and Work Houses in the area included one in Bowes a few miles from Barnard Castle.
Can I also mention, it is a Train Guard who would have tried to apply the brakes, the U.K. don’t have conductors on the Railway.
A classic! One of my favorite authors. Thanks so much for the awesome vid :).
I think a bio on Dante Alighieri would be awesome. Thanks for making these this channel is really fun to watch.
As always such good insight, keep them coming.
Thanks Simon, I really enjoyed hearing about this inspirational man. What a good you tube channel this is.
Been looking forward to this one, thanks! Have a great night everyone 💜🖤💜
I know this family who has flowers from his funeral pressed in a book and funeral program. A Christmas Story or Great Expectations the book was printed 1839 or 1843. I held them with gloves on. The things you remember. And the things forget!
13:53 What a coincidence! I grew up in Langley (about 15mins in the car from Staplehurst), went to Cornwallis School, caught the train from Staplehurst to Tonbridge for college for three years and worked at DK Holdings (on the estate next to the train station) for a short while. I have several friends (including a couple of ex-bandmates) who lived in Staplehurst at one time or another, and I know the place well!
This was a whole lot more interesting than I expect
Fun fact about Simon Whistler he doesn't run out of time he runs after it lol
Sounds about right.
Good video, I appreciate these videos, all of them, specially the boring ones, thank you! It is always good to learn something new everyday.
Thank you for this in depth journey into this honest and truth seeking man.
Awesome video!! Charles Dickens is one of my favorite authors.
Yet another cracking video! A Christmas carol at The Old Vic already booked! :-) Many thanks!
I thought this story about Charles Dickens was simply marvellous and thoughtfully put together. And because Simon is a witty intelligent fellow with a quick state of mind, he can also quicken us with his unique style of narration. Excellent work indeed.
There's a film about Dickens called "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017). Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" changed the way the world celebrates the holiday, from a somber, holy time of fasting and meditation, to a time for family get-togethers, with joy and merriment.
Charles Dickens is one of my absolute favorites. Love reading his works to this day!
Another compelling life. I really do enjoy your channel. Thank you!
He pretty much invented the modern idea.of Christmas
Dickens, like many well-meaninged people, misdiagnosed the problem with the society. They believed that poverty is caused by greed and cruelty of the upper class. That's entirely untrue. Poverty was the natural consequence of early industrialization. In an agricultural economy, everyone is self employed, everyone is poor, so there is no poverty to talk about. In industry economy, there is employment and unemployment. The industries were not enough to hire everyone. Welfare? If you have more people unemployed, can you afford welfare? It is not because the up class are cruel, there is not much they can do. Allow Dickens in power, what could he do? Nothing. He can only write stories complain about it, he didn't have solution for it. Nobody did. Good intention often go with ignorance.
Besides Santa.
@@seanleith5312 bro, chill, its a story about the giving spirit of christmas and love for your fellow person using the issues of the time as a familiar backdrop, its not a fucking economics treatise
my most favorite classic author!
I always write the end first, editing as needed, and then tell the story, I figure that an ending without any beginning isn't very engaging, but the beginning and climax absent the conclusion, will drive you insane.
Frances Hodgson Burnett please! A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are childhood favorites.
What about the secret goldfish
Little lord Fontleroy, too.
@deekat3279 you like russian lit i would recommend nobakovs lolita or dostoevskys the brothers karmazarov vonneguts slaughter house five is amazing as well
Yes. That's exactly why I keep coming back to this channel!
The real hero in this story is his wife, 10 kids. Sounds like he really gave her the Dickens.
Dad fact. He tried to have her comitted to an asylum, Forbade his children to talk to her after the divorce and didn't tell her when her son died.
WOW
@@mossbride She had great expectations for the dickens but in the end it let her down.
Dickens was very attracted to unintelligent, rather flighty women like Dolly Varden from one of his books. However, he was an intelligent man so he lost respect for his wife. Also he was very frenetic because he was haunted by awful memories so that made his wife feel over-anxious. They were trapped in their unhappy marriage which brought out the worst in him. Thank goodness we can more easily get divorces these days.
@@tracesprite6078 didn't stop him fathering her 10 children though!
Fantastic video @Biographics ! One of the best I can recall. You compellingly told the story of one of the greatest Brits of all time. Well done!
Here's hoping you choose a few more renowned authors!
