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school. He continued his studies in London as well. But soon, his father lost his job and was imprisoned for
debt. Charles had to begin to work in a factory. In
about a year the Dickenses received a small sum of
money after the death of a relative, so all the debts were paid. Charles got a chance to go to school again.
Dickens left school when he was twelve. He had to continue his education by himself. His father sent him
to a lawyer’s office to study law. He did not stay there long, but he learned the ways and manners of
lawyers, as many of his books show.
In 1832, Dickens became a parliamentary reporter. Dickens’s first efforts at writing were little stories
about the ordinary Londoners he saw. He signed them Boz (the nickname given to him by his youngest
brother. At the age of 24 Dickens married Catherine Hogarth. Later he discovered his ability as a novelist
and devoted himself to literary work. Twice he visited the USA. Besides Dickens was a master of reading. He
had invented the theatre for one actor. From 1858 to 1868, he had given dramatic readings of his novels in
England and America. An audience to Dickens was like a potent wine, he delighted in the applause. Dickens
knew more than he revealed. His own nature was involved in a high emotionalism, which prevented him
from reaching the sense of tragedy of Dostoyevsky, or that full vision of life, which makes Tolstoy supreme
among novelists of the world. Short of this, he had everything. In 1867-1868, Dickens made a triumphant
reading tour in the United States during his second visit, which was a great strain on him and undermined
his health. He died suddenly on June 9, 1870. Dickens was buried in Westminster Abbey. When Dickens
died, something had gone out of English life that was irreplaceable, a bright light that had shone upon the
drab commercialism of the century, calling men back to laughter and kindliness, and the disruption of the
cruelties in which they were entangling themselves. Like all great artists, he saw the world as if it was an
entirely fresh experience seen for the first time, and he had an extraordinary range of language, from comic
invention to great eloquence. He invented character and situation with a range that had been unequalled
since Shakespeare. So deeply had he affect his audiences that the view of life behind his novels has entered
into the English tradition. Reason and theory he distrusted, but compassion and cheerfulness of heart he
elevated into the supreme virtues. He knew in his more reflective moments that cheerfulness alone will
not destroy the Coketowns of the world. This reflection he kept mainly to himself, and his intense
emotionalism helped him to obscure it.
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