Dickens: Abridged

CAUTION - THERE ARE MANY ACKROYD BIOGRAPHIES OF DICKENS - AMAZON ALLOWS ONLY ONE REVIEW PER PRODUCTAmazon's website structure allows only one review "per book" and Ackroyd's "Dickens" (to the software) is one book. (Not a criticism, just an observation on a curiosity. People reading reviews need to be aware that the reviews will appear on all books with this title and author but have been written on one of the many editions, some for children, some for adults, some "shorter" and others not.)"DICKENS" - BBC, 1990 - cheap paperback, typical paperback paper, 600 pagesAt 600 pages, I am reviewing the abridged edition, entitled "Dickens" published in 1990; the "original" was the basis for the very successful television series fronted by Peter Ackroyd.I cannot think of two more suited and ideal companions - Peter Ackroyd and Charles Dickens. Both Londoners fascinated by London, writing most of their best work in the city with their subjects the city and its people. Dickens must be in the top few for having the most biographies written about him and it is to Ackroyd's credit that he manages to "come fresh" to the subject with new slants and information. It has two illustrated sections of his homes, the women in his life, some manuscripts and drawings and photographs of Dickens himself.If you are looking for general information on Dickens this is ideal but, if your purpose is more specific, check his other biographies; this is the abridged version and there are longer with more detail but his is not to diminish Ackroyd's achievement."DICKENS - PUBLIC LIFE and PRIVATE PASSION" - BBC, 2002 - LARGE FORMAT, HIGH QUALITY PAPER, 160 pagesThis is the shorter, quality paper edition, lavishly illustrated (at least one per page) with colour drawings, b/w photographs, sketches and b/w photographs of Dickens' London and its people. Although a much shorter edition, it still contains a wealth of information about London, Dickens and his visits to America and the illustrations help to bring the text alive, making it ideal for a younger person. It has a quality feel about it and would make an excellent present.

Admittedly, you get a lot of words for your money but, for me, its a really boring book. I gave up after one chapter. Author seems obsessed with linking every aspect of Dickens' real life with a character or quote from one of Dicjkens' books. Added to that is the author's style - very old fashioned sentence strurtures. To cap it all the paragraphs are just toooooo long. Its a book that might suit some people (clearly, going by earlier reviews) but I found it hard work. I sent it back.

I know that Peter Ackroyd has researchers working for him, so I assume the facts which he offers about Dickens are true. That being so, I greatly admire the way he so brilliantly weaves his material together, creating a picture of a living, breathing man - a genius who was irritating, temperamental, likeable, egocentric, self contradictory and generally almost impossible. Not only this but he puts Dickens in his period: he shows us what public life was like at the time and sketches in many individuals that Dickens knew, lived and worked with. He suggests what Dickens might have been aiming for at various times of his life, and what he might have felt and thought. There is inevitably some guesswork in this but after all, nobody can REALLY know another person, and Ackroyd's portrait, based as it is on research, probably contains more truth than the social front Dickens presented to most of the people who knew him personally. So I do believe this is the nearest we will ever get to understanding him, and highly recommend the book. By the way, this is the abridged version, but it is so illuminating and fascinating that I will now go and investigate the longer version.

Good read. Could have added bits that were unknown. However a good read overall

OK, so I am only a little way into this book at the moment, but so far it seems to be that the writer spends a lot of time trying to fit parts of Dickens' early life into the books that he wrote in later years. Perhaps it may have been suffice to say that the writer's early years had a great influence on his later works.Perhaps as I go through the book my opinion will change, but at the moment I am finding it dull.

An excellent biography beautifully written

Spot on as described

no probs