Leggi il seguente brano sulla vita di Charles Dickens e poi rispondi alle domande che trovi alla fine.
AN INTRODUCTION TO DICKENS: Dickens' novels describe the society of his time and in particular the enormous dfferences that existed between the lives of rich people and the lives of poor people. The rich are often portrayed as proud and ridiculous, while the poor are humble, kind and heroic. His works are still incredibly popular today: many have been made Into films, musicals, TV series and plays and of course millions of people read and re-read the novels.
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY: The most popular of all Enghsh novelists, Charles Dickens was born in Portsea in 1812 and died in 1870. Dickens, was born into a poor family. When he was 12 his father was put in prison for debt. Dickens couldn't contnue at school as the family had no money, so he went to work in a factory. It was hot, dirty and dangerous work and young Charles hated it. Dickens worked in the factory for only six months but the effect of this experience stayed with him all his life. At the age of 15 he went to work as a clerk in a lawyer's office and he later became a court reporter. Many people read Dickens articles and liked them so he decided to try and write his first book. In that period it was normal for books to be published chapter by chapter in monthly magazines. Dickens' first book, "Oliver Twist", was published between 1837 and 1839. It was a huge success. Dickens left his job and became a professional writer. He started his own magazine and began publishing his stores. Among Dickens' most popular novels are "A Christmas Carol", "Hard Times", "Nicholas Notheby", "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Old curiosity Shop" and "David Copperfield"
CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY: Dickens was a man of great energy but he was also impatient and quick to take offence. He became incredibly rich but was not very generous. He toured the country reading extract from its books and thousands of people came to see him, as he was a fine orator.
CONCLUSION: Dickens is remembered as a writer of long and complex novels with hundreds of marvellous characters, funny and satirical on the one hand, but passionate and critical on the other.
DOMANDE: 1. Where was Dickens born? 2. What was his first jobs? 3. What was the title of Dickens' first book? 4. What was Dickens like? 5. When did Dickens die? Dickens died in 1870
