HARD TIMES Author: Charles Dickens.
By: Víctor Manuel Montero Ramírez
INTRODUCTION. Charles Dickens was born on 7th February 1812. Your family lived near Portsmouth, on the south coast of England and then the family lived in London. Charles had three brothers and three sisters. In 1824 all family stayed in the prison. Is the most famous English writer in the nineteenth century. Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, they had 10 children and separated in 1858. Some of Dickens stories are: Oliver Twist, Bleak House, A tale of two Cities, Hard Times, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Our Mutual Friends. I´m doing: a sumary, characters, chapters and a personal opinion of this book.
CHAPTERS 1. The Gradgrind family. 2. Sissy Jupe. 3. Stephen Blackpool. 4. Sister, daughter and wife. 5. A visitor to Coketown. 6. Walking alone. 7. A robbery at the Bank. 8. Mrs Sparsit´s staircase. 9. Lost. 10. Found, and lost again.
SUMARY The book talked about the story of Thomas Gradgrind. He´s a member of Parlament. Then he went to Coketown and her sister married with Mr Bounderby. Then Harthouse robbbery at the bank. Louisa becomes a prisoner in a loveless marriage and Tom has problem at the work. In the end, Thomas Gradgrind learns the importance of feelings and imagination.
CHARACTERS Mr Gradgrind: he had a square body , a square face and a loud voice. Tom Gradgrind: he likes spending money on clothes, food and drink. Her father is Mr Gradgrind. Louisa Gradgrind: she´s serious, clever and her father was Mr Gradgrind. Mr Harthouse: he´s serious and thinks that time is money. Mrs Sparsit: she´s a poor woman with a hard life. Sissy Jupe: she had a dark-eyed and a shaking voice. Her father is a clown. Stephen Blackpool: He´s a hard worker and looks older than he is. Rachael: she´s nosy and likes to know everything that´s going on.
VOCABULARY Facts: un hecho. You have to face the fact that he´s gone. Gamble: juegos con apuestas. I´m play a gamble in a casino. Calmness: calmando. Are you feeling calmness now? Trouble: un problema. I´m having trouble with the dog. Cheerful: contento. He´s cheerful Widow: mujer sin hermano. She´s a widow. Plan: plan. The man has a plan Several: muchas posibilidades. I have several problems.
PERSONAL OPINION Is a old book and I don´t like because isn´t interesting and I say: ‘don´t read this book’ with my friends. The content is boring, isn´t interesting. I´m not recommend.