Hard Times

Hard reading

I now know that to be considered a “classic” it has to be the most god awful boring book. Most of the chapters felt like fillers and had no relevance to the story and the characters that are heavily accented are the ones that talk the most just to make it even worse. For example, “...for onny o' th' monny causes that carries grief to the poor man's door, an' there'll be tender wi' yo, gentle wi' yo, comfortable wi' yo, chrisen wi' yo.”

I finally finished this beast. Actually, it's only 236 pages but it felt like a beast. It took me so long and I'm not well so it took me even longer. 
It had interesting parts but I felt like it dragged overall. Pretty much all the characters were interesting, but again, it dragged. So I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I didn't hate it and I didn't love it. It had a nice message, and it wasn't hard to figure out what it was trying to say.

the girls getting the good happy ending while all the shitty characters get bad endings? a bit too nice but I like it just the same

in my dreams sissy and louisa are in love and run away together to join the circus far far away from bloody coketown

I adored it. Dickens' fluid flowery descriptions and repeating motifs (smoke-serpents & melancholy mad elephants) really struck me, and held my attention throughout. I felt everything he asked me to feel - fury, pity, horror, wonder - and joy that I did not grow up under Gradgrind, so that I can and may feel those things. 

“... and the moment shot away into the plumbless depths, to mingle with all the lost opportunities that are drowned there.”

My first Dickens novel! (Sad, I know.) The story itself was a little underwhelming, but I enjoyed the character development and was pleasantly surprised at how good a writer Dickens is. This might be my first, but it will definitely not be my last!