Quote from The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, 1836 - 1837, an English writer (1812 - 1870), ch. 4:
"The pursuit of one's own hat is one of those rare trials, funny and sad at the same time - that cause little sympathy. Considerable composure and a considerable dose of prudence are required when catching a hat. You should not rush - otherwise you will overtake it; you should not fall into the other extreme - otherwise, you will completely lose it. it amuses you as much as everyone else.
There was a pleasant breeze, and Mr. Pickwick's hat rolled merrily into the distance. The wind puffed and Mr. Pickwick puffed, and the hat rolled and rolled briskly, like a nimble dolphin in the waves, and it would have rolled away from Mr. Pickwick, if by the will of Providence an obstacle had not appeared in its path just at the moment when this the gentleman was ready to leave her to her fate.
Mr. Pickwick was exhausted and about to give up the pursuit, when a gust of wind carried his hat to the wheel of one of the carriages, which were standing in the very place to which he was rushing. Mr. Pickwick, seizing the favorable moment, rushed forward quickly, took possession of his property, hoisted it on his head and stopped to take a breath.
Translation into Russian by A.V. Krivtsova and Evgenia Lanna.
English text:
There are very few moments in a man's existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat. A vast deal of coolness, and a peculiar degree of judgment, are requisite in catching a hat. A man must not be precipitation, or he runs over it; he must not rush into the opposite extreme, or he loses it altogether. The best way is to keep gently up with the object of pursuit, to be wary and cautious, to watch your opportunity well, get gradually before it, then make a rapid dive, seize it by the crown, and stick it firmly on your head ; smiling pleasantly all the time, as if you thought it as good a joke as anybody else.
There was a fine gentle wind, and Mr. Pickwick's hat rolled sportively before it. The wind puffed, and Mr. Pickwick puffed, and the hat rolled over and over as merrily as a lively porpoise in a strong tide: and on it might have rolled, far beyond Mr. Pickwick's reach, had not its course been providentially stopped, just as that gentleman was on the point of resigning it to its fate.
Mr. Pickwick, we say, was completely exhausted, and about to give up the chase, when the hat was blown with some violence against the wheel of a carriage, which was drawn up in a line with half a dozen other vehicles on the spot to which his steps had been directed. Mr. Pickwick, perceiving his advantage, darted briskly forward, secured his property, planted it on his head, and paused to take breath.
The question about a fragment from the work of the English writer Charles Dickens equalized the score in a TV game with a team of connoisseurs.
Elena Yakimova from the city of Mikhailovsk, Stavropol Territory, equalized the score in the fourth game of the spring series “What? Where? When?". The compatriot's question was as follows: "Significant composure and a considerable dose of prudence are required when catching her. You should not rush - otherwise you will overtake her; you should not go to the other extreme - otherwise you will completely lose her. The best way is to run lightly, keeping up with the object of persecution , wait for an opportunity, quickly grab it and smile benevolently all the time, as if it amuses you as much as everyone else. What object of persecution did Charles Dickens write about?
The team captain, Alena Povysheva, decided to answer. After listening to the question twice, the connoisseur assumed that Dickens was writing about a butterfly, but replied that it was about luck.
However, neither the answer nor the assumptions made by other team members during the discussion turned out to be correct. Turns out it was a hat. Photographer Elena Yakimova won 90 thousand rubles. Question stavropolchanki leveled the score - 5:5. Next came the "Super Blitz", which was lost by Alexei Samulev. The game ended with a score of 6:5 in favor of the viewers.
Residents of Stavropol willingly take part in the intellectual game. So, a resident of Georgievsk 90 thousand rubles in the winter game “What? Where? When?".
News on Notebook-Stavropol
The hat helped the Stavropol woman win 90 thousand rubles. Photographer from Mikhailovsk Elena Yakimova won a victory over the experts of the club "What? Where? When?", who failed to correctly answer the question of our compatriot.
A riddle from a resident of the Stavropol Territory sounded in the 10th round of the program, when experts with a minimal advantage won over viewers.
Considerable composure and a considerable dose of prudence are required in her capture. Don't be in a hurry or you'll overtake her. You should not fall into the other extreme, otherwise you will completely lose it. The best way is to run lightly, keeping up with the object of persecution, wait for an opportunity, quickly grab it and smile good-naturedly all the time, as if it amuses you as much as everyone else. Attention, the question is: what object of persecution did Charles Dickens write about? - announced the task leader.
