Download or read book Our Mutual Friend written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 1858 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Companion to Our Mutual Friend RLE Dickens written by Michael Cotsell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend (1864-5) Dickens’ last completed novel, has been critically praised as a profound and troubled masterpiece, and yet is has received far less scholarly attention than his other major works. This volume is the first book-length study of the novel. It explores every aspect of Dickens’ sustained imaginative involvement with his age. In particular its original research into hitherto neglected sources reveals not only Dickens’ reactions to the important developments during the 1860s in education, finance and the administration of poverty, but also his interest in phenomena as diverse as waste collection and the Shakespeare tercentenary. The Companion to Our Mutual Friend demonstrates the varied resources of artistry that inform the novel, and it provides the reader with a fundamental source of information about one of Dickens’ most complex works.

Download or read book Charles Dickens s Our Mutual Friend written by Sean Grass and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even within the context of Charles Dickens's history as a publishing innovator, Our Mutual Friend is notable for what it reveals about Dickens as an author and about Victorian publishing. Marking Dickens's return to the monthly number format after nearly a decade of writing fiction designed for weekly publication in All the Year Round, Our Mutual Friend emerged against the backdrop of his failing health, troubled relationship with Ellen Ternan, and declining reputation among contemporary critics. In his subtly argued publishing history, Sean Grass shows how these difficulties combined to make Our Mutual Friend an extraordinarily odd novel, no less in its contents and unusually heavy revisions than in its marketing by Chapman and Hall, its transformation from a serial into British and U.S. book editions, its contemporary reception by readers and reviewers, and its delightfully uneven reputation among critics in the 150 years since Dickens’s death. Enhanced by four appendices that offer contemporary accounts of the Staplehurst railway accident, information on archival materials, transcripts of all of the contemporary reviews, and a select bibliography of editions, Grass’s book shows why this last of Dickens’s finished novels continues to intrigue its readers and critics.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend written by Charles Dickens and published by Sheba Blake Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-28 with total page 1412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864–65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller (quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book), "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father's will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society. Having made his fortune from London's rubbish, a rich misanthropic miser dies, estranged from all except his faithful employees Mr and Mrs Boffin. By his will, his fortune goes to his estranged son John Harmon, who is to return from where he has settled abroad (possibly in South Africa) to claim it, on condition that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. The implementation of the will is in the charge of the solicitor, Mortimer Lightwood, who has no other practice. Before the son and heir can claim his inheritance, he goes missing, presumed drowned, at the end of his journey back to London. A body is found in the Thames by Gaffer Hexam, a waterman who makes his living by retrieving corpses and robbing them of valuables, before handing them over to the authorities. Papers in the pockets of the drowned man identify him as the heir, John Harmon. Present at the identification is a mysterious young man, who gives his name as Julius Handford and then disappears. By the terms of the miser's will, the whole estate then devolves upon Mr and Mrs Boffin, naïve and good-hearted people who wish to enjoy it for themselves and to share it with others.

Download or read book The Mutual Friend written by Frederick Busch and published by New Directions Publishing. This book was released on 1994 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of Frederick Busch's extraordinary fiction, The Mutual Friend, is Charles Dickens. First published in 1978, Busch's portrait of the Chief (or the Inimitable, as Dickens calls himself) was immediately hailed as a lively, accurate, and brilliantly imagined novel of the great Victorian and his age. Busch's guide to Dickens' world is George Dolby, the Chief's factotum in his last years. The reminiscence begins with the Great American Tour of 1867-68, Dickens is ill and crotchety but ever eager to dazzle the New World with his dramatic readings. Through Dolby we come to a circle of characters around Dickens, among them his long-suffering wife Kate and the actress Ellen Ternan, mistress to the Inimitable. Of Busch's compelling mastery over his larger-than-life subject, the English critic Angus Wilson writes, "Mr. Busch gives us Dickens in all his genius and makes us understand how that genius worked."

