"Gradgrind" is the most outrageously Dickensiest name I can even imagine. But knowing Dickens, I'm sure he has a dozen even Dickensier names buried in his books somewhere. He can't keep getting away with it!
Dickens and Balzac lived at roughly the same time, and hold the same sort of venerated position in their countries' literature. And aspiring novelists would do well to read both of them to learn how to write novels.
They were opposites in other ways, though- Dickens did his writing as a day job, whereas Balzac was a night owl. Balzac was far more of a realist than Dickens and conceived his whole oeuvre as a united work (creating an example for, among others, Zola), while Dickens used comic exaggeration to soften the harder edges of his drama (he was a theatre fan and sometimes acted in productions himself). But, ultimately, they were concerned with making their characters believeable as real people, and, there, they succeeded.
Hard Times has some of Dickens' best character names: Gradgrind, Bounderby, Mrs. Sparsit, and, my favorite, McChoakumchild. As soon as you see them, you know what kind of person they are!
'Hard Times' has one of Dickens sparsest cast of characters, but if you enjoyed them, you'll enjoy his other casts.
On Dickens' choice of names: Stephen Leacock, the Canadian humorist, historian, and essayist, said Dickens believed that "sounds and syllables carried undercurrents of meaning" ("What's in a Name?", from the collection 'My Remarkable Uncle', 1942). But Dickens not only developed fictional surnames, he also collected real surnames, and wrote out a list of some 230 'Available Names' that he gathered from the Privy Council Education List - some of the surnames in the list were more extraordinary than the ones he used in his books, including 'Why' and 'Doomsday'.
I have not yet read any of Balzac's books. 'Eugenie Grandet' sound like a good place to start.
"I curse the hour in which I was born to such a destiny. . . . How could you give me life, and take from me all the inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done, O father, what have you done, with the garden that should have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here! . . ."
Wow. Chills the blood. I hate to think how many real-life souls could make a similar accusation...
"Gradgrind" is the most outrageously Dickensiest name I can even imagine. But knowing Dickens, I'm sure he has a dozen even Dickensier names buried in his books somewhere. He can't keep getting away with it!
Dickens and Balzac lived at roughly the same time, and hold the same sort of venerated position in their countries' literature. And aspiring novelists would do well to read both of them to learn how to write novels.
They were opposites in other ways, though- Dickens did his writing as a day job, whereas Balzac was a night owl. Balzac was far more of a realist than Dickens and conceived his whole oeuvre as a united work (creating an example for, among others, Zola), while Dickens used comic exaggeration to soften the harder edges of his drama (he was a theatre fan and sometimes acted in productions himself). But, ultimately, they were concerned with making their characters believeable as real people, and, there, they succeeded.
Hard Times has some of Dickens' best character names: Gradgrind, Bounderby, Mrs. Sparsit, and, my favorite, McChoakumchild. As soon as you see them, you know what kind of person they are!
being forced to wear uniforms or take drama is why we try to bring the birthrate down, not because of parents
we spend more time with our teachers than with our parents each day, it is the abuse by our teachers, like uniforms, that warp us
'Hard Times' has one of Dickens sparsest cast of characters, but if you enjoyed them, you'll enjoy his other casts.
On Dickens' choice of names: Stephen Leacock, the Canadian humorist, historian, and essayist, said Dickens believed that "sounds and syllables carried undercurrents of meaning" ("What's in a Name?", from the collection 'My Remarkable Uncle', 1942). But Dickens not only developed fictional surnames, he also collected real surnames, and wrote out a list of some 230 'Available Names' that he gathered from the Privy Council Education List - some of the surnames in the list were more extraordinary than the ones he used in his books, including 'Why' and 'Doomsday'.
I have not yet read any of Balzac's books. 'Eugenie Grandet' sound like a good place to start.
Very well intricate very well said
And along came Louisa May Alcott ;)
"I curse the hour in which I was born to such a destiny. . . . How could you give me life, and take from me all the inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done, O father, what have you done, with the garden that should have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here! . . ."
Wow. Chills the blood. I hate to think how many real-life souls could make a similar accusation...
Lost Illusions was a book I wished longer than it was: An absolute masterpiece. Will have to check out Eugenie Grandet.