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The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist
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About This Book
Discover the tricks of a literary master in this essential guide to the fictional world of Charles Dickens. From Pickwick to Scrooge, Copperfield to Twist, how did Dickens find the perfect names for his characters?What was Dickens's favourite way of killing his characters?When is a Dickens character most likely to see a ghost?Why is Dickens's trickery only fully realised when his novels are read aloud? In thirteen entertaining and wonderfully insightful essays, John Mullan explores the literary machinations of Dickens's eccentric genius, from from his delight in clichés to his rendering of smells and his outrageous use of coincidences. A treat for all lovers of Dickens, this essential companion puts his audacity, originality and brilliance on full display.
Reviews
"Two or three illustrative quotes become four, five, six, seven… Please, sir, I want some less ..."
"'Another kind of novelist might tell you Merdle's thoughts,' Mullan observes, 'or at least the symptoms of his anxieties.' Dickens, by contrast, insists on seeing him 'only from the outside', by means of fantastic analogy."
"In discrete chapters, the author highlights more than a dozen characteristics that set Dickens apart from other writers ..."
"Astute observations abound ..."
"The Artful Dickens is both an exposure of the trickster's methods and a celebration of close reading."
"The chapter on naming is one of the book's most fascinating ..."
"Rather than advance a consistent argument about Dickens's artistry, Mullan responds to the novelist's multifariousness with an appealing miscellany of his own ..."
"His method in each chapter is to define a specific feature and produce examples."
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