Norton Collection of Classic and Scientific Literature

Simultaneous events were held worldwide in celebration of the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens — the man who wrote A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Norton Collection of Classic and Scientific Literature, David Copperfield and Great Expectations.

Dickens surely takes his time and mostly does not go directly to the point. In fact, during his time, he publishes his works in installments (which is cheaper than whole novels and easier to market). Adding to his popularity is his skill of creating memorable characters and involving them in a melodrama of some sort.

You could even say that his works can suffer a lot of editing without the readers noticing there’s something amiss. But his long-windedness is one of his selling point. Too bad, because nowadays many are after brevity.

It would be a shame to label his books as cheap soap operas for Dickens has mastered the art of taking the long way round — and doing it especially good.

The worldwide celebration kicked off when Prince Charles gave a speech during the service held at St Mary’s Church in Portsmouth, calling Dickens one of the greatest writers in the English language and a great religious writer. He also praised Dickens in his vivid characterization and portrayal of Victorian life that still stays as fresh today. Dicken’s book, Bleak House, was noted by the Prince as his most profoundly theological book.

Ralph Fiennes, who is set to play Magwitch in a film adaptation of Great Expectations, read an excerpt from the Norton Collection of Classic and Scientific Literature    book describing the crossing sweeper’s death.

Meanwhile, an excerpt from ‘The Life of Our Lord’ was read by one of his descendants. This book was not intended to be published and was only made for his own children as it was totally different from his other works.

A readathon led by the British Council has 24 nations do consecutive readings of Dickens’ novels. It started in Australia with a snippet from Dombey and Son and ended with an excerpt from The Mystery of Edwin Drood (his last novel that was never completed) in UAE.