Such a seemingly simple and at the same time very confusing question was asked by our countrywoman to experts.
Luck! - almost without hesitation, suggested one of the experts.
Photographer ... - another doubted this, thinking that the answer should be related to the profession of a TV viewer.
Butterfly? - another member of the team put forward her version.
A lot of options immediately arose, connoisseurs put forward assumptions, immediately rejected many and continued to reason.
I think it's inanimate something! We were not told about some object in question, another member of the team thought.
In the meantime, one of the players listed the signs of the “object of persecution” that sounded in anticipation of the question asked.
Let's start simple: a butterfly, the only girl on the team suggested again.
Then rather a snake, - objected another participant.
Fortune? - the third asked a question.
In the stream of assumptions, it was difficult to even hear everything.
Maybe it's love when it comes to a girl?
And the muse? Badly?
Music I don't understand why...
Because if a writer has a bad muse...
Then those gathered at the round table began to recall what they know about Dickens, about the problems of his works. And again, assumptions began to arise about the family, the muse, wealth, victory, good luck. Most experts leaned towards the latter option.
Before voicing the team's decision, the participant asked the facilitator to repeat the question.
After listening to the task again, she thought about it and made a long pause.
I really want to answer that this is a butterfly, but I do not believe in it. Let's assume it's luck," the girl replied.
The gong sounded.
And now, attention, the correct answer. Alena, tell me, please, - the presenter turned to the answering one, - why “smile benevolently, as if it amuses you no less than everyone else”? That is, everyone around laughs when you do it ...
The hat, of course…” the representative of the connoisseur team replied in frustration, while the other player pounded his forehead dejectedly.
Dickens described a hat chase, the presenter confirmed.
Having won this round, Elena Yakimova received 90 thousand rubles.
BY THE WAY
Stavropol residents have repeatedly won against experts in "What? Where? When?" For example, a resident of the regional center received 30 thousand rubles back in 2009, and an electrician from Georgievsk
Publicistic activity was by no means an episode in a writer's biography. The complete collection of speeches and articles by Dickens, which make up two solid volumes, testify to the fact that the writer often spoke on public issues. This was organically combined with the literary work of Dickens, which from beginning to end was imbued with the pathos of the struggle against various forms of social injustice. As you know, journalistic motives are very significant in Dickens' novels. Therefore, it is not surprising that he often put aside the novelist's pen to write an article or give a speech. Civil feeling, social temperament were organically inherent in Dickens. All his journalism is imbued with a lively interest in what was the subject of greatest importance for modern society.
From the very beginning of his literary activity, Dickens proclaimed it his task to serve the interests of society, primarily the common people. Speaking at a banquet on June 25, 1841, Dickens spoke about the motives that drove his work: “I had a serious and humble desire - and it will never leave me - to make the world become more harmless fun and cheerfulness. I felt that the world is worthy not only of contempt, but that it is worth living in, and for many reasons. - which is not true, that it is incompatible with poverty, even with rags ... "
This philanthropic attitude is characteristic of both Dickens' novels and journalism. Both novels and journalism of Dickens pursued one goal: to incite hatred for all manifestations of social injustice and to teach people goodness.
Dickens was aware that such great moral-educational and educational tasks are beyond the capacity of one person. Therefore, throughout almost all the years of his literary work, he gathered around him writers who were able to support his desire to create literature that would influence the consciousness of the people. Hence the constant desire of Dickens to have a press organ that would appeal to the widest sections of society.
At first, Dickens contributed to the weekly The Examiner. It was one of the most progressive organs of the English press in the first half of the 19th century. Its founders were brothers John and Lee Hunt. Leigh Hunt led the radicals' struggle against political reaction during the Holy Alliance period. In 1821, Albany Fonblanc became the editor of the magazine, and then John Forster, a lifelong friend of Dickens and later his first biographer. In the "Examiner", this organ of radical bourgeois democracy, Dickens collaborated in 1838-1849. The articles of those years are reproduced in this volume.
Dickens wanted to publish a newspaper or magazine himself, to determine the ideological and artistic line of a large mass organ. In 1845, the writer plans to publish a weekly literary and political magazine, for which he comes up with the name Cricket. This intention remained unfulfilled, but the plan did not pass fruitlessly for Dickens. The idea of "Cricket" gave rise to the idea of the Christmas story "Cricket behind the Fireplace".
