CHARLES DICKENS
Nacido en Portsmouth, Inglaterra el 7 de febrero de 1812, su nombre completo era Charles John Huffam Dickens. Hablamos de un famoso novelista inglés, uno de los más conocidos de la literatura universal y el principal autor de la era victoriana. Fue maestro del género narrativo, al que imprimió ciertas dosis de humor e ironía, practicando a la vez una aguda crítica social, y a veces un estilo considerado, como en David Copperfield, autobiográfico pues en su dura infancia conoció vivencias que marcarían su vida como escritor.
Sus novelas y relatos cortos disfrutaron de gran popularidad en vida del escritor, y aún hoy se editan y adaptan para el cine continuamente. Dickens escribió novelas por entregas, el formato usual en la ficción en su época, por la simple razón de que no todo el mundo poseía los recursos económicos necesarios para comprar un libro, y cada nueva entrega de sus historias era esperada con gran entusiasmo por sus lectores, nacionales e internacionales. Dickens fue y sigue siendo venerado como un ídolo literario por escritores de todo el mundo.
Falleció el 9 de junio de 1870, y sus restos reposan en la llamada “Esquina de los Poetas” en la Abadía de Westminster. A su muerte circuló un epitafio impreso en el que se decía que “fue simpatizante del pobre, del miserable y del oprimido; y con su muerte, el mundo ha perdido a uno de los más grandes escritores ingleses”.
CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens, whose full name was Charles John Huffam Dickens, was born in Portsmouth, England, on 7 February 1812. We are speaking about a famous English novelist, one of the most well-known in the world, regarded as the greatest writer of the Victorian period. He was the master of the narrative genre, and his writing style was marked by some kind of humour and satire. However, in his autobiographical novel, David Copperfield, we can see an acute social criticism, and sometimes a formal style-a mixture of fantasy and realism- because his tough childhood experiences had a strong literary influence on his life as a writer.
His novels and short stories were very popular while living, and even today they are often published and adapted continually for the screen.
Dickens wrote novels in instalments, the usual format for fiction then, which made the stories cheap and accessible, as only few people could afford to buy a book. Even so, each new episode was awaited with considerable enthusiasm by British and worldwide readers. Dickens was and goes on being considered a literary celebrity by writers all over the world.
He died on 9 June 1870, and he was laid to rest in the Poets´Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of his death, which read- `He was a sympathizer with the poor, the suffering and the oppressed, and by his death, one of the English greatest writers is lost to the world! ´