One of the first authors I discovered as a child. I read the Christmas Carols and David Copperfield around the age of 9-10, after Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo and Les Mille et Un Fanfômes. I immediately fell in love with Dickens, especially D. Copperfield, which made me cry (literally) at times. I wondered how a book could touch someone so deeply that elicits such emotions. So I decided to read more of his novels. The Pickwick Papers was especially page-turning. I loved its humor immensely and didn't find it dated at all. Although the style may strike some modern readers as "stiff" and, well, "Victorian", it's only a question of the slightly obsolete spelling and once you get over the small distance it may create, you can ultimately enter into Dickens' universe and be penetrated by it completely. To me, what makes his novels so unique and fascinating is his rare ability to speak to the heart directly. He could not only create immortal characters (so many of them!), but he had this rare faculty of translating emotions into writing almost without filters. He could depict poverty, solitude, hunger in such a way that one could feel these things without having any previous experience with them. That's the ability of creating a universal language, and few authors have managed to develop such a faculty at least not to that degree.
Not having received an academic background in English (my mother tongue is French), I am wondering if millenials still read Dickens. Are his works still on the curriculum? Do they study him at all? I'm sure his books will still be read centuries from now (assuming we make it thst far as a species), but will he still be taught at school so that his name stays as well knoen as it still is today? I hope so from rhe bottom of my heart.
David Copperfield would doubtlessly one of my 5 desert island books. Along with Notre-Dame de Paris (Hugo), Gargantua ,(Rabelais), Dumas (Coubt of Monte Cristo) and Les Misérables (Hugo again). Not too bad,: my only English language novel...
@martin corderoyNice words. I've read quite a few novels by Zola, some mandatory (L'Assommoir was required reading for college). I had my Zola period, but after a while, I started to find his style and approach a bit repetitive. I saw a "formula" at some point, and it sort of had the effect of making the reading duller. Which isn't exactly a quality you're looking for, is it? I liked Nana and La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret (that was forbidden reading at the seminary where I studied ! Making the book far more interesting!). But I haven't read anything by him after I discovered Balzac. I didn't mention Balzac in my "desert island" books mostly because I wouldn't know which one to pick up and would end up packing the whole Conédie Humaine !! Seriously, Balzac and Flaubert, who may be comparable with Zola for many reasons, are far better authors of the 19th century. I can't say enough good about Balzac. I have read perhaps one quarter of La Comédie Humaine, and keep going through it little by little. Thanks for the Dickens tips. I agree with what you said about the works of a famous authors. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have known what to pick up (out of Dickens opus, so I went with the reputation first. I'm now able to read him in the original version (=in English) which took me a looong time as his vocabulary is quite extensive and I didn't master rarer words well enough to read him without looking a word up every 2 minutes... I don't like versions anymore. Well, except of course , for things like Dostoievsky or Tolstoy !!
@martin corderoy BTW: what is your cpnnection with Charles Dickens? You said smthg to that effect.... So what's the story? :)
@martin corderoy That's still smtg. It makes a good story. It's still closer than the Kevin Bacon',s 6 degrees of separation so I buy it. :)
Thank you Simon. I love your videos. They are so interesting and I look forward to them. I would love to see one on Horatio Nelson in the future.
I hated Dickens, but I can't deny the influence his works have left on literature. Hell, I use the same methods he did to talk about social issues in my own stories. And I've been lucky enough that a few have been published.
Hemingway, Poe... now Dickens! Hope this continues. Would love some more literary bio’s. Bran Stoker and Mary Shelley would be fantastic to see
I remember "Oliver Twist " as a child, and later on, the other novels turned into TV series, and I saw the movie "The Invisible Woman " . They had a great effect on me. Along with Charlotte Bronte. Well done indeed again, Simon!
another sharp and entertaining video👏
It was amazing... I am a literature student from India and your video really helped to link various facts from the biography.
Your style of presenting as story in impeccable.
Lol why don't you look up what Dickens thought of Indians then.
Love the channel. I also love to poke fun at Simon because it's funny. We love you Simon and pick on your pronunciation in playful jabs.
Can we get more musicians/composers please? Love the channel!!
I think this is why I always feel so disassociated , I miss the Victorian times that I lived in
What do you mean? The Victorian era ended in 1901
Thanks for this one Simon, I really do enjoy my Dickens.