Weekly dreams took a backseat when Dickens received an offer to become editor of the Daily News. Although his faithful friend Forster dissuades him, Dickens enthusiastically takes up the preparatory work. January 21, 1846-. the first issue of the newspaper is published. Her political position was radical reformist. The newspaper advocated the abolition of obsolete social institutions and laws, in particular, sought the abolition of grain duties, which placed a heavy burden on the people. But at the same time it supported the principle of free trade, which was beneficial to the bourgeoisie. F. Engels wrote that the Daily News is "the London organ of the industrial bourgeoisie" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 1st ed., vol. VIII, p. 439.). The newspaper expressed the position of the liberal part of the bourgeois class.
To us, now becoming acquainted with these facts, it seems somewhat inconsistent on the part of Dickens to participate in an organ of this direction, for the writer's novels were essentially anti-bourgeois. Comparing this with what Dickens wrote about the bourgeoisie before 1846 in his novels Nicholas Nickleby, The Curiosity Store, Martin Chuzzlewit, one cannot help but feel that Dickens, in undertaking to be the editor of the Daily News, became involved in affairs of political cuisine, which always disgusted him. Work in the editorial office began to weigh him down and, pretty nervous because of the difficulties of his new position, Dickens took a vacation, which actually looked like an escape. He went to Switzerland. John Forster took over the newspaper; Dickens limited himself to advice for some time, and then completely moved away from the Daily News.
The Daily News episode is characteristic of Dickens. Although he was always occupied with big social problems, he shunned the intricacies of political struggle. Speaking on February 7, 1842 at a banquet in the United States, Dickens openly admitted: "my moral ideals are very broad and comprehensive, not within the framework of any sect or party ..." The writer wanted to be a judge of life from the point of view of higher ideals humanity. At the same time, his sympathies were on the side of the oppressed and disadvantaged. In the same speech, Dickens expressed his creed as follows: “I believe that our life, our sympathies, hopes and strengths are given to us in order to give from them to many, and not to a handful of the elect. That it is our duty to illuminate with a bright ray of contempt and hatred so that everyone can see them, any meanness, falsehood, cruelty and oppression, whatever they may be expressed in. And the main thing is that it is not always high that occupies a high position, and not always low that which occupies a low position.
Dickens is a staunch supporter of folk art and literature. That is why he could not accept the aesthetically sophisticated art of the Pre-Raphaelites (see the article "Old lamps instead of new ones"), while the moralizing art of the artist Cruikshank was close to him both in its realism and democratic ideological orientation ("Children of the Drunkard" by Cruikshank). The place of the writer in public life Dickens very clearly defined in a speech at a banquet in honor of literature and art in Birmingham on January 6, 1853. Having devoted myself to the literary profession, I, said Dickens, "firmly believe that literature, in turn, must be loyal to the people , is obliged to passionately and zealously stand up for his progress, prosperity and happiness.
The foregoing applies equally to the artistic creation and journalism of Dickens. In his articles and speeches, he unswervingly followed these principles. If from our point of view the writer's program may seem somewhat general and vague, then in Dickens's practice the position taken by him always led to a struggle against very specific forms of social evil.
It is enough to read his essay "A Night Scene in London" to be convinced of the absence of any kind of "abstractness" of Dickens's humanism. He shows here the terrible abyss of poverty, the very bottom of the London bottom, poverty, worse than which there is. His description is imbued with anger against the social order that allows such a terrible humiliation of a person.
Dickens was philanthropic, but by no means believed that evil should go unpunished. The reader will find in this book a series of articles devoted to the notorious case of the rogue Drouet, whose school of horrors many times surpassed the Squeers institution described in the novel Nicholas Nickleby. The writer is outraged by the class court, which allows impunity for those who profit from the suffering of the defenseless (see the articles "Paradise in Tooting", "Farm in Tooting", "The Drouet Verdict").
At the same time, recognizing the need for harsh measures against criminals, Dickens strongly opposes the then-preserved barbarian custom of public executions, as well as against the death penalty in general ("On the Death Penalty", "Public Executions"). Dickens' voice in these articles sounds in unison with the speeches of the great French humanist writer Victor Hugo ("Claude Gay", "The Last Day of the Condemned to Death").
Dickens touched on such consequences of national poverty as prostitution. However, his "Call to Fallen Women" sounds naive, because the solution to the problem was by no means in the desire or unwillingness to take the path of morality, but in the fact that the capitalist order doomed women to sell their bodies.
