whenDickensdied,theworldmournedhimasitsfirstprofessionalwriterandpublisher,famousandbeloved,whohadledanexplosioninboththepublicationofnovelsandtheirreadershipandwhosecharacters —fromOliverTwisttoTinyTim— wereheldupasmoraltouchstones.TodayDickens’greatnessisunchallenged. Removinghimfromthepantheon(名人堂) ofEnglishliteraturewouldmakeaboutasmuchsense astheLouvresellingofftheMonaLisa.HowdidDickensgettothetop?Forallthefeelingsreaders attachtostories,literatureisanumbersgame,andthe testoftimeisextremely difficulttopass.Some60,000 novelswerepublishedduringthe Victorianage,from1837to1901;todayacasualreadermightbeabletonameahalf-dozenof them.It’spartlytruethatDickens’ styleofwriting attractedaudiences fromallwalksoflife.It’spartly thathiswritings rodeawaveofsocial,politicalandscientificprogress.Butit
全文预览