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 Charles Dickens 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖.. Here in Holland there is a Mid Winter Festival every two years in his honor where I participated as a musician.
How you doing gorgeous, I'm sorry for infringing on your nice comment and beautiful profile. do you mind friendship?
Love this! I live in Portsmouth where he was born and literally 2 mins from his Birthplace house, this video helped my son do his homework on how Dickens was important and why😁
I went to Charles Dickens house in London. Inside of the House was big but outside of the house was small. Charles Dickens is my inspiration. I also write short stories.
I met his great great great great? grandson Harry Lloyd a few times (I honestly don’t know how many generations it is). But he’s a direct descendant. He’s an actor. We have friends in common. The family still benefit heavily from Dickens legacy. He was a wonderful writer and a very empathetic/compassionate human being.
A Christmas Carol is by far my favorite novel of all time. I love reading it next to the fireplace on a cold winters night.
" It was the best of times,
And it was the worst of times".
But this was smashing interesting video !
Thanks 😁 Simon
I love Charles Dickens. I read a Christmas Carol and watch the Alistair Sim version every Christmas. No other author instilled in me a love of books and reading.
This and Poe are one of my favorites. Can you please do one on Mark Twain,Alexandre Dumas, Hans Christian Anderson, and the Grimm brothers? Please and thank you in advance if you! 🤗
Well done Simon&Co.Bravo!
Can you please do a bio on Ip Man? Thank you :)
The character?
John Stroud well I'm interested. The reason being is that he was Bruce Lee's wing chun teacher. A fictionalized movie franchise with Donnie Yen about Ip Man is really cool. First two were good anyways, third was garbage. We will see how the 4th does. Anyways, there's my reason 🙂
@@norgepalm7315 He was a real person, and Bruce Lee's teacher. However, there's the possibility that his true story isn't as interesting as the dramatised films. You never know though, he did exist in pretty turbulent times
Wow what a thorough video, absolutely enjoyed! Great job biograhics team! 😁
He's my all time favorite author! Good job everyone!
Duran
One of my favorite classic authors. Thanks
Wow thanks alot, your way of telling is amusing 🙏🏻
this had me in tears what a beautiful man!
The very 1st book I ever read was an abbreviated version of Oliver twist with big glossy pictures published especially for children, gifted from my mother. I liked it so much that I decided I wanted to read the full version. I was 7 years old and it took me a while, but I read it all the way through.
It was the book that encourage me to read from that point onward.
Not only was he s great writer, but a great man as well. Brilliant video
If I had a time machine, I would go to one of his readings.
Anyone agree ?
Out standing team, another great Bio :) Thank you very much for doing this one :) His books even after all this time are still relevant and moving in a lot of ways, as well as providing the reader with the occasional "Lark".
"Nicholas Nickleby" and "Great Expectations" were me two favorites ;) I swear my old primary school head master was the true life incarnation of "Mr Wackford Squeers" :( :( :(
While William Shakespeare may be the greatest poet in English literature, Charles Dickens is its greatest writer of prose. I didn't learn to appreciate Dickens until I was in my late 50's, but since then, I've read almost all his works with great enjoyment. Dickens uses a lot of words because he has a lot to say. Unlike the dominant style of writing in the first half of the 19th century, his writing is remarkably free of excessive verbiage. When I read _David_Copperfield_, I would sometimes go back and reread the previous few paragraphs, not because I hadn't understood them, but for the sheer joy of reading those words to myself again. A friend who is a Professor of English at a local university summed it up best: "When I read Dickens, I know that I know all these words but I just can't arrange them on page the way he does."
richard
--
All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretense did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else's manufacture is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make as good money! An obliging stranger, under pretense of compactly folding up my bank-notes for security's sake, abstracts the notes and gives me nutshells; but what is his sleight of hand to mine, when I fold up my own nutshells and pass them on myself as notes!
- Charles Dickens, in _Great_Expectations_
Do an episode on Fyodor Dostoevsky. He is my favorite author at the moment.
@deekat3279 No. I am reading the translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I am actually currently reading Crime and Punishment.
@deekat3279 It is from Vintage Classics, I believe. One of the best novels I've read this year is "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read it, I so recommend it.
"He is my favorite author at the moment." May you never lose this moment then.
I found him 20 years ago and he still remains my favorite author. I have all of his books and I read them all once every few years.
