Hard Times

A thoroughly fascinating read as always.

"Ela despediu-se dele com um 'Boa noite' carinhoso e foi acompanhá-lo até à porta da rua, de onde era possível ver os fogos de Coketown, conferindo à paisagem um brilho sinistro. Louisa ficou ali, a olhar fixamente para eles e a ouvir o ruído dos passos do irmão, que se afastava. Os passos foram-se rapidamente extinguindo, felizes por se verem longe do Palácio de Pedra; mas Louisa ainda ali ficou, já o irmão estava longe e o silêncio reinava. Dir-se-ia que, primeiro na lareira dentro de casa e, depois, na neblina incendiada do exterior, tentava descobrir como seria a trama que o Tempo, o maior e mais antigo de todos os tecelões, teceria com os fios com os quais já tecera uma mulher. A fábrica do tempo, porém, é um lugar misterioso, o seu trabalho não se ouve e os seus Braços são mudos."

empi difficili sono quelli vissuti dagli operai delle nascenti industrie tessili e minerarie inglesi intorno alla metà del 1800, in cui uomini, donne e bambini trascorrono l’esistenza nelle fabbriche, scandita dal suono di campane che annunciano l’inizio e la fine del lavoro: i lavoratori escono alla stessa ora, percorrono gli stessi marciapiedi, fanno le stesse cose come automi, niente altro che “forza lavoro”, semplici numeri che fanno statistica, senza una luce di speranza che illumini le loro esistenze destinate al lavoro e alla povertà.
Tempi difficili sono quelli vissuti dalle nuove generazioni nate nelle squallide cittadine industriali soffocate dalla polvere delle miniere, che si trovano a vivere in un’epoca di bieco materialismo, basato sul mito del profitto, della produttività e della statistica, educati nelle scuole in cui i criteri didattici si fondano esclusivamente sui Fatti, dove la creatività e l’immaginazione sono bandite perché nocive alla formazione del carattere dell’”uomo moderno”.
Dickens ci presenta un vivido affresco della società a lui contemporanea, schiavizzata dalla Rivoluzione Industriale, che vive solo di benessere materiale e di accumulazione di ricchezza, ed alleva generazioni di uomini e donne aridi nel cuore, poveri di umanità e di sentimenti; lo scrittore, con un fondo di pungente ironia, tratteggia una serie di personaggi che non si salvano nelle loro esistenze dallo squallore, sia da quello esteriore che li circonda, che da quello interiore che li consuma. Su tutti emerge Sissy, una giovane nata e cresciuta in una comunità di circensi, allevata con affetto da suo padre, il quale sarà costretto poi dalle difficoltà della vita ad abbandonarla: lei, alla fine, rimane l’unica figura“vincente”, l’unica persona che dispensa grazia e bontà verso il prossimo, la sola ancora in grado di sognare, di immaginare al di là della meccanica realtà dei Fatti.
L’evidente intento didascalico di Dickens non scalfisce la gradevolezza del romanzo, espressione di critica sociale che emerge, seppure edulcorata, in ogni pagina.

صدفة أوقعتها فى طريقى
فيجب ان أقول عنها بعض الأشياء
كانت قراءة إلزامية ولكنها كانت قراءة رائعة
تعلقنا بها فى شبابنا لم نكن نضجنا بعد
أحببت القراءة باللغة الأصلية وحصلت على العلامة الكاملة فى هذه السنة فى مادة اللغة الإنجليزية
فأى ذكرى أجمل أنشد عن هذه الرواية الرائعة

n  "Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the mind of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them."n  
n  Mr. Gradgrind, Hard Timesn  
n  
n  "We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control"n  
n  Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) - Roger Waters, Pink Floydn

Roger Waters' lyrics could almost be a direct response to Mr. Gradgrind's ridiculous world view.

