Crisis-hit Britons seek advice from Charles Dickens

By Britta Guerke Feb 4, 2012, 2:06 GMT

London - Was there once a golden age where children could just be children and everyone knew their place in society? If anyone ever showed the 19th century was not like that, it was Charles Dickens.

With his descriptions of hardship in Victorian London, he unmasked bourgeois illusions. Amid today's economic problems, many in Dickens' British homeland believe his books are more contemporary than ever before.

As Britain marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens on February 7, the creator of Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol is being celebrated as a national hero, and seen as a source of advice for today.

When riots and looting made the streets of London and other cities unsafe in August 2011, many commentators asked: 'What would Charles Dickens say about today's poverty?'

He would recognize many of the questions and problems, because they were already apparent in his time, according to Alex Werner of the Museum of London, which has organized one of the many Dickens exhibitions being held in 2012.

'He wrote about financial problems, immigration, poor education and poor housing - these are issues that might sound familiar to Londoners now,' Werner told the BBC. Dickens also diagnosed excessive bureaucracy - something still present today.

Some analysts even find parallels between Dickens and Twitter, a symbol for the acceleration of the world in the young millennium and for some of the problems resulting from that.

Dickens wrote his novels in episodes for magazines, with the gradual publication of the stories lasting months and years.

Unlike some of his colleagues, Dickens often did not have his novels complete before they were published. Instead he developed the plots as he went along. Those conditions contributed to Dickens' style, which is characterized by suspense and parallel storylines.

Some researchers credit Dickens' style as the foundation for telling stories in film, essentially inventing the idea of movies.

In the age of Twitter and other forms of mini-diary writing and blogging on the internet, Dickens' serial method seems strangely fitting, said BBC expert Matthew Davis, who called him the 'master of the snippet.'

Dickens remains one of the most widely read authors in English worldwide. The term 'Dickensian' has become a synonym for extreme poverty.

His works have been filmed hundreds of times. A number of remakes, new editions, special events, biographies and other Dickens products are now hitting the British market in the anniversary year.

He is celebrated for his realism, humour and the unique characters he created. He is also acknowledged for his dedication against poverty and for better living conditions.

In real life, however, Dickens was not always like fairytale uncles and philanthropists who often save the day in his books. He was allegedly a control freak, and contemporaries said he could be miserly and conceited as well.

An exhibition in the British Library describes some of the plagiarism accusations laid against him.

Dickens' books include some autobiographical traits. As a child, he had to work for months in a blacking factory while his father was locked away in a debtor's prison.

After his schooling in and around London, he first worked with lawyers, then as a stenographer in a civil court and as a reporter.

His first stories were published in 1834.

Oliver Twist was published in a magazine between January 1837 and April 1839. Dickens' description of poverty and crime in London shocked his readers so much that the actual slum in which the novel was set was later demolished.

Dickens became a celebrated author, going on reading trips all the way to the United States. By the time of his death on June 9, 1870, he had a public status comparable to the film stars of today, according to Dickens experts at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

He sparked a scandal in 1858, when he split with Catherine, his wife of more than 20 years, with whom he had 10 children. He had fallen in love with the young actress Ellen Ternan, in whose house he supposedly died.

Dickens' remains rest in London's Westminster Abbey, opposite a memorial statue for Great Britain's other national literary hero, William Shakespeare.