The Gospel in Dickens - Selections from His Works

Stature: Dickens is firmly ensconced in the literary canon, considered second only to Shakespeare in English literature.
Best of Dickens: No other work features such a broad scope of Dickens' work in one short volume. These highly readable short excerpts are ideal for readers who don¿t have time for fifteen weighty novels.
Successful series. Dickens is an oft-requested addition to the successful Gospel in Great Writers series.

List of contents

Section 1: Sin and Its Victims

1. A Tight-Fisted Hand at the Grindstone (A Christmas Carol)


2. Cold, Cold Heart (Great Expectations)


3. Turtle Soup and Venison (Hard Times)


4. Around Us Every Day (Bleak House)


5. I Want Some More (Oliver Twist)


6. The Parish Beadle (Sketches by Boz)


7. A Moral Man (Martin Chuzzlewit)


8. He That Is without Sin (Bleak House)


9. A Troublesome Bad Child (Our Mutual Friend)


10. The Father of the Marshalsea (Little Dorrit)


11. Safe with the Parish (Our Mutual Friend)


12. These Epidemics (Little Dorrit)


13. That Rotten Reed (Bleak House)


14. Absolutely without Pity (A Tale of Two Cities)


15. Destroying Angels (David Copperfield)


16. A Matter of Business (Nicholas Nickleby)

Section 2: Repentance and Grace

1. One Prayer for Mercy (Oliver Twist)


2. The Resurrection and the Life (A Tale of Two Cities)


3. What Have I Done (Great Expectations)


4. To Take You Home (David Copperfield)


5. In Remembrance of Him (Little Dorrit)


6. I Revoke No Disposition (Bleak House)


7. God Forgive Us All (David Copperfield)


8. Ever the Best of Friends (Great Expectations)


9. That We May Forgive (The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain)

Section 3: The Righteous Life

1. Merciful and Tender (The Life of Our Lord)


2. I Will Not Stand By (Nicholas Nickleby)


3. Little Mother (Little Dorrit)


4. A Good Pair (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)


5. Contented with the Time (A Christmas Carol)


6. What Sunday Might Be Made (Sunday under Three Heads)


7. Peace and Perfect Happiness (The Old Curiosity Shop)


8. A Modest Life (Little Dorrit)


9. The Object of His Life (Dombey and Son)


10. A Far, Far Better Thing (A Tale of Two Cities)


11. God Bless Us, Every One (A Christmas Carol)

Appendix: Two Letters

1. Letter to Edward "Plorn" Dickens, 26 September 1868


2. Letter to John Makeham, 8 June 1870

About the author

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the most popular author of his day and is still widely considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His books include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol.

Summary

Wish you had time to re-read and enjoy that daunting stack of Charles Dickens novels?

Take heart: Dickens enthusiast Gina Dalfonzo has done the heavy lifting for you. In short, readable excerpts she presents the essence of the great novelist’s prodigious output, teasing out dozens of the most memorable scenes to reveal the Christian vision and values that suffuse all his work.

Dickens can certainly entertain, but his legacy endures because of his power to stir consciences with the humanity of his characters and their predicaments. While he could be ruthless in his characterization of greed, injustice, and religious hypocrisy, again and again the hope of redemption shines through.

In spite of – or perhaps because of – his own failings, Dickens never stopped exploring the themes of sin, guilt, repentance, redemption, and restoration found in the gospel. In some passages the Christian elements are explicit, in others implicit, but, as Dickens himself said, they all reflect his understanding of and reverence for the gospel.

The Gospel in Dickens includes selections from Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Sketches by Boz – with a cast of unforgettable characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge, Sydney Carton, Jenny Wren, Fagin, Pip, Joe Gargery, Mr. Bumble, Miss Havisham, betsey Trotwood, and Madame Defarge.

Foreword

Promotions via the editor’s Dickensblog

Podcast interviews with the editor

Extensive giveaways: Galleys and early copies distributed through NetGalley, Edelwiess, GoodReads and Library Thing.

Feature in Plough Quarterly magazine, circulation 15,000.

Featured on Plough’s email lists, combined reach 75,000.

Extensive social media campaign.

Product details

• Authors: Charles Dickens
• Assisted by: Gina Dalfonzo (Editor), Karen Swallow Prior (Foreword)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 22.09.2020
• EAN: 9780874868418
• ISBN: 978-0-87486-841-8
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 202 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 302 g
• Series: The Gospel in Great Writers
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Classic fiction: general and literary