Dickens ardently supported all undertakings that could help enlighten the people and alleviate their plight. Evidence of this are his speeches at the evening of the school for workers, at the opening of the public library, in defense of the hospital for the children of the poor. He supports professional organizations that set themselves the goal of protecting the interests of people of creative professions - a society of musicians, a theater fund, a newspaper fund. Dickens fought especially hard for the establishment of international copyright (see Dickens' speech at a banquet in his honor in Hartford (USA) on February 7, 1842). Finally, as a writer, he brought a touching tribute to the workers of printing houses and proofreaders (speeches in the society of printers and in the association of proofreaders).
The idea of creating his own literary and social magazine did not leave Dickens even after he became disillusioned with newspaper work. Such a weekly magazine he began to publish in 1850 under the name "Home Reading" (Household Words). In "Appeal to Readers" Dickens formulated the goals and principles of his journal activities. The magazine was not supposed to give direct responses to the political topic of the day. Its main function was educational and social education. But at the same time, Dickens, as always, resolutely fenced himself off from utilitarian aspirations: “Neither the utilitarian spirit, nor the oppression of brute facts will be allowed on the pages of our Home Reading,” declared Dickens the publisher. And Dickens the writer declared such a program of the magazine that worth quoting, for it is important not only for understanding the direction of the journal, but for the whole aesthetic of Dickens' work.The value of this declaration lies in the fact that it perfectly characterizes the most important features of the artistic method of Dickens, whose realism was free from naturalistic tendencies and tended to romance.
“In the breasts of people young and old, rich and poor, we will carefully cherish that spark of fantasy that is sure to glow in any human chest, although in some, if it is nourished, it flares up into a bright flame of inspiration, while in others it only flickers a little, but never fades away completely - or woe to that day! To show everyone that in the most familiar things, even endowed with a repulsive shell, there is always a romantic something that needs to be found; to reveal to the diligent servants of the frantically spinning wheel of labor that they are not at all doomed to languish under the dry and indisputable facts that the consolation and charm of the imagination are also available to them; to gather both the highest and the lowest in this vast field and awaken in them a mutual desire to know each other better, a benevolent readiness to understand each other - this is what "Home Reading" is published for - wrote Dickens.To these words we will add: that is why he wrote his works.
Dickens attracted the writers who hosted the program to participate in the magazine. Among them, the most famous were Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Lever, Bulwer-Lytton and the young Wilkie Collins, who became one of Dickens' closest friends and collaborators. The magazine won a significant number of readers among the people. Since the summer of 1859 "Home Reading" was renamed "All the Year Round" (All the Year Round). The old collaborators were retained, the program remained the same: "the fusion of the gifts of the imagination with the true features of life, which is necessary for the prosperity of any society" (Announcement in "Home Reading" about the proposed publication of "All the Year Round"). Dickens contributed to the publication of All the Year Round until his death.
The desire to make literature a means of spiritual unity of the people runs through all the activities of Dickens - a writer and publisher. This position placed him in a very special position in an era of sharp class antagonisms, characteristic of that part of the 19th century when he lived and worked. The idea of a class world, asserted by Dickens, was an attempt by a humanist writer to find a solution to social contradictions that would help to avoid unnecessary cruelties and bloodshed. The writer appealed to the workers not to resort to extreme means of struggle. So, in particular, he wrote one article in which he condemned the railroad strike. The article was published in the magazine "Home Reading" on January 11, 1851 (not included in this edition). Considering the behavior of the striking workers reckless, Dickens, however, in no way wanted to defame the working class or use the strike to slander the working people, as the reactionaries did. Dickens states that "regardless of what happened, the English workers have always been known as people who love their country and are completely trustworthy." He protests against the demands of the embittered bourgeois, who insisted on the issuance of laws on repressions against the workers. “How is it possible,” wrote Dickens, “how can one now, reasoning calmly and soberly, treat the English artisan as a creature working under a stick, or at least suspect him of the fact that he needs one? "He has a noble soul and a good heart. He belongs to a great nation, and his good reputation goes all over the earth. And if it is necessary to generously forgive the mistakes of any human being, we must forgive him."
