CHARLES DICKENS

 CHARLES DICKENS' BICENTENNIAL

As you may know this year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth as he was born on 7th February 1812.

Charles Dickens is a famous English novelist and one of the best known in world literature, who was able to masterfully handle the narrative genre, the tragic sense of life, the irony with sharp social criticism and  the descriptions of people and places, both real and imagined.

 He spent his childhood in London and Kent, places frequently described in his works. He left school and was forced to work from very young. His father was imprisoned for debts.  His family life was eventful, with several failed marriages and many children.

Charles Dickens published over a dozen major novels, a large number of short stories a handful of plays, and several non-fiction books. Dickens's novels were initially serialised in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.
 He edited the weekly Household News (1850-1859) and All the Year Round (1859-1870), wrote two travel books,American Notes (1842) and Images of Italy (1846), Bleak House (1852-1853), Little Dorritt (1855-1857), Great Expectations(1860-1861), Our Mutual Friend (1864-1865), Oliver Twist (1837-1839), the famous antique shop (1840-1841), Barnaby Rugde (1841), Martin Cguzzlewit (1843-1844)), Dombey and Son (1846-1848), Hard Times (1854), Tale of Two Cities (1859) andThe Mystery of Edwin Drood, was left unfinished

To commemorate the anniversary, he’s become the subject of several exhibitions and TV adaptations, such as Dickens at 200 at the Morgan Library and Museum, and Great Expectations on BBC’s Masterpiece Theatre. A new feature film adaptation, slated for later this year, will star Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.

 But this season, Dickens’s presence has been felt on the runways as well.  As fashion week spans New York, London, Milan, and Paris, his influence has popped up everywhere. Fall 2012 collections have exhibited bright, layered textures, undercut by a mix-matched dishevelment and Victorian-era sensibility