Charles Dickens

This week, I finished reading A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the writing style. I would read a few pages or paragraphs and then have to stop and look up a word or two in the dictionary. But, the more I read, the more I liked the writing style. Charles Dickens was able to say something profound and moving in just a small sentence. I enjoyed reading this book and had a hard time saying goodbye to the characters, especially Sydney Carton, who had a small, but significant role in the book.

My favorite Charles Dickens book is The Life of Our Lord. This was a work that was never meant to be published. He wrote it solely for his children. He wanted to teach them about Jesus Christ. He thought about publishing it, but decided not to. In fact, he didn't even want copies of the original manuscript to be taken out of the house. His family cherished and protected the manuscript. His youngest son, Henry, left the choice of whether or not to publish the manuscript after his death, to his wife and children. It was published in 1934, a year after Henry's death.

I love the simpleness of The Life of Our Lord, especially after reading A Tale of Two Cities. Although Charles Dickens was capable of writing profound and imaginative words, he used a writing style that even his youngest children could understand. From these pages, I can tell that he was a man of great faith, who left something that was more important than money or fame to his children.