Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World by Simon Callow


ISBN
9780007445301
Published
Binding
Hardcover
Pages
384
Dimensions
141 x 222 x 34mm

Two hundred years after his death, Dickens' work is more popular than ever, in a variety of media, most of them undreamed of during his lifetime. Over the last few decades of intensive research, Dickens the man has become much better known to us, and the sheer originality of his personality blazes forth as never before.

Unique in so many ways, he is certainly the only major novelist - perhaps the only novelist ever - to have been a compelling performer in his own right, playing to spellbound audiences of up to four thousand all over the English-speaking world.Theatre was central to his life, from his earliest years as a child entertainer in Portsmouth pubs, to his reluctant retirement from 'these garish lights' barely a year before his death. He wrote plays, he acted in them, he stage-managed them, all with fanatical perfectionism.

Dickens' novels are famously filled with unforgettable descriptions of performers, from Sleary and his troupe in Hard Times to the Infant Phenomenon and the rest of the glorious Crummleses in Nicholas Nickleby.

As a writer, he was a compulsive performer. His very imagination was theatrical, his method that of the stage, both in terms of plot devices and construction of character. There is in his writing a palpable sense of him reaching out to his readers, his public, courting their favour, speaking on their behalf, stirring them, building their applause.

Simon Callow explores this extraordinary theatrical core to Dickens in this short life of one of our greatest novelists.
March Book Frenzy (Online Only)
28.00
RRP: $35.00
20% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $35
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

Other Titles by Simon Callow

My Life in Pieces
19.99
15.99
20% Off
Londons Great Theatres
79.99
63.99
20% Off

You might also like

Everything I Know About Love
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Wifedom
36.99
29.59
20% Off
Im Liz Hayes A Memoir
49.99
39.99
20% Off
Dear Dolly
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Line In The Sand
36.99
29.59
20% Off
Banjo Paterson
49.99
39.99
20% Off
Stephen King
55.00
44.00
20% Off
The Year Of Magical Thinking
19.99
15.99
20% Off
The White Album
19.99
15.99
20% Off
Popular Penguins Going Solo
14.99
11.99
20% Off
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
19.99
15.99
20% Off
Wandering Through Life
35.00
28.00
20% Off
The Hate Race
22.99
18.39
20% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.