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iphigenie72's review against another edition
3.0
A very dry biography by a close friend of [a:Charles Dickens|239579|Charles Dickens|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387078070p2/239579.jpg], the prose just doesn't flow, the only time it gets animated is when Mr. Forster is quoting his subject. I am very thankful that Charles Dickens wrote all those letters to his friend or this would have been excruciating.
In this volume, Forster covers the years 1812-1842 that means from the birth of Dickens to his 30th year. There's really interesting anecdotes and if they are an extract from a letter, very amusing. The author decided though to focus on the career and social life of CD and only in the citations do we get a little bit of the family life.
I don't know if the choice to only cover public life is a trend in Victorian biographies, I know that Princess Beatrice went slashing through Queen Victoria's diaries after her death so I can well see a pattern there... I cannot be sure though because the biographies that I have read of Victorian times are all my contemporaries, I think we now tend to be more truthful since we can't hurt the person or their family anymore and also we don't have the same moral objections to human nature.
Not sure if I will read volume 2 in the future maybe I would go for a more modern biography if I read another one, but for now since I haven't read [b:Martin Chuzzlewit|1990|Martin Chuzzlewit|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334392783l/1990._SY75_.jpg|901325] yet, I couldn't continue reading this one without meeting major spoilers. Yes, I think I almost forgot to say, Forster's gives away important plot points for [b:David Copperfield|58696|David Copperfield|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461452762l/58696._SY75_.jpg|4711940], [b:Oliver Twist|18254|Oliver Twist|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327868529l/18254._SY75_.jpg|3057979], [b:The Old Curiosity Shop|429024|The Old Curiosity Shop|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332523435l/429024._SY75_.jpg|5246858] so reader beware and only read this biography if well versed in Dickens.
In this volume, Forster covers the years 1812-1842 that means from the birth of Dickens to his 30th year. There's really interesting anecdotes and if they are an extract from a letter, very amusing. The author decided though to focus on the career and social life of CD and only in the citations do we get a little bit of the family life.
I don't know if the choice to only cover public life is a trend in Victorian biographies, I know that Princess Beatrice went slashing through Queen Victoria's diaries after her death so I can well see a pattern there... I cannot be sure though because the biographies that I have read of Victorian times are all my contemporaries, I think we now tend to be more truthful since we can't hurt the person or their family anymore and also we don't have the same moral objections to human nature.
Not sure if I will read volume 2 in the future maybe I would go for a more modern biography if I read another one, but for now since I haven't read [b:Martin Chuzzlewit|1990|Martin Chuzzlewit|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334392783l/1990._SY75_.jpg|901325] yet, I couldn't continue reading this one without meeting major spoilers. Yes, I think I almost forgot to say, Forster's gives away important plot points for [b:David Copperfield|58696|David Copperfield|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461452762l/58696._SY75_.jpg|4711940], [b:Oliver Twist|18254|Oliver Twist|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327868529l/18254._SY75_.jpg|3057979], [b:The Old Curiosity Shop|429024|The Old Curiosity Shop|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332523435l/429024._SY75_.jpg|5246858] so reader beware and only read this biography if well versed in Dickens.
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