Holiday Romance

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 75K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Holiday Romance by Charles DickensAuthor: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Feb 1, 1997

Editor's review

This Holiday Romance is a light piece Dickens published late in life in a collection of short novels, told from a child's perspective as four children narrate their imagined stories of love and adventure, humorous in tone and unfolding in nested layers like a box within a box. Its value lies not in Dickens's customary social critique but in showing a playful, fantastical side rare in this realist master, with lively dialogue and a comic effect in the grown-up manner of the child characters. The Project Gutenberg public-domain e-edition is convenient for searching and citation at any time, making it a good supplementary read for understanding the diversity of Dickens's work. As for reading settings, it is short enough to finish in segments on a commute or before bed; it also suits readers who, after finishing long novels such as Oliver Twist or David Copperfield, want a lighter taste to approach Dickens afresh.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like Dickens and want to know his atypical light works
English learners who need short original English texts for reading practice
Those interested in Victorian children's themes and fantastical narrative
Readers who want a bit of classical humorous vignette for fragmented time

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting Dickensian social critique and heavy themes
Readers who prefer complete long plots and complex character arcs
Beginners with weak English reading foundations unaccustomed to 19th-century prose

Reading tips

Read the opening frame first to understand the structure of four children taking turns telling stories before going on
Don't stop at obscure Victorian expressions; grasp the playful tone of the dialogue first
Treat it as a change of pace between long novels, finishing one story in two or three sittings
After reading, compare with other Dickens works and note the differences in his writing of children's voices

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a full-length novel by Dickens?

No. It is a short work by Dickens, far shorter than his novels, structured as several stories told by children, light and humorous in style, and best read as a short piece.

Can I read this public-domain edition if my English is not good?

This is an electronic edition of the original English text, with vocabulary and sentence patterns characteristic of the 19th century. Readers with some English foundation willing to look up words can try it; complete beginners are advised to read a bilingual or annotated edition first, then return to the original.

Why recommend this rather obscure work?

It shows Dickens's rare playful, fantastical style, contrasting with his novels of social critique. Reading it after his major works gives a fuller sense of the author's linguistic flexibility and humor.

Comments

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About the author

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 Author

Charles Dickens (Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870) is one of the most influential novelists in the history of English literature. The library holds 115 of his works, including novels, novellas and short stories; representative titles include The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol. He was known for serialized fiction, with plot twists and vivid characters, and he used humor and satire to portray Victorian society, paying particular attention to poor children, the lower classes and education, and his works often convey warmth and moral concern. In the library his works are often classified under "inspirational growth," and many of his novels have been adapted for stage and screen and are widely circulated. Public information about the details of his life is limited, so no speculation is offered here.