And now, we wait for TH-cam to demonetize this cos Simon said the 'D' word (Charles' surname) too many times. .... facepalm over TH-cam policies.
Excuse my ignorance or naivety but.... Does TH-cam practice such an indirect censorship policy? Because I watch quite a few YT videos without any beeping off "foul" language - I don''t f***g mind :). People like Bill Maher, Chelsea Handler, even Samanrha Bee: are they demonetized on YT? Because if so, and if based on the frequency of usage, very little $$$ must be left for them at the end of the day..... Which would be a pity with all the hypocritical beeping off on nat'l network TV....
@@raminagrobis6112 how early in the videos are they swearing?... if it's within the first few minutes they probably got demonatised.
Charles DICKins.
@@Biographics 👈 The balls on these madaf00kers, 😁
Given youtube's voice to text censoring, even with Simon's impeccable enunciation it'll be read as "Dickskins".
I was Scrooge in a play at my elementary school. All I remember was that most of us couldn't memorise all of our lines and we had teachers just beyond the set whispering them to us.
Duran
Like button has been smashed!
Could you please profile Jane Addams, American social reformer and founder of Hull House in Chicago? She was one of my favorite role models growing up.
Excellent Simon another great bio
Charles Dickens. Without him, we wouldn’t have faires with spiked apple cider. Thank you.
Duran
Loved it ! Thank you , it helped for the presentation in my elocution exam !!
I absolutely love Charles Dickens. Thank you for the bio! I would love to hear about more British authors
That was a wonderful presentation. Dickens was a magnificent genius. Writers' biographies are always interesting because they suffer so much to produce such beautiful art. Could you do a presentation on the life of Dylan Thomas? John Clare would be a good one to do, too. Thank you for what you do.
Duran
Charles Dickens' life story always sounds better when told with an English accent. 😉
Duran
Please do a video on Madame Marie Tussaud, her life was so bloody unbelievably fascinating!
Thank you Simon. I teaching a literature class in Cambodia and our next book is The Tale of Two Cities. You've given me some interesting background information on the author I think the students will like. My goal is for them to immulate his rise from poverty and attempt to change society in such a unique way.
Good one. Thanks Simon and team. I *did* think, however that you’re rather naive to say that because Dickens helped the poor, and showed empathy for the unfortunate he would never have had his wife committed involuntarily. Unfortunately, just because someone is admirable in some ways doesn’t mean that applies to all their dealings.
I’m here because I watched another vid about Catherine and was curious about the divorce because I know the restrictions in place at the time. If Dickens wanted out of the marriage, having his wife committed was one of the few ways he could do it.
Maybe he went on that inspection tour and decided he couldn’t do that to her. It must have been some really shocking things in that marriage for either of them to want a divorce. It would have made them into social outcasts, and his sales and tours would have dropped precipitously. I think though that I’ve read his mistress accompanied him on the tours, so he had quite a compartmented life.
Great episode as usual
Can you do Bob Marley please
@deekat3279 uh razputin didn't topple the government. Lenin did with the bolshevik revolution. Razputin was their so called family healer
@deekat3279 oh my cousin knew this famous person is like saying your gf goes to a different school everyone knows your lying and you look stupid doing so.
@@jessemcelroy2776 Rasputin was one of the many causes for the destruction of the Imperial Russian royal family. It wasn't just Lenin. The Russian Revolution was a direct result of World War One if anything.
@deekat3279 i don't even like bob marley of course I cant prove you wrong you haven't stated any reported facts i don't know your cousin im just going out on a limb to say you're lying and i cant prove your opinions on bob marley wrong it's your opinion. You're the quintessential keyboard intellectual my friend
@deekat3279 a smaller cause i would say of course his being close to the tsar and tsarina was a good reason for the public to turn on them but i would say most of the reason was lenin trotsky and the Bolsheviks led under marxist ideology as most historians would agree with me
Amazing video 👏🏻👏🏻
Love literary bios. This was great. How about Victor Hugo, John Steinbeck, or back to the U.K., the Bronte sisters?
I’ve read an entire biography of Dickens written by Claire Tomalin. But I still had to tune in because these Biographics are so entertaining.
I want to thank you too, for doing an episode of Charles Dickens.
Another excellent video👍💖
Truly enjoyable! Well done