The worst thing about Hard Times is the title, very off putting. You get the feeling that the book will indeed give you a hard time and should be avoided like the plague; particularly if you have never read Dickens before and assume that his books are hard to read. As it turned out Hard Times is one of the easiest Dickens books to follow, neither the plot or the prose is particularly convoluted. It is also one of his shortest and most concise, clocking in at a measly 350 or so pages instead of 1000+ like most of his novels.

The major theme, as far as I can discern, is the effect of stifling upbringing and overly rigid fact-based education at the expense of allowing children to cultivate their imagination. Facts and figures are essential for the development of intellect but they need to be balanced with fanciful stories and leisurely pastime. The novel’s protagonist Louisa was raised and homeschooled by her father to only be concerned with “facts facts facts!” and tales of fantasy, circuses etc, are boycotted. This has the effect of turning an innately decent loving girl into a living refrigerator. The effect on her brother is even worse, as he grows up to be a dissipated, deceitful and generally useless individual.

This being a Dickens novel the plight of the poor and the injustice society inflicts on them is depicted with a fierce passion. Both “the masters” (factory owners) and trade unionists are portrayed in very poor light. To balance the unsavory characters Dickens also introduces us to his stock “nice”, simple and honest characters and several eccentric ones. Also, even with the serious issues, Dickens wants to bring to your attention in this book, he never forgets his storytelling duties, Hard Times is well paced, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and never drags.

The reason I enjoy reading about Dickens’ characters is the reason his detractors criticize him for. His supporting characters tend to be colorful in appearance, behavior and speech. However, they are also frequently cartoonish and unbelievable as real people. This is perfectly acceptable to me because I don’t think Dickens’ intention is to write ultra-real gritty fiction. The crazy characters are there to entertain and also function as caricatures of certain types of people for metaphorical purposes. For example Josiah Bounderby one of the antagonists seems like some kind of angry red balloon, all bluster and extreme arrogance. His housekeeper Mrs. Sparsit is super aristocratic and a real nasty piece of work. James Harthouse, a total cad with the seduction of Louisa in mind. His slick patter is very amusing and brings to mind one of Oscar Wilde’s more outrageous “motormouth” characters.

Dickens also gets a lot of flak for his melodramatic sentimental plots and “deus ex machina”. All true but without writing a tedious defence of the great man I would simply say that I am OK with it all. I always find his fiction to be accessible, entertaining and poignant. His prose is also a work of art, sometimes sardonic sometimes lyrical. Again the haters find him verbose, and again I enjoy his verbosity.

My audiobook version is superbly performed by actor Martin Jarvis, definitely not just a narration, but an actual dramatic vocal performance with tons of different voices and accents.

In conclusion, this alleged review seems more like an exercise in Dickens fanboying (now that's something you don't see every day!) than a proper review. Ah well, it’s the best I can do at this time of night.

Last words go to Mr. Sleary, circus manager extraordinaire (who speaks with a lisp)

n  "People mutht be amuthed. They can’t be alwayth a learning, nor yet they can’t be alwayth a working, they an’t made for it. You mutht have uth, Thquire. Do the withe thing and the kind thing too, and make the betht of uth; not the wurtht!"n

This.

الرواية  تقسم الاحداث الى ثلاث كتب وتحتوى على عدة افكار أبرزها وماسأتحدث  عنه باستفاضه هو اسلوب التربية والحياة التى تقوم عليه وتحدث ايضا عن تلك المدينة الصناعية وبالتالى التحدث عن العمال العاملين وحياتهم ونظرة صاحب العمل لهؤلاء العمال وطريقه حديثه عنهم

الكتاب الاول : البذر

وفيه نتعرف على جراد جرايند وابنائه ونخص بالذكر لويزا وتوم ، ونرى اسلوب وقناعة جراد جرايند سواء  فى حياته او فى تربية ابنائه و فى المدرسة ، الحياة والتربية القائمة على الوقائع
...
《لا تعلموا هؤلاء الصبية والفتيات شيئا عدا الوقائع،  فالوقائع
 وحدها هى المطلوبة في الحياة . لاتغرسوا شيئا سواها واقتلعوا كل شئ عداها ، فما بغير الوقائع يسعكم ان تصوغوا عقول الحيوانات الناطقة،  لانه ما من شئ يجدى عليهم سواها》

