The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe offers a full historical survey of Dickens's reception in all the major European countries and many of the smaller ones, filling a major gap in Dickens scholarship, which has by and large neglected Dickens's fortunes in Europe, and his impact on major European authors and movements. Essays by leading international critics and translators give full attention to cultural changes and fashions, such as the decline of Dickens's fortunes at the end of the nineteenth century in the period of Naturalism and Aestheticism, and the subsequent upswing in the period of Modernism, in part as a consequence of the rise of film in the era of Chaplin and Eisenstein. It will also offer accounts of Dickens's reception in periods of political upheaval and revolution such as during the communist era in Eastern Europe or under fascism in Germany and Italy in particular.

Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved icons of British literature, but many of his novels stem from his connections with Europe. Does it make sense to read him as a European author as well? This book seeks to explore Dickens’ relationship to Europe, from his numerous travels – and subsequent travel writing – to the representation of continental locations in his novels, and to the reciprocal influence between his works and other European texts. Contributions focus on major fictional works like A Tale of Two Cities and Little Dorrit, but also on Dickens’ letters, travel writing and biography. The study begins by delineating the scope of Dickens’ European frame of reference, and goes on to deal with specific geographical and political issues in Italy, France and Switzerland. Finally, it places Dickens’ works within a wider European artistic context through comparisons with Hugo, Tolstoy, Daumier and Grandville.

The essays collected in this volume offer fresh readings of Dickens's travelogues and novels, often pointing to the many-sidedness of his personality. The 'uncommercial traveller' emerges as an ecumenical John Bull, chary of the alien but greedy of novelty, a man whose incursions on well-trodden or unfamiliar ground are always journeys into the uncanny. Besides dealing with the geography of the novelist's imagination, the book explores numerous 'new worlds' such as the inspiring world of Victorian science and Dickens's responses to it or the world of modern literary theory that shapes our own responses to his work.

The Reception of Charles Dickens in Europe offers a full historical survey of Dickens's reception in all the major European countries and many of the smaller ones, filling a major gap in Dickens scholarship, which has by and large neglected Dickens's fortunes in Europe, and his impact on major European authors and movements. Essays by leading international critics and translators give full attention to cultural changes and fashions, such as the decline of Dickens's fortunes at the end of the nineteenth century in the period of Naturalism and Aestheticism, and the subsequent upswing in the period of Modernism, in part as a consequence of the rise of film in the era of Chaplin and Eisenstein. It will also offer accounts of Dickens's reception in periods of political upheaval and revolution such as during the communist era in Eastern Europe or under fascism in Germany and Italy in particular.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens The world is on edge. People are divided. The cities hold their breath before the storm... A Tale of Two Cities is an interlaced story of London and Paris before and during the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Dicken's masterful narrative introduces the reader to a cast of witty characters, each seeking his own fate in a tumultuous time. After 18 years in prison, Alexandre Manette is released and reunited with his daughter, only to struggle to recognize her. His release sets off a chain of events that will snake through the two cities.