Re: Hard Times
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Thu, 5 Nov 1998 16:04:23 -0100
My dear Miss Kilmonuw,
The setting of my book "Hard Times" is as factual as I was able to make
it. I went to Preston, before I wrote it, to observe a strike, and the
behaviour of both men and masters. I like to think I have recorded it
accurately. The story, naturally, is fiction. I have always been
interested in such matters as education, employment, industry, finance, and
I tried to express my interest in these matters through the characters about
whom I wrote. I have always, more particularly, been interested in
marriage, espcially unhappy marriages, I suppose. This interest too I tried
to explore through the creatures of my imagination. But creatures of my
imagination they were, not real persons observed my me.
As a man of the early Victorian era, I am scarcely well qualified to speak
on the twentieth century, but in my judgment you are little more successful
than we were in creating harmony between masters and men, constructing an
education system to meet the needs both of the country and of individuals,
guiding young people into happy rather than miserable marriages.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
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>Dear Mr. Dickens,
> Upon reading your novel Hard Times, one canly wonder if the events
that occured in your book are of truth or fiction. Also,what are some
examples of how the themes from Hard Times relates to incidents and events
of the 20th century?
>
>
>
>
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>Thank You,
>Mahrashta Kilmonuw
>
>
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Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author