Overview
At the height of his career, around the time he was working on Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens wrote a series of sketches, mostly set in London, which he collected as The Uncommercial Traveller. In the persona of 'the Uncommercial', Dickens wanders the city streets and brings London, its inhabitants, commerce and entertainment vividly to life. Sometimes autobiographical, as childhood experiences are interwoven with adult memories, the sketches include visits to the Paris Morgue, the Liverpool docks, a workhouse, a school for poor children, and the theatre. They also describe the perils of travel, including seasickness, shipwreck, the coming of the railways, and the wretchedness of dining in English hotels and restaurants. The work is quintessential Dickens, with each piece showcasing his imaginative writing style, his keen observational powers, and his characteristic wit. In this edition Daniel Tyler explores Dickens's fascination with the city and the book's connections with concerns evident in his fiction: social injustice, human mortality, a fascination with death and the passing of time. Often funny, sometimes indignant, always exuberant, The Uncommercial Traveller is a revelatory encounter with Dickens, and the Victorian city he knew so well.
Full Product Details
Author: Charles Dickens ,
Daniel Tyler (University of Oxford)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 13.50cm
, Height: 3.00cm
, Length: 20.20cm
Weight: 0.548kg
ISBN: 9780199686650
ISBN 10: 0199686653
Pages: 440
Publication Date: 08 October 2015
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
fascinating * Methodist Recorder * beautiful volume * The National * Tyler's introduction is substantial, thorough and stimulating. * Dickens Quarterly * ... .there is plenty here and fans will enjoy spotting his nascent characters and books in these sketches. * The Times *
... .there is plenty here and fans will enjoy spotting his nascent characters and books in these sketches. * The Times * Tyler's introduction is substantial, thorough and stimulating. * Dickens Quarterly * beautiful volume * The National * fascinating * Methodist Recorder *
beautiful volume The National
beautiful volume The National fascinating Methodist Recorder
Author Information
Daniel Tyler has researched Dickens's creative processes through the manuscript drafts of his fiction. He is the author of A Guide to Dickens's London (Hesperus, 2012), and editor of Dickens's Style (CUP, 2013). He is a frequent reviewer for the TLS.
