Saturday, September 11, 2010

Weekly Geeks: Lasting Authors

Weekly Geeks:


What do you think it is that gives your favourite long-lasting author an edge? Is longevity all to do with quality? Quantity? Style perhaps? Or luck?

One of my favourite authors is Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870). Many of his character are memorable, or we can say iconic, even after almost 150 years. His prose is as good as the characters he created. He was so much into social reforms, he depicted the working class so well that even now his novels can be quoted on those, when the working class suffers. His plot are intricate and the personalities he created remain unforgotten. Despite the bleak settings, his novels are filled with humour and that also is a factor which has kept his readers hooked. Once a person reads a Dickens novel, he wants more.

Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, The Christmas Carol, Tale of Two Cities, Nicholas Nickleby, The Bleak House, Hard Times, Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, Barnaby Rudge are some of his very well known novels. And most of these were written as weekly/monthly series. They remain to be as popular now as they were in those times. I plan to re-read all the above books soon. I might set it as a personal challenge.

6 comments:

Deepali said...

What a great question! It really makes me want to join in the meme...

Love Agatha christie, Georgette Heyer and PG Wodehouse (first book 1910s), and detective novels from the 1930s like Dorothy Sayers.
The first fantasy I read was CS Lewis..that era is what put me onto reading really.

Kerrie said...

I agree that Charles Dickens is an "immortal" Gautami, a social observer, humorous yet serious writer, with fabulous descriprion

Bernadette said...

Thanks for joining in Gautami even though I forgot to add the Mr Linky to the original Weekly Geeks post (I've added it now and have included your link there as well as it being in the comments).

I agree with you that Dickens' characters are outstanding, very memorable. I also think his writing style is quite subdued which means it hasn't dated - some of his contemporaries wrote in a very flowery style that is very out of place.

BooksPlease said...

I recently read The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It's been years since I read any of Dickens's books and I'd forgotten how he mixes humour with bleakness and such interesting characters.

I'm thinking of reading more of his as well, maybe starting with A Tale of Two Cities, which I haven't read since I was 15 (too long ago!) and read it for 'O' Level at school.

Ruth said...

I couldn't agree more about Charles Dickens. Sometimes his style makes it difficult when beginning one of his books.I often make the statement that you have to wade through the first 50 pages before you get into the book. But Charles Dickens is the writer of my favorite book of all time--A Tale of Two Cities.

I love AGatha Christie and C.S. Lewis, too.

Maxine Clarke said...

Great choice of author, I really like Dickens, too. I love his stories, his characters, his understanding of humanity and his sense of mystery and suspense!