tylernt7

The readers he stops in their tracks.

The thing is, he has a very driving narrative in the pieces. Yeah. He's got to get where he's going. Yeah. But along the ways something like that will just boom.
And those who suggest that Dickensian characters are still living among us now.
Some of it's timeless, yeah. And you see it all the time. Not me, obviously. No, something, me, definitely.

Before the bestsellers of Dan Brown and JK Rowling, before the literary fireworks of Ian McEwan and Martin Amis, there was the spectacularly popular and critically applauded writing of Charles Dickens.

Dickens was the complete writer. He wrote 15 novels. He invented 989 brand-new characters, he edited newspapers and magazines. He wrote speeches, plays, short stories, pamphlets, letters. Sometimes he did all these things simultaneously.

Now, I haven't read all of these. I doubt many people have. But I don't think we should be put off by the sheer volume of Dickens's output, or his reputation. The great thing about him is that he had such a distinctive tone, such a unique style that was recognisable as he tackled the big issues - crime, death, poverty, riches, guilt, fear. And I think you can join him at any point. Each novel to me feels like a continuation of all the rest. Every character just one inhabitant in a virtual world created in his imagination. So I think the best way to tackle Dickens is to choose your point and dive in!

To resume the consideration of the curious question of refreshment, I...

Comedian Phill Jupitus didn't know any Dickens until he decided to perform a show at the Edinburgh Festival. There he would read out loud works he was seeing for the first ...