Dickens and the Unreal City - by K Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Dickens's London often acts as a complex symbol, composed of numerous sub-symbols, such as crowd, river, railway networks and police systems. This book is particularly interested in how Dickens's treatment of the city allows him to re-examine traditional Christian discourses on the issues of revelation, renunciation and regeneration.

Review Quotes

'Taking his cue from T. S. Eliot, Karl Smith explores the spiritual values of Dickens's symbolic city through the lens of The Waste Land. Combining alert attention to detail with wide range of reference, Dickens and the Unreal City offers judicious discussion of the complex relationship between the mundane and the transcendent in Dickens's world view.' - Paul Schlicke, University of Aberdeen, UK

'This is a judicious study which fully recognises that 'any position of overview from which Dickens's London can be seen in its totality is an artificial construct' ...Rather like the novelist's writing about the city perhaps, this study also serves to revivify a reading of the novels and is a further reminder of their layered richness and complexity and of a spiritual dimension which goes beyond simple ideas of human charity.' The Use of English

About the Author

KARL SMITH studied at St Andrews University, UK. He held a teaching fellowship at the University of Dundee for six years and is currently involved in educational work in Malawi. He has published articles in Dickens Studies Annual and Dickensian, and an introduction and notes to Dombey and Son.