Is Charles Dickens the greatest writer in history?
Is Charles Dickens the greatest writer in history?
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If you question it, the answer is no. J R R Tolkien was, not many doubt that.
He’s only known for Lord of the Rings though. Dickens made a lot of great stories.
The point is to never question who’s the best.
Tolkien created so many different languages too though!
I hate the singing in all his books though.
He put so much thought into 1,000 page book. A world full of languages, songs, races, history, maps. All done by one man.
I’m sure someone influenced him, every writer was influenced by someone.
Of course. Amazing stuff like Beowulf, Biblical stories, real life history and science and who else knows what. But Lord of the Rings is the best stuff there is quality and effort wise.
Lord of the Rings is too recent though.
The best comes when it has to. Maybe in the future there will be one that’s better, but up to this date no one has topped it.
William Shakespeare influenced far more people than Tolkien did.
Go ahead and read Shakespeare then.That’s another one that doesn’t get much argument when asked who’s the best. I’m just telling you who I put my money on the best. J R R Tolkien. <3
In 500 years, he might be considered the best.
Lol. The internet might beg to differ on that one bro.
I feel like you’re trying to say that something has to be 200 plus years old to be any good.
I would say yes !!! He is one of best in his time .
No
This may vary from person to person x
Nah. I would tend to suggest maybe flaubert or Henry James..
@Shakespeare
Douglas Adams ?
I would rank Shakespeare, Joyce, and Proust ahead of Dickens …
Shakespeare, Tolstoy, WB Yeats, to name but a few who far outrank Dickens…..I just can’t get into Dickens myself though it’s not through lack of trying!
Dickens was one of the greatest.
No.
There is no one better than Great Great xx Uncle William Shakespeare ?
One of them, for sure!
Not even the best of his generation.
Not sure, but I love him.
One of them. It’d be relative to a reader’s preference.
The greatest of his time possibly but not the greatest in history
Nope
Terry Pratchett?
@Benjamin Yes, he is one of the greatest writers ever
I don’t believe there is a single ‘greatest writer’.
I love Dickens, but have to say Shakespeare is the greatest.
No I dont think so
No
He’s a great writer, just not THE greatest.
Each great writer is sui generis—you can’t really compare them. It’s like asking who is greater Babe Ruth or Johnny Mathis. They don’t play the same game.
no but certainly up there
He was a revolutionary writer .
No one writer can claim that……….
Nope.
Nope…every writer/playwright is unique in his/her style of writing. He can be called one of them. I am a big fan of handsome witty dandy of his times- Oscar Wilde!
How can there be just one?
I wasn’t a fan of his style. So I’d say no.
Who should judge this, and based exactly on what?
Charles Dickens has the finest prose
How far back do you define history Shakespeare or Bacon could be cited but you could go back to greek historical writers.
You seem to have started one book by him, @Steven. Why don’t you broaden your horizons, reading many more classics, and try to make up your own mind?
I love him! But maybe not the greatest.
Dickens wrote many of his books as weekly episodes to be published in cheap papers called penny dreadfulls he is a bit mawkish and his female characters are not exactly strong.
He was writing in the 1860s about the time before the railways so was actually writing nostalgic bodice rippers of his time.
Bleak House, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, etc., are NOT bodice rippers, nor featured in penny dreadfuls; those came along decades later. All the authors of the day, including Dickens, Eliot, Wilkie Collins and Anthony Trollope, published their novels that way; the novels were released in bound volumes when the magazine run finished.
And only the last 2 of his novels, Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend were in the 1860s. He started writing and publishing back in 1836!!
@Kristopher my favorite Dickens novel is Great Expectations
Karen Bowser, yes, truly a great novel, imo. Mine is Bleak House.
He is certainly one of the great writers of literature. Alexander Dumas, JRR Tolkien, Jane Austen, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy are all great authors.
I’m sure you can name many more.
Victor Hugo
Not for me.
Is it bad that I think the best version of A Christmas Carol is the muppets version?
No! That version is fantastic???
It’s my favorite! I watch it every year when I decorate my Christmas tree.
@Alisha me too!!!
One of the greats but not the greatest
For his time yes
Not in the slightest. Maybe for his time, but I’m not going to recommend he’s a must read to anyone.
Disagree- think his work is wonderful
His novels have stood the test of time and have brought so many memorable characters into the world, so he has to be considered a serious contender.
Yes
Thomas Hardy is my absolute favorite. But Dickens is damn near close!
Yes he is
One of my favorites
Subjective.
Yes
he is among the greatest ?
n o
subjective I agree
Not to me… I’d have to give that award to the Bard
He’s certainly one of the best. Agree with Debby about Shakespeare.
Matter of taste and opinion.
Yes and no. He is influential enough, but ‘the greatest’ is the matter of opinion.
no
Voltaire also has—in common with Jonathan Swift—the distinction of paving the way for science fiction’s philosophical irony, particularly in his Micromégas and the vignette Plato’s Dream (1756).
one of