Charles Dickens by George Orwell aka Eric Arthur Blair is the 7th and longest so far of The Essays which have the 917th place on The Greatest Books of All Time site, where Nineteen Eighty Four is an incredible 6th, Animal Farm is not far down at 54, while Homage to Catalonia is somewhere higher than The Essays, which some critics said that would become much more important than the other body of work, which you find reviewed, together with more than five thousand other magnum opera, books and films, on my blogs, if you are interested, here is one link https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html

 

Charles Dickens by George Orwell aka Eric Arthur Blair is the 7th and longest so far of The Essays which have the 917th place on The Greatest Books of All Time site, where Nineteen Eighty Four is an incredible 6th, Animal Farm is not far down at 54, while Homage to Catalonia is somewhere higher than The Essays, which some critics said that would become much more important than the other body of work, which you find reviewed, together with more than five thousand other magnum opera, books and films, on my blogs, if you are interested, here is one link https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html

 

 

10 out of 10

 

“Dickens is one of those writers who are well worth stealing. Even the burial of his body in Westminster Abbey was a species of theft, if you come to think of it…” this is a quote that we can relate to the Bookshop Memories essay

 

This is an impressive work, which covers so much of Charles Dickens that one can be overwhelmed, not a specialist, or one who is very familiar with the important books of the famous author, but someone outside the Anglo-Saxon universe, without such a penchant for reading, and Dickens in particular, it could be puzzling, or more

Indeed, even Geroge Orwell writes about the fact that people know Dickens like the Bible, acquainted with his characters second hand, but people think of something connected with his books every single week

 

I wonder what would be the frequency, proportion today, when somehow I think Dickens is less relevant, though I could be mistaken, biased, or both – at this point, I think Great Expectations has had the biggest impact https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/05/great-expectations-based-very-loosely.html though there are others

 

David Copperfield is Dickens, George Orwell writes, based on the fact that the protagonist is – becomes – a novelist, and there would be other arguments – this will be taken into another corner, where jobs and their absence is discussed

We get that Dickens had a rather peculiar perspective, the success of the hero was one where he would become a man of means, but without any profession shown as worthwhile, except perhaps the novelist, a lack of calling

 

Though against violence, Dickens did not have a vision, apparently, he sent his children to study at Eaton, most of the masters in his books are bad, but we have no proposal for a better system, it is just ‘if people behave better’

Or something of the kind – different aspects of novels are exposed – Great Expectations has this introduction where the escaped convict grabs the child, Pip, and he uses the most threatening, terrifying language:

 

‘You have to provide the tolls and food, or else your heart and liver will be pulled out and eaten, I have a young mate, who is much worse than me, and I hardly keep him from abusing you’ words to that effect, horrifying…

Later, readers have to accept that the same figure will show an incredible gratitude, when set against that ghastly speech, and then Pip is appalled to receive so much, because it is the former convict, notwithstanding the fact that this is a legal enterprise

 

The Invisible Woman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-invisible-woman-by-claire-tomalin.html is a good film, which exposes the relationship between Dickens, his wife and the Invisible Woman

 

It does not make one fond of the writer, on the contrary, albeit we have Intellectuals https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html to read to learn more about Tolstoy, Ibsen and others

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

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