Hard Times is by Charles Dickens. The classic historical fiction tale of the Head vs the Heart. Mr. Gradgrind runs the school in Coketown; he believes in Facts and bans Fancy from the minds of his children and his pupils. Mr. Bounderby is a the local businessman, a man of "boundless humility" who "pulled himself up by his own bootstraps;" he marries Louise, Gradgrind's daughter and employs his son Tom at his bank. Their lives become entwined with those of Sissy Jupe (a girl abandoned by her father in Gradgrind's care), Stephen Blackpool (a weaver at the local mill), James Harthouse (a lazy interloper), and Mrs. Sparsit (the local busybody). As things move from bad to worse, Mr. Gradgrind must face the value of the human heart in a world of materialism and "progress." Dickens is at his darkest in this book; at times his tone is sarcastic and almost vitriolic. A must read for fans of Dickens.
Ratings: 11th grade - 8 out of 10.
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