Thomas Charles Munger (2024)

The shortest novel by far of Charles Dickens', Hard Times is also one of his most idea based works. In it, he launches a scathing attack on the prevailing fashion of believing in Utilitarianism, a philosophy that proposed the goal of society should be “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” Dickens felt that such a philosophy saw people as mere statistics and not as individuals.

The novel was published in serial form in his magazine Household Words. It is also the only novel where London is not featured. Set mainly in the fictional industrial town of co*ketown, the book is divided into three sections “Sowing,” “Reaping” and “Garnering.”

It tells the story of a wealthy, retired industrialist, Thomas Gradgrind. His two children are brought up according to strict Utilitarian principles and their teaching is completely devoid of imagination and compassion. When the elder Gradgrind takes in an orphan called Sissy, events are set to take a turn. The Gradgrind children are completely under their father's control. As they grow, the son becomes a dissolute wastrel, while the daughter is compelled to marry a man thirty years her senior. How the Gradgrinds resolve these issues and how they begin to understand the true value of human life makes up the rest of the story.

Filled with memorable characters, as are all Dickens' novels, Hard Times is also the writer's attempt to reveal the dark side of the Industrial Revolution. Dickens was also trying to show that morality and wealth do not necessarily coexist. The overwhelming obsession with scientific temper, the worship of facts, the practical and materialistic ethos that was pervading the country in the Victorian era at the cost of all that was imaginative, humane and spiritual are other things that the writer was deeply concerned with.

Hard Times besides being Dickens' shortest work, is devoid of a preface and illustrations unlike all his other books. As a social protest novel, Hard Times also reflects the rapidly changing nature of society in Victorian England. The rise of a newly rich class, arrogant in their power to purchase anything and everything, completely devoid of social graces and the right pedigree was a phenomenon that bewildered many of the older generation. The world was also undergoing great periods of political unrest. Europe was changing and so was America which was then in the grip of the Civl War. Set against this background, Hard Times is a vivid portrayal of the era.

Tinged with dark humour and satire, this is indeed a great read for young and old readers!

This little gem of a book was probably the first introduction to Shakespeare that most readers have had as children.

Tales from Shakespeare was written in 1807 by a young clerk called Charles Lamb in the offices of the East India Company. Lamb co-authored them with his beloved sister Mary. The pair lived together for life, having gone through immense trauma caused by mental illness and tragedy. However, far from being a melancholy duo, they led an active and ample social life in the company of some of the literary greats of the Romantic movement of the 19th century. His glittering circle included contemporary poets like Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey and Leigh Hunt, the Chinese scholar Thomas Manning, political philosophers like William Godwin and his daughter the famous creator of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, and essayists like William Hazlitt. Charles Lamb also wrote excellent essays (compiled in a volume titled The Essays of Elia) and tried his hand at poetry and drama. Their regular Wednesday evening dinners were the gathering place for the best literary minds of the time.

The book is divided into two volumes, with Charles taking charge of Shakespeare's tragedies while Mary chose to work on the comedies and some of the historical plays. The preface was a joint effort and the book has remained a classic in its own right, delighting generations of children and spurring them on to read the original works of Shakespeare. Tales from Shakespeare was at one time, prescribed reading not just for children, but also for young women who were being groomed for marriage as a fundamental part of their literary education.

It provides a quick but comprehensive description of main themes, story-lines, characters and plots in each of Shakespeare's plays, with care taken to keep the spirit of Shakespearean English and usage intact. Tales from Shakespeare thus provide the basic storyline of each play. Many of the secondary characters and incidental plot lines so deemed by the authors have been omitted to keep the reader focused. The authors ensure that their own personalities never intrude into the narrative, and through this feat, they manage to keep Shakespeare alive throughout the book.

Written in a clear and concise style which is easy for children or those who are learning the language to understand, it renders the immortal plays in story form, providing access to some of the finest works in the English language.

A Tale of Two Cities, novel by Charles Dickens, published both serially and in book form in 1859. The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution. Although Dickens borrowed from Thomas Carlyle’s history, The French Revolution, for his sprawling tale of London and revolutionary Paris, the novel offers more drama than accuracy. The scenes of large-scale mob violence are especially vivid, if superficial in historical understanding.

The complex plot involves Sydney Carton’s sacrifice of his own life on behalf of his friends Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette. While political events drive the story, Dickens takes a decidedly antipolitical tone, lambasting both aristocratic tyranny and revolutionary excess—the latter memorably caricatured in Madame Defarge, who knits beside the guillotine. The book is perhaps best known for its opening lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” and for Carton’s last speech, in which he says of his replacing Darnay in a prison cell, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

The Called to Flourish Podcast covers mental health topics through a Catholic Christian perspective to highlight human dignity and help achieve an integrated healing process of the heart, mind, and soul.

It is hosted by Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC, JD, JCL, president of Divine Mercy University (DMU), and Thomas Cronquist, Director of Institutional Advancement at DMU.

The Podcast is available on youtube at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-PINejUC-gB9F25bHFpFLk7Je2pvZDzd

It can also be downloaded in mp3 format at:
https://calledtoflourishpodcast.libsyn.com/

Divine Mercy University is a graduate school of mental health and spiritual development that integrates Catholic Christian anthropology with the scientific understanding of the human person. DMU provides the following programs: Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology, Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Master of Science in Psychology, and Spiritual Direction Certificate.

Learn more about Divine Mercy University:
https://divinemercy.edu/

For more information on our programs visit us at:
https://enroll.divinemercy.edu/

Un filo blu racconta due secoli della nostra storia, dal diciannovesimo secolo fino ai giorni nostri, attraverso il rapporto che prima artisti e letterati, e poi scienziati e medici hanno avuto con la tubercolosi. La malattia che più di ogni altra cosa ha plasmato il nostro immaginario, segnando la rivoluzione industriale al pari di macchine e vapore e fabbriche. Prima di scomparire dai nostri radar pur restando la seconda causa di morte per malattie infettiva al mondo, seconda solo al covid.

Da Thomas Mann a Charles Bukowsky, fino al medico Mario Raviglione e l’attivista zambiana Carol Nawina, il podcast svela il filo blu, le relazioni inaspettate che legano le esperienze di queste persone apparentemente molto lontane.

Credits:

Un filo blu è un podcast di Chora Media scritto con Simone Clemente per The Global Fund, il fondo globale per la lotta contro l’aids, la tubercolosi e la malaria.
Le registrazioni in studio sono di Niccolò Bosio. I fonici in presa diretta sono Laurent Vonlanthen per Kitchen Studio, Claudia Curreli e Cristiano Lo Mele.
La voce di Peter Sands è di Paolo Giangrasso, la voce di Carol Nawina Nyirgnda è di Simona Biasetti.
L'editing e il sound design sono di Francesco Ferrari per Frigo Studio.
Le musiche addizionali sono su licenza Machiavelli Music e Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Srl.
La producer è Monia Donati, la cura editoriale di Sara Poma.