Product Description

This witty and amusing collection of short pieces, shows Dickens liberated from the more formal and sustained demands of the novel and experimenting with a diverse range of fictional techniques. In his tales of the supernatural, he creates frighteningly believable, spine-tingling stories of prophetic dreams and visions, as well as more fantastical adventures with goblins and apparitions. Impressionistic sketches combine imaginatively heightened travel journals with wry observations of home and abroad, while in his dramatic monologues, Dickens demonstrates his talent for exploring the secret workings of the human mind. These short works display Dickens' exuberant sense of comedy and character as his imagination is given free rein.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #934499 in Books
• Published on: 1976-07-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

About the Author
Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a political reporter and journalist whose popularity was established by the phenomenally successful Pickwick Papers (1836-7). His novels captured and held the public imagination over a period of more than thirty years.

Customer Reviews

Selected Short Fiction: Brief pieces culled from Dickens' novels, periodicals and collections
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the greatest Victorian novelist. However, many readers do not turn to his shorter fiction to while away an hour or so of reading pleasure! These short gems will entertain you as the master British storyteller weaves his spell of enchantment.
The 400 page book published by Penguin English Classics includes:
Tales of the Supernatural;
The Story of a Goblin who stole a sexton is a spooky tale about a grouchy gravedigger who is stolen by Goblins on a Christmas Eve long ago.
Other stories in this section include "The Baron of Grozgwig" who learned through a ghostly apparation to enjoy the good things of life.
A Confession in the Time of Charles II is the first person narrative of a murderer who describes how his crime was discovered.
To Be Read at Dusk is a ghost story set in Switzerland. The Signalman at Mugby Junction is a harrowing tale of a dark and stormy night at a lonely railroad junction.
Impressionist Sketches-many taken from Dickens' early work "Sketches from Boz" include short articles on an election for parish beadle, Seven Dials area of London and the best of the lot: The Christmas Tree. A few other short pieces are included in this section.
This reviewer found most interesting the third section of the Penguin edition dealing with dramatic monolgues by fascinating characters drawn with Dicken's unmatched skill:
Somebody's Luggage deals with a man finding old luggage containing a mansucript. Mrs Lirriper is a cockney owner of a London lodging. She and her friend raise a small boy after the child's mother dies in the room she has rented in the Lirriper hotel. This story is very sentimental but is touching without being treacly!
Doctor Marigold's prescriptions is another touching tale about a dealer in cheap merchandise who adopts a young girl who is deaf and dumb.
Mugby Junction pokes fun at the atrocious refreshment establishments available to the British train traveler.
Charles Dickens is a genius of the printed word. These little known stories are worthy of being wider known.