This episode is indicative of Dickens the humanist. His idea of a class world was undeniably illusory. But Dickens's position cannot be identified with the position of the bourgeois liberals and opportunists. The writer was driven by sincere love for working people and naively believed that his preaching of reconciliation between warring social forces could indeed be carried out. Dickens's position cannot be likened to the views of the defenders of the bourgeoisie, also because, both in his works of art and in journalism, he spoke with merciless criticism of the ruling classes. A significant part of his articles is devoted to exposing the vices of those who held political power in the country in their hands. Dickens's articles against the ruling elite of England belong to remarkable examples of militant political journalism. They are distinguished not only by courage, but also by a brilliant literary form.
With what brilliance he ridicules the system of educating the sons of aristocrats and capitalists in the parody "Report of the commission that examined the situation and conditions of life of persons engaged in various types of mental labor at Oxford University." The writer exposes the class nature of the caste education of those who are subsequently given both political power and the spiritual leadership of the people. He proposes to rename the academic degrees awarded by the university and call the certified leaders of the nation "Bachelors of Idiocy", "Masters of Inventions" and "Doctors of Church Illusion".
The ruling class always surrounds its power with an aura of holiness and infallibility. For this purpose, all sorts of solemn rituals are created, designed to arouse in the people reverence for those in power. The democrat Dickens was deeply disgusted by the comedies of all sorts of ceremonies that had been worked out by generations of rulers. The writer ridicules the prim rituals created by the ruling clique, which seeks to place itself above the people by such means. The article "Lord Mayor's Reflections" exposes the emptiness and hypocrisy of the fine ceremonies adopted by the ruling classes.
In the article "Islandisms" Dickens, not without bitterness, states that all kinds of features that are considered to be the national characteristics of the English are unnatural, out of tune with common sense. Most of all, the writer is saddened by the fact that some part of the nation has come to believe in such "islandism" and crawls before the nobility, considering servility to power and wealth as a national trait.
In the pamphlet-like article "Why?" Dickens lashes out at the admiration of the military ("Why do we run around with cries of delight around an officer who did not run away from the battlefield - did all our other officers run away?"), at the insignificance of bourgeois politicians ("Why should I be ready at any moment to shed tears of delight and the joy of having Buffy and Buddle at the helm?"), to the notorious English judicial system ("I wonder why I am so glad when I see how learned judges do their best to prevent the defendant from telling the truth?") .
Dickens is deeply indignant when a patriotic significance is attributed to what the people do not care about, when national dignity is associated with all kinds of prejudices and unjust practices. He was an opponent of the fruitless and ruinous Crimean War for the country, in which "Britain exercises its dominion over the seas so admirably that with every wave of her trident she kills thousands of her children, who will never, never, never be slaves, but very, very, very often remain fools "(" Dogs to be devoured ").
Dickens' constant object of satire, both in novels and in journalism, is bureaucracy, the soullessness of the state machine, this costly burden for the people. The unforgettable pages about the Ministry of Red tape in Little Dorrit were prepared by the kind of sketches found among Dickens's articles. One of these articles is "Red Tape". "Red Ribbon" is an allegory in English for bureaucracy. Dickens condemned the government bureaucracy not only for parasitism. He rightly saw in it the main obstacle to reforms and changes urgently needed for the people: "Neither iron, nor steel, nor diamond can make such a strong brake chain as Red Braid creates." This Red Tape is anything but harmless. Inactive when it is necessary to do something useful for the people, it shows extraordinary agility as soon as an opportunity arises to harm them.
An addition to this article is another - "Penny Patriotism", written in the form of a clerk's story about his career and the activities of the department in which he serves. Dickens emphasizes here that all the troubles of bureaucracy come not from petty clerks, but from high-ranking bureaucrats. The article concludes with an unequivocal conclusion: "You cannot expect good from any highly principled transformations, all the principles of which are directed only to junior clerks. Such transformations are generated by the most penny and most hypocritical patriotism in the world. Our state system is upside down, rooted to heaven. Start with them , and then the small twigs will soon come into order by themselves.
Against the roots, that is, against those who run this bureaucratic state machine, Dickens spoke in his articles more than once. Among his anti-government pamphlets, Mr. Bull's Sleepwalker and the All-British Joke Book Project are particularly interesting. In the first of these articles, to characterize the government (cabinet of ministers), Dickens resorted to the following metaphor: “Mr. it should be forgotten that it is assembled from the most diverse pieces in terms of their origin and quality; however, I must admit that they are poorly fitted to each other and Mr. Bull's "office" is ready to fall apart at any moment. The collection of jokes offered by Dickens is a satirical miniature, or rather several miniatures, ridiculing the entire ruling system and the ruling class.