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 1864 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-26 with total page 689 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published serially between 1864 and 1865, "Our Mutual Friend" is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens. The death of a wealthy miser, who is estranged from all except his trusted employees, Nicodemus and Henrietta Boffin, brings his son John Harmon back to London in order to claim his inheritance. The patrimony carries with it one condition, that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. When a body is found floating in the Thames, it is presumed to be John, and the inheritance instead passes to the Boffins. The kind-hearted working class Boffins take into their household the disappointed bride to be Miss Wilfer and treat her as their own daughter, pampering her with their newfound wealth. They also accept the generous offer of John Rokesmith to attend to their financial affairs for free. Rokesmith, who also goes by the alias of Julius Handford, is in fact the heir John Harmon, presumed to be dead. Dickens's novel is a thematically rich one, addressing the struggle of man between societal expectations and the desire to follow one's heart. Rich with a symbolism of rebirth, "Our Mutual Friend" brilliantly dramatizes the impact that wealth plays upon society. Please provide your review after purchase for our future enhancements.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend written by Charles Dickens and published by Palala Press. This book was released on 2015-09-02 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend illustrated written by Charles Dickens and published by Phoemixx Classics Ebooks. This book was released on 2021-08-18 with total page 1061 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend illustrated Charles Dickens - Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 186465, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life."[1]Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens' skill as a writer in general, though not reviewing this novel in detail. Some found the plot too complex, and not well laid out.[2] The Times of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. However, in the 20th century reviewers have found much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including Our Mutual Friend.[3] In the late 20th and early 21st century, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was experimenting with structure,[4][5] and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers[6] were true representations of the Victorian working class and key to understanding the structure of the society depicted by Dickens in this novel.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend Novel by written by Charles Dickens and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend (1864-5) is the last completed novel written by Charles Dickens. It centers on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" (which is, incidently, a quote from Our Mutual Friend, spoken by Bella at the end of book III, chapter iv.). In the opening chapter, a young man is on his way to receive his inheritance, which, according to his father's will, he can only claim if he marries Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he has never met. However, before he can arrive, a body is found in the Thames and identified as him. The money passes on, instead, to the Boffins, and the effects spread throughout various corners of London society. The book is largely believed to be the most challenging and complicated that Dickens produced. Reviews at the time of publication were not generally favorable, but critical opinion shifted in the century that followed. Although somewhat a mystery, an important point concerning the identity of certain characters is revealed halfway through, without hinting as to the ending.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend Annotated written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Extra Things added to the Book Added details biography of the author Added details of character Summary is included Added index to get a quick view and interface About the book is added Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864-65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centers on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life". Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens' skill as a writer in general, although not reviewing this novel in detail. Some found the plot both too complex and not laid out well. The Times of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. In the 20th century, however, reviewers began to find much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including Our Mutual Friend. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was experimenting with structure and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers were meant rather be true representations of the Victorian working class and the key to understanding the structure of the society depicted by Dickens in the novel.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend World Classics Unabridged written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-28 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864-65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller (quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book), "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father's will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society.

Download or read book The Works of Charles Dickens written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend 1865 by Charles Dickens Classics written by Charles Dickens and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-03-04 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: books give you the best possible editions of Charles Dickens's novels, including all the original illustrations, useful and informative introductions Following his father's death John Harmon returns to London to claim his inheritance, but he finds he is eligible only if he marries Bella Wilfur. To observe her character he assumes another identity and secures work with his father's foreman, Mr Boffin, who is also Bella's guardian. Disguise and concealment play an important role in the novel and individual identity is examined within the wider setting of London life: in the 1860s the city was aflame with spiralling financial speculation while thousands of homeless scratched a living from the detritus of the more fortunate-indeed John Harmon's father has amassed his wealth by recycling waste.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend 1865 By Charles Dickens written by Charles Dickens and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-12-09 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864-65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father's will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society. John Harmon - is heir to the Harmon estate, under the condition that he marry Bella Wilfer. He is presumed dead throughout most of the novel, though in fact he is living under the name John Rokesmith, and working as a secretary for the Boffins in an attempt to better get to know Bella, the Boffins, and people's general reaction to John Harmon's "death". Harmon also uses the alias Julius Handford upon first returning to London. Harmon's "death" and subsequent resurrection as Rokesmith/Handford is consistent with Dickens's recurring theme in the novel of rebirth from the water.[1] His upward social mobility through his own efforts is presented as favourable, in contrast with Headstone, Hexam, and the Lammles.Bella Wilfer - is born into poverty, but retains the hope of marrying into wealth and receiving the inheritance of Old Mr Harmon, until her intended husband, John Harmon, is (reportedly) killed, leaving her without future prospects. She learns of the trouble money can bring when taken in by the newly-rich Boffins. Bella rejects Rokesmith's proposal at first but later accepts.Initially described as a "mercenary young woman".Nicodemus (Noddy) Boffin, the Golden Dustman - becomes a member of the nouveaux-riches when Old Mr Harmon's heir is considered dead. He is illiterate, but wants very much to fit the image of a wealthy man, and so hires Silas Wegg to read to him in hopes of gaining more intelligence and worldliness. However, he is nearly blackmailed by Wegg. He assumes the role of a miser to show Bella the dangers of wealth, but eventually admits this behaviour was an act and gives his money to Bella and John. Boffin's innocence, naïve curiosity, and desire to learn contrast with his "elaborate performances as Boffin the miser".Critics speculate that Dickens's decision to have Boffin playing a part may not have been planned, as it was not very convincing for a man who has shown his simplistic ignorance on several occasions.Boffin's inheritance of old Harmon's money is appropriate because Harmon had attained it by combing the dust heaps, because this suggests social mobility. Boffin represents a wholesome contrast to such wealthy characters as the Veneerings and Podsnaps, and may have been based on Henry Dodd, a ploughboy who made his fortune removing London's rubbish............. Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.[1] His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms....

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens written by Charles Dickens and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-11-29 with total page 662 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864-65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father's will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society.

Download or read book Our Mutual Friend 1865 by written by Charles Dickens and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-03-05 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BornCharles John Huffam Dickens 7 February 1812 Landport, Hampshire, England Died9 June 1870 (aged 58) Higham, Kent, England Resting placePoets' Corner, Westminster Abbey OccupationWriter NationalityBritish