Hard Times

Hard Times by Charles Dickens
ISBN: 9780099518921
Release Date: 05 Feb 2009
Average rating:   (read by 62 members)

Categories: General & literary fiction , Classic fiction

'Facts alone are wanted in life': the children at Mr Gradgrind's school are sternly ordered to stifle their imaginations and pay attention only to cold, hard reality. They live in a smoky, troubled industrial town so entertainment is hard to come by and resentments run deep. The effects of Gradgrind's teaching on his own children, Tom and Louisa, are particularly profound and leave them ill-equipped to deal with the unpredictable desires of the human heart. Luckily for them they have a friend in Sissy Jupe, the child of a circus clown, who retains her warm-hearted, compassionate nature despite the pressures around her.

Rated 47608 out of 5213876 books
Recommended 1 times

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topcat
Rated it   2 months ago
You cannot beat Charles Dickens for social commentary. This is so detailed and beautifully written, drawing attention to the desperate plight of working class children in Victorian England.

atticusfinch1048
Rated it   10 months ago
Facts facts facts thats what people should learn so says Gradgrind. Great book based on a northern mill where the work is bleak and hard. A masterpiece of observation as it gives a picture of what life was like for the mill worker in the grime of the...

NWard
Rated it   1 years ago
My first study text at school and a reminder there’s more to life than sheer monotony. An essential read for every northerner over a certain age!

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