Re: dickens
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Tue, 28 Apr 1998 15:17:27 -0100
My dear Mr Gilbert,
My answer to your question is yes. There is not space enough here to
dilate upon that, so let me instead tell you how I explain the difference.
My perception is that much of the literature modern to you is directed at a
highly cultivated and educated minority. I took what care I could to
satisfy such a minority in my day, but I wrote for a broader audience. It
pleased me, to be sure, that frequenters of the London salons enjoyed and
discussed my books, but I was if anything more pleased to think of the
pleasure derived from them by the plain working man, the plain working man's
wife, and the plain working man's children. I was never prouder than when I
learned that poor people were forming clubs to buy the numbers of "Pickwick"
as they were issued, so that the one lettered man among them might read it
aloud to all members.
This is what acounts for the difference between my books and today's
literature.
Faithfully yours,
Chrles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________
>Hello Charles:
> I just finished reading A Tale of Two Cities and I have a question for
you (it would have been more, but due to limited time and such I am limited
to only one...) it is as follows:
>
> "Do you find that 'modern' lliterature is that much
different from the style that you
> and others of our time used"
>
>your reply would be much appreciated.
>
> yours truly
> Jeffrey Gilbert
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author