Re: Student reading your book
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Mon, 2 Feb 1998 16:59:00 -0100
My dear Miss Varney,
You tell me your teacher is talking to you about why I wrote "Great
Expectations" in the way I did. Like most writers, I suppose, I plundered
my own experience and, when that faile me, used my imagination.
Many of my stories are closely based on my own experience, pre-eminently
"David Copperfield." At the request of my dear friend Forster, I had tried
to write an autobiography, but found certain episodes in my childhood too
painful, so I abandoned that project, and wrote a work of fiction instead,
mirroring many details of my own life.
In "Great Expectations," I suppose, I tried to look at what had happened
to me in a somewhat different light. As a child, I overcame suffering, and
prepared myself for the noble calling that became mine. David Copperfield
overcomes suffering similar to mine, and regains an honoured position in
society, of which he has been deprived. Pip simply gains an honoured
position, to which he has no natural right, and in gaining it loses
integrity and dignity.
It is never wise to represent to yourself the story of your life in one
way only. Alternative versions should be considered. Only that way may
full understanding be achieved.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________
>Dear Mr. Dickens,
> My high school T&G English class is reading your novel, Great
Expectations. I was wondering if there was any advice or useful information
you could offer us. So far, our teacher is teaching us your reasoning for
your writing things the way you did, and how they compared to your life.
>Thanks a lot,
>Michelle Varney, Freshman
>Spring Valley High School (Columbia, SC)
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author