The Dickens Project

The Joy of Dickens

Phyllis Orrick was inspired to embark upon reading Dickens's fourteen novels in chronological order "by two circumstances that occurred nearly 30 years apart." She uses the example of 'The Pickwick Papers' to explore themes of poetry, narrative technique, and the semi-biographical Dickens.

A Modest Life of Usefulness and Happiness

In this week's installment, Peter Ponzio examines "the fallen state of mankind" Dickens creates within and outside of the Marshalsea Prison in 'Little Dorrit.' While happiness is possible, no one is free from its lasting effects.

Edwin Drood: A Mystery to the Very End

Friends of the Dickens Project Board Member and published author, Carl Wilson, describes Dickens's final novel's instant success, along with the effect of its sudden conclusion.

David Copperfield the Hero of 'David Copperfield'

Gerhard Joseph, Professor Emeritus of the City University of New York, asserts that by viewing David Copperfield within the context of the novel, Charles Dickens's life, and within the reader's own life, David Copperfield must, indeed, the hero of his own life.

Delicious Passages from 'Great Expectations'

Citing delicious passages from chapters 1 and 2 of 'Great Expectations', Dickens Project Director, John O. Jordan, underscores how the oral and aural pleasures of reading Dickens aloud can provide more clues to the story.

Pickwick Club

Join us for a year of 19th-century literature with community readings of two novels by Charles Dickens.

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Dickens-to-Go

Watch our community video series celebrating favorite passages written by Charles Dickens.

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Project News

August 29, 2020Remembering Ed Eigner
October 4, 2020'Iola Leroy' in South LA: Call for Reading Buddies
July 20, 2020Virtual Dickens Universe to spotlight link between Victorian and African American studies

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