Welcome to Litsy!

I read this in January so it was about time I posted a review.

A look at what will happen in a society where only the facts matter.

I was hoping Sissy Jupe would have played a bigger part in the story since she was the only one standing up against this.

#WhatTheDickens

I feel like this book could be set in modern times
Thomas Gradgrind is raising his children to only care about facts. It doesn't go well. Tom is a thief, and Louisa marries the walking red flag Josiah Bouderby. The facade starts to crack after Louisa has an emotional affair and flees to her childhood home.
#WhatTheDickens @Cuilin @Texreader
#WickedWords #guests @AsYouWish
#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks
#KeepOrDonate @julieclair Keeping

Here are my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books, which will also serve for #ReadOrDonate
@TheAromaofBooks @julieclair

Book #2 of 2025: “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens

Oh, Dickens. I liked this one less than “A Tale of Two Cities” and more than “Great Expectations”. After 15 hours of travel that‘s all the review you get 😅

#weeklyfavorites
@Read4Life

#WhatTheDickens @Cuilin @Texreader

#WhatTheDickens @Cuilin @Texreader

I noticed a few connections myself, what say you?

#WithTheDickens @Cuilin @Texreader

Are you finished?
Join in whenever.
What are we all thinking?

#hyggehourreadathon @Alldebooks @Chrissyreadit @TheBookHippie

Hygge hour involved finishing HARD TIMES for #WhatTheDickens. Not the most relaxing of reads, but I had to see some beloved characters through to the end. What a reminder that life is full of hard times but that redemption and salvation is possible within ourselves and without a savior. Best part tonight? Taking a hygge break with Pip--who's better after her seizure this week. 🖤🐾🖤

#WhatTheDickens @Cuilin @Texreader
4/5 Through characters like Thomas Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby, Dickens critiques the utilitarian philosophy that values efficiency over human emotion and compassion. He argues that such a worldview leads to a soulless, mechanical society where people are seen as a means to an end rather than individuals with inherent worth. Still, redemption is possible and does occur for those who are worthy. A heartfelt read.

This book is one of the shorter ones by Dickens, and I enjoyed listening to the entire story within a month. I appreciated the stories of the different characters and the growth of Louisa and her father. I‘m looking forward to the discussion for this one.

#WhatTheDickens #audiobook #1001books

This is one of Dickens' shorter novels & he packs a lot of story into it. He shines when it comes to portraying the brokenness of humanity and the lengths we'll go to in our moments of desperation. At this point I've read 8 of his major novels & this one falls in the middle. I love some of the characters like Bounderby, the perfect picture of callous selfishness & Stephen, who lives a tragic life, but never lets go of his morals. #whatthedickens

What a sad set of circumstances—a school that teaches children only facts, nothing whimsical (I kept thinking of Star Trek Vulcans) and a bank owner who expects the same thing from his employees and his wife. This is how the youngsters grow up into damaged adults as a result. Meanwhile, a downtrodden and sympathetic man gets mixed up with these messed up people leading him astray as well. Hard Times is a hard book. #whatthedickens

My apologies to the #whatthedickens group, but I got going and couldn‘t stop, so I‘ve finished already. ☺️ I want to participate in discussions so I‘ll hold off on my review, but I must comment on the illustrations. They seemed oddly both familiar and disturbing, and not quite up to my inward images of the characters. So I looked up the illustrator. He did a lot of Penguin covers in the 60s, 👇🏻

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

I completely agree with Sissy. How can you know anything about prosperity if you don‘t know its distribution?

#WhatTheDickens

I‘m very excited to start our first Dickens book of the year for #whattheDickens! @Cuilin

The illustrations in my edition are copyright 1966, and I think it shows. Not what I expect but suitably grim for Coketown! #whatthedickens @Cuilin

Repost for @Cuilin
#WhatTheDickens Hard Times Buddy Read

Hard Times is the 10th novel by Dickens published in 1854. With themes, including the consequences of unchecked capitalism and the importance of empathy it‘s still relevant today. All are welcome! We will check in mid month and post a discussion question at the end of January.

Original post - https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2823405

Hard cover ready for reading at home (with illustrations by Charles Raymond) and Kindle edition for reading while out and about. I‘m ready for #whatthedickens! About half of my Dickens novels are in this binding, which I often find in second hand shops.

What a first paragraph. Dickens knows how to pull you in

#WhatTheDickens

My edition that I bought some years ago.

I don‘t know anything about this book, but looking forward to reading it with #WhatTheDickens

#WhatTheDickens Hard Times Buddy Read

Hard Times is the 10th novel by Dickens published in 1854. With themes, including the consequences of unchecked capitalism and the importance of empathy it‘s still relevant today. All are welcome! We will check in mid month and post a discussion question at the end of January.

Repost for @TexReader

@Cuilin and I are hosting a year-long Dickens buddy read! Let us know if you want to participate in some or all of the readings. We promise A Christmas Carol will be read again in 2025!! #whattheDickens

See original post at https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2822407

@Cuilin and I are hosting a year-long Dickens buddy read! Let us know if you want to participate in some or all of the readings. We promise A Christmas Carol will be read again in 2025!! #whattheDickens @LitsyEvents

Sorry guys, for not being present as l should, considering the readalong #FellowshipOfTolkien.
Thing is, I'm leaving my job and it is proving to be harder and more confusing than l anticipated.
But l hope that once this is all done and in the past, I'll be back (really back) here.