حسنا فنحن فى مدرسة وعائلة وبلدة تعتمد على الوقائع،  لا يوجد اعتراف بالعواطف ، لا وجود للخيال ، لايمكن ان نسمح بالتساؤل ، الحجرات والمبانى خالية من  اى مظهر للجمال .
مدينة من الاجر الاحمر الذى اصبح اسود من الرماد .

الشوارع صغيرة مأهولة بإناس متشابهون وخروجهم وعودتهم الى عمل واحد ولاشئ فى حياتهم سوى العمل .
مرفوض بالطبع ان توجد حوائط مرسوم عليها خيول مثلا او ارض مرسومة بالزهور فهذا غير واقعى ومرفوض مجرد التفكير فى ذلك .

ولاننسى ان نذكر صديقه الحميم مستر باوندربى  الذى يتفق معه تماما فى افكاره ومجرد تماما من العواطف وهو رجل مصرفى ، تاجر وصاحب مصنع ، رجل عصامى لا يتوقف عن تذكيرنا بذلك وبطفولته البائسة.

و مسز سبارست وهى التى كانت تعمل و تحيا مع مستر باندوربى والتى كان دوما يذكر اصلها وزوجها المتوفى ومكانتهم العالية من قبل والتى تركت المنزل حين تزوج مستر باندوربى .

ونلتقى فى المدرسة ب سيسى جيب التى التحقت حديثا للمدرسة حينما جاءت مع والدها للبلدة  مع السيرك الذى يعمل فيه  لمديره مستر سليري ، وبالطبع تربيتها يختلف كثيرا عن تعاليم مدرسة جيرا جراند واساليبه وقناعاته .

فهل سيقبل  بوجود فتاة مثل  سيسى فى المدرسة لتدمر افكارهم ؟؟
وتجعل الاطفال الاخرون يفكرون او حاشا لله يتخيلون

Hard Times is a satire which takes place in an industrial but fictional English town. Mr. Gradgrind raises his two children, Tom and Louisa, to care only for facts, while displaying no empathy or emotion. There is a complicated story which follows them and others through to the point where at least Louisa is able in the end to acknowledge feelings.

This novel has Dickens’ characteristic naming of people to sound like their personality — like Gradgrind’s friend, Bounderby —so you know from the start not to trust him. These names always amuse me.

My own take on the novel is that it doesn’t live up to Great Expectations, or any other of his really wonderful stories. This may be the case because he was trying very hard to comment on the social snd economic conditions of the times. Nevertheless, Dickens does know how to tell an engaging tale. 4 stars.

9th book of 2023.

3.5. I always imagined this to be a slog of a read, mostly because people call it Hard Times to read. I didn't find it any harder than any other Dickens book, which is to say, I found it fairly readable, if not, at times, a little verbose. Dickens's realism just doesn't connect with me in the same way. I found A Tale of Two Cities, like this, enjoyable enough but ultimately a little dry and predictable. I prefer novels like Great Expectations and David Copperfield that are flamboyant and have a wide range of interesting characters. I think Hard Times addresses some strong issues and portrait Dickens's time well, but I just prefer his other novels. I was especially interested in the beginning with the introduction of Sissy Jupe, hoping her to be the orphan-cum-hero of the story, but she is mostly forgotten until the end. I found Stephen a compelling character and his situation with his wife ahead of its time in some respects. Tom was another memorable and sad character. I think there's a lot of desperation in this book, which sometimes makes it a depressing read: drunkards, liars, thieves and gamblers make up this sooty, short, and bleak novel by old Charles.