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Industrial Age critique; heart versus head struggle.
If you've ever felt torn between cold hard facts and the warmth of human emotion, "Hard Times" might resonate with you. It's a classic Dickensian exploration that goes beyond a simple rich versus poor dichotomy, delving into the harsh realities of industrialization and its impact on human connections. Through vibrant characters, Dickens crafts a narrative that questions the value systems of his time—and perhaps ours too—making it a poignant read for anyone interested in the social questions that persist through ages.
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
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ISBN: 9781551110752
Authors:
Charles Dickens
Publisher: Broadview Press
Date of Publication: 1996-03-12
Format: Paperback
Goodreads rating: 3.55
(rated by 71284 readers)
Description
Despite the title, Dickens’s portrayal of early industrial society here is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love, of Sissy the circus girl with love to spare who is deserted and adopted into their family, and of the honest mill worker Stephen Blackpool and the bombastic mill owner Josiah Bounderby. The key contrasts created are finally less those between wealth and poverty, or capitalists and workers, than those between the head and the heart, between “Fact”―the cold, rationalistic approach to life that Dickens associates with utilitarianism―and “Fancy”―a warmth of the imagination and of the feelings, which values individuals above ideas. Concentrated and compressed in its narrative form, Hard Times is at once a fable, a novel of ideas, and a social novel that seeks to engage directly and analytically with political issues. The central conflicts raised in the text, between government’s duty not to intervene to guarantee the liberty of the subject, and between quantitative and qualitative assessments of progress, remain unresolved today in the late or post industrial stages of liberal democracies.
Condition guide
Book Condition Guide
Books in Like New Condition
This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!
*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
Books in Very Good Condition
This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.
*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
Books in Good Condition
We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.
*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
Books in Well Read Condition
This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.
*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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Industrial Age critique; heart versus head struggle.
If you've ever felt torn between cold hard facts and the warmth of human emotion, "Hard Times" might resonate with you. It's a classic Dickensian exploration that goes beyond a simple rich versus poor dichotomy, delving into the harsh realities of industrialization and its impact on human connections. Through vibrant characters, Dickens crafts a narrative that questions the value systems of his time—and perhaps ours too—making it a poignant read for anyone interested in the social questions that persist through ages.
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
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