But you keep reading and sharing. I'll dive right back as soon as l can ☺️

The novel follows three spheres that are intertwined: Mr Grandgrind is deep down a good man, but he only believes in facts and not feelings and tries to raise his kids accordingly...with totally forseeable consequences; his friend Mr Bounderby is a banker and manufacturer devoid of feelings who has problems with Unions and recognising employment rights; and Stephen Blackpool is on of Bounderby's employees that has a difficult life. ⬇️

6-14 Aug 23 (audiobook)
It‘s Dickens, so I am reluctant to pan as the language is wonderful and there were a few memorable characters, but definitely not my favourite. I felt there was not enough going on to be classic Dickens. Hard not to like Stephen and feel sorry for his ending and despise Thomas and rue his escape.

Happy birthday, Charles Dickens! It's a good day to read _Hard Times_, a book that feels peculiarly suited to the world we live in:

“'And he said, Now, this schoolroom is a Nation. And in this nation, there are fifty millions of money. Isn‘t this a prosperous nation? Girl number twenty, isn‘t this a prosperous nation, and a‘n‘t you in a thriving state?‘

“‘What did you say?‘ asked Louisa. . . .

Hard Times is not Dickens's best novel, but it might be the most directly relevant to the current world.

https://newrepublic.com/article/169577/sam-bankman-fried-charles-dickens-hard-ti...

Un Dickens che sa rivolgersi al lettore con un'armonia di penna incredibile. Il grigio delle strade di Londra si incontra con il mondo delle fabbriche e con la classe operaia del XIX secolo. Una cultura borghese che esplode di concretezza e scientificità, il tangibile che diventa carcere dell'anima e distrugge il sogno. Un semplice capolavoro che nessun lettore o scrittore può perdere. Grazie Dickens. Grazie.

Still feeling Dickens, so grabbed this one off the shelf, solely because it was shorter than the other ones there. Am only a few chapters in, but already the names and descriptions of characters are 🤣

#OppositeDay @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TheKidUpstairs
Prompt: Soft

Fact, this book was a painful read. There were moments that the book was enjoyable to read but this is subpar in comparison to many other of Dickens‘ works that I have read. I wouldn‘t recommend this one. Unfortunately not his best work in my subjective opinion.

November 2020
The Bass Rock: Evie Wyld 4.5 🌟 📖
Such A Fun Age: Kiley Reid 2 🌟 🎧
The World That We Knew: Alice Hoffman 5 🌟🎧
Half Gods: Akil Kumarasamy 4 🌟 📖
The Confessions of Frannie Langton: Sara Collins 3.5 🌟📖
The Vanishing Half: Brit Bennett 3 🌟🎧
Wow, No Thank You: Samantha Irby 3 🌟🎧
The Cost of Living: Deborah Levy 4.5 🌟🎧
Hard Times: Charles Dickens 4 🌟🎧
Magic Lessons: Alice Hoffman 2🌟🎧
Homeland Elegies: Ayad Akhtor

A delight. Simplistic and moralistic but he sure can tell a story. 4 🌟

Did not care for this audiobook. It is public domain and was recorded by volunteers. Some did okay and others were dreadful. This is not my kind of book either. ⭐️

@Eggs here‘s my #spinepoem1 attempt for #AcrossApril:

Hard Times
Kindred spirits
Gathering
Across the miles
Against the odds
Brave new world

Obvious choice today #hardtimes #newyearnewyou @Eggs

Day 21 - #HardTimes #NewYearNewYou #CharlesDickens

I do own this book but have not read it yet!

#GratefulReads Day 20: While I have read quite a few Dickens, being a huge fan, these are two that fit into the category of #ClassicYouHaventRead. I think I now own several of his classic novels that I wish to get to, hopefully soon. 😭😂📚📚📚

Very difficult to get through

#wellreadmom bookclub, February selection.

Look what arrived today! Thank you Ammy! 😘

#nortoncriticaleditions

https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finlands_flagship_library_so_popular_its_runn... Who said people don‘t read books anymore???? Our library is so popular it‘s running out of books!

I‘ve actually read all of these. Incubus and Girls Night ain‘t are both good, I‘ll just never reread them.

I'm revising the view I've held on this book for 30 years. I hated it when I had to read it in college. But you have to admire a character who throws shade like Mrs. Sparsit. My new thought is that Dickens is best performed because I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC audiobook. This was my "Read a Book You Hated" for Bookriot's #ReadHarder2018 challenge.

#Bookhaul part 2. After resting at a coffee shop, we hit a vintage store and found these beauties. Tom Jones replaces a copy whose spine is falling off. The Dickens match the copy of Little Dorrit that my daughter gave me for Christmas several years ago. None of them even look like they‘ve been read.

Tried. Couldn‘t do it. Moving on