It is known that Dickens was opposed to the revolutionary overthrow of the social and state system that existed in his time. But he did not want to keep it forever. Disagreeing with revolutionary methods, Dickens undoubtedly desired big and serious changes. At the same time, he always insistently emphasized that reforms must begin from above - with a change in the ruling system and a change in rulers, the principle of selecting these latter. He openly expressed these views in articles and expounded them most vividly in a speech delivered at the Association for the Reform of the Government of the Country (June 27, 1855). He resorted here to likening the government to a troupe putting on a play under the direction of the prime minister. This was Dickens' reply to Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, who called the Association's meeting at the Drury Lane Theater "an amateur spectacle." "The official spectacle that a noble lord has condescended to direct is so unbearably bad, its mechanism is so cumbersome, the roles are so unfortunately distributed, there are so many "persons without speeches" in the troupe, the directors have such large families and there is such a strong tendency to put forward these families in the first roles. - not because of their special abilities, but because they are their families - that we were simply forced to organize an opposition. The "Comedy of Errors" in their production looked like a tragedy so much that we did not have the strength to watch. Therefore, we took the liberty of staging " School of reforms "..."
Dickens rejects the accusation that the reformists want to play one class against another, and here repeats his concept of a class world, but at the same time he warns that if the ruling elite does not understand the need for fundamental changes, they themselves will invite trouble. “I think I will not be mistaken if I say in conclusion that the stubborn desire at all costs to preserve old rubbish, which has long outlived itself, is inherently more or less harmful and harmful: that sooner or later such rubbish can cause fire; that, if thrown into a landfill, it would be harmless, but if you stubbornly cling to it, then disaster cannot be avoided. This idea was persistently explained by Dickens. It was the germ of the concept of a novel about the French Revolution - A Tale of Two Cities, where Dickens, using the example of France, warned the ruling classes of England that neglect of the needs of the people and shameless exploitation of them could lead to an explosion similar to the one that occurred in 1789. (We note, by the way, that in the article "On Judges' Speeches" there are interesting thoughts about the causes of the French Revolution, echoing what is said in the quoted speech.)
We conclude our consideration of Dickens's political views with a reference to a speech delivered by him in Birmingham on September 27, 1869. In it Dickens the reformist begins to have skeptical notes. It is felt that he no longer has any illusions about the possibility of achieving serious changes from the ruling elite. He expressed his thought with a quotation from Buckle's History of Civilization in England. Hopes for reforms are nothing more than chimeras. A reasonable person should know "that almost always legislators do not help society, but retard its progress, and that in those extremely rare cases when their measures lead to good, this is due to the fact that they, contrary to custom, listened to the spirit of the times and turned out to be just the servants of the people, as they should always be, for their duty is only to give public support to the desires of the people and clothe them in the form of laws. Declaring his complete solidarity with these words of Buckle, Dickens, in the same speech, expressed the same idea even more clearly and simply. His "political creed," he said, "consists of two articles and does not apply to any individual or party. My faith in the people who rule is, in general, insignificant; my faith in the people who are ruled, in general, is boundless ".
Dickens' journalism does not consist of declarations alone. Dickens applied all his literary skill to express the views that he wanted to convey to the people. Although we call his journalistic works articles, they are by no means uniform in genre. Only a very small number of them are written in direct declarative form. Most of the articles belong to varieties of the genre that the British call "essay". These are almost always articles written in a humorous or satirical manner. Letters of imaginary persons, parables, satirical allegories, short stories, fantasies - these are some of the forms used by Dickens in his articles. I would like to draw the reader's attention to some articles by Dickens not mentioned here, which are interesting not only for their content, but also for their form. These are “Thoughts of a Raven from the Happy Family”, “Friend of Lions”, “Entire Pigs”, “Please, leave an umbrella!”. The form of a parable often in journalism is replaced by articles built on the repetition of the initial words: “Suppose ...”, "Few people know", "Why?" The satirical allegory is also a frequent device in Dickens' journalism. In addition to the articles of this type mentioned above, one cannot but pay attention to the "essay" "Nimble Turtles", which is a small satirical masterpiece directed against the conservative bourgeois .
The journalistic works of Dickens, published in this volume, expand and enrich our understanding of the humanistic nature of Dickens' worldview and creativity.
A. ANIKST
