ArmandoIannuccipresentsapersonalargumentinpraiseofthegeniusofCharlesDickens.Throughtheprismoftheauthor’smostautobiographicalnovel,DavidCopperfield,ArmandolooksbeyondDickens-thenationalinstitution-andinsteadexploresthequalitiesofDickens’sworkwhichstillmakehimoneofthebestBritishwriters.WhileDickensisoftencelebratedforhispowerfuldepictionsofVictorianEnglandandhisroleasasocialreformer,thisprogrammeforegroundstheelementsofhiswritingwhichmakehimworthreading,asmuchforwhathetellsusaboutourselvesinthetwenty-firstcenturyasourancestorsinthenineteenth.ArmandoarguesthatDickens’sremarkableuseoflanguageandhisextraordinarygiftforcreatingcharactersmakehimastartlinglyexperimentalandpsychologicallypenetratingwriterwhodemandsnotjusttobeadaptedfortelevisionbuttobereadandreadagaiaaa
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