Dickens's Style [Paperback]

Written by leading scholars, this collection of essays offers the first comprehensive and accessible book on Dickens's style.Charles Dickens was known as 'The Great Inimitable', not least for his very distinctive way of writing. This collection of essays by leading scholars explores the variety, range, and technical skill of his style, and shows how some of his major effects were achieved.Charles Dickens was known as 'The Great Inimitable', not least for his very distinctive way of writing. This collection of essays by leading scholars explores the variety, range, and technical skill of his style, and shows how some of his major effects were achieved.Charles Dickens, generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian age, was known as 'The Inimitable', not least for his distinctive style of writing. This collection of twelve essays addresses the essential but often overlooked subject of Dickens's style, with each essay discussing a particular feature of his writing. All the essays consider Dickens's style conceptually, and they read it closely, demonstrating the ways it works on particular occasions. They show that style is not simply an aesthetic quality isolated from the deepest meanings of Dickens's fiction, but that it is inextricably involved with all kinds of historical, political and ideological concerns. Written in a lively and accessible manner by leading Dickens scholars, the collection ranges across all Dickens's writing, including the novels, journalism and letters.Introduction Daniel Tyler; 1. Dickens's umbrellas John Bowen; 2. Dickens by the clock Matthew Bevis; 3. Dickens's rhythms Robert Douglas-Fairhurst; 4. Spectres of style Daniel Tyler; 5. Dickens and the form of the historical present Clare Pettitt; 6. 'Gigantic domesticity': the exaggeration of Charles Dickens Freya Johnston; 7. Style and the making of character in Dickens Philip Horne; 8. Snarling Charles: a Saxon style of restraint Rebekah Scott; 9. Compound interest: Dickens's figuls*