Sleep is good, books are better
Charles Dickens in 31 quotes Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was a great Victorian novelist and the creator of an extensive range of vivid fictional characters. He was also a journalist, speaker and social critic. In his childhood Dicken's father was imprisoned for debt and the 12 year old Charles was famously sent to work in a... Continue Reading →
Happy birthday, Thomas Hardy! Today is the birthday of Thomas Hardy (b.2 June 1840 – d.11 January 1928). Hardy was a celebrated and influential English novelist and poet. And is a favourite of mine. Author of such works as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891),... Continue Reading →
Don't look yet - have a try first! Answers: Napoléon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 – 1864) Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861) Margaret Fuller (1810 – 1850) Gustave Flaubert (1821 – 1880) Mark Twain (1835 – 1910) Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) Not easy - how many... Continue Reading →
Today is the anniversary of the death of James Boswell (b.29 October 1740 – d.19 May 1795). Boswell was a Scottish landowner, biographer and diarist, best known for his Life of Samuel Johnson (1791). There is a Boswell Society here on WordPress. Boswell famously quoted Dr Johnson as saying: “No man but a blockhead ever... Continue Reading →
Can you identify the above quotes about reading? Need some clues? Read on. [Warning – clue below] To help you here is a list of the authors responsible for the quotes –the list is presented in chronological order by birth. Napoléon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864)... Continue Reading →
Don't look yet, have a try first! Answers: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1845) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868) Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) Adventures... Continue Reading →
Can you identify the famous closing lines above? [Warning – clue below] To help you here is a list of the titles from which the lines were extracted - as usual they are presented in the order of when the book was published: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre... Continue Reading →
The Long Victorian 