Reader discussion: Hard Times

Public reader discussion about Hard Times by Charles Dickens.

What are some of the hardest philosophical books to read?

By hill-mountain8664

Hey! So pretty recently one of my go-to book reviewers (the kind of person who can apparently chew through stuff like *Ulysses*, *Infinite Jest*, *Gravity’s Rainbow*, *The Recognitions*, *Don Quixote*—okay not that one, but you get me—those wildly hard, dense books) said there were some books that completely beat him. A couple of them sound like “yeah, that tracks,” like *The Dream of the Bottoms* (which I’ve heard is basically impossible) and also these super long ones—like over a million words. But the one he said really, truly crushed him wasn’t even the “most famous” hard pick. It was Hegel’s *Phenomenology of Spirit*. I’d heard of that book before, way back, and I remember people calling it a brain-melter. At the time I didn’t care much, because I was more into fiction than philosophy. But later I kept hearing this kind of claim like “someone who reads GR without much trouble got wrecked by Hegel,” and that made me curious. The more I’ve looked into philosophy, the more it feels like a lot of it is just… hard. People argue about “the hardest book,” and everyone has different answers: some say Kant (*Critique of Pure Reason*) because of the length and the way the ideas are laid out; some say Heidegger (*Being and Time*) because of the subject matter; others swear by Hegel and *Phenomenology*; some go for Sartre (*Being and Nothingness*); and I’m sure there are plenty I’m not even thinking of. And I’m not sure what to make of it. Like, is Hegel genuinely that deep and challenging, or does he just not explain things in a way that makes it easier for normal humans to follow? Also, if *Phenomenology* is like this, what about his other work—like the *Encyclopaedia* or *Science of Logic*—are those just as brutal? Same question for the stuff I mentioned and the stuff I didn’t. Some of these books might actually be “brain melters,” sure, but some might also just be written in a way that makes you feel totally lost (I’m thinking of things like *Finnegans Wake*, where the struggle is almost the point). And then sometimes I worry some “important” philosophy is hard just because it’s poorly done, not because it’s amazing. So basically I’m sitting here wondering: what’s the “definitive hardest” philosopher (or philosophical book) in your opinion? And if you pick one, I’d love to know how you’re judging difficulty—like, is it how much your mind wanders just trying to track the thought process, how hard it is to even follow where the book is going aesthetically, and also yeah, since I’m the type who likes big chunky books, how long it is too. Also, if you know any incredibly hard-to-understand books that are philosophical (please no hard science stuff), feel free to toss those in. Thanks in advance for any thoughts—sorry my English is a bit rusty, it’s my second language. Hope everyone has a good day, and good luck with the hard reads.

Opinions of "Hard Times" by Dickens

By LilyLovesBooks64

I’ve got this book sitting here and I’m planning to get to it soon, but I wanted to see what everyone thinks. I’m not a huge Dickens person, even though I really do like the vibe he can create and I genuinely respect his writing. I’ve been trying to warm up to him more. I did enjoy *Great Expectations*, but *A Tale of Two Cities* kind of dragged for me. I know it’s a classic and the story’s good, but it felt way too wordy and it doesn’t really match what I usually enjoy. That’s why I’m thinking *Hard Times* might be a better entry point—since it’s shorter, maybe I won’t have to get through as much of the wordy stuff. Not trying to hate on Dickens at all, I just want to be honest about what I personally don’t click with. So, what do you all think?

During the last year and a half, I read every Dickens book.

By brokenspring

Back in 2020 I was like, “Okay, I’ll spend 2021 reading Dickens.” Seemed simple enough—never really read him before, he’s super famous, and I didn’t think there were that many books. So I went and bought all of his books in the same Everyman’s Library edition. https://imgur.com/Syj135w Then I made a plan. I added up the page counts and got 11097 pages total. Divide by 365 and you get about 30.4 pages a day. “Totally doable,” right? Right? In the beginning it was. Then life happened, I moved countries, and my routine basically fell apart… but I still kept going. https://imgur.com/kMGW42e https://imgur.com/rdBtn4H https://imgur.com/mcOMEze And yesterday I finally finished. Anyway, what did I learn from all that: - A schedule sounds easy until you’re doing it every single day. 30 pages/day stops being “no problem” pretty fast. - 1800s English absolutely slows me down. I can understand it fine (even though some expressions are kinda hilarious now), but I’m way faster with modern English—and even faster in my own language. - I basically tore through the books I liked. Shocking, I know. - Chesterton’s intros are… weird, in a good way? They’re different from most intros I’ve read, but they’re nice to read after (re-)reading the novel. - Dickens was kind of consistently good overall. Out of all 16, I loved most of them more than I expected. - David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities are now genuinely among my favorite books ever. - The ones I liked a lot too: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, and Edwin Drood. - I also don’t really line up with a lot of critics—Bleak House did not work for me at all, and Hard Times wasn’t great either. Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend were enjoyable, just not “wow.” - His Christmas stuff is sooo boring. - And I really, really wish Edwin Drood was finished. I was having a good time with it. So yeah. It was a fun little challenge, but I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. Next up I’m thinking more contemporary books… but I already feel the pull back to the 1800s, so I’ll probably go back soon.

Choosing Editions for Dickens' Works

By sun33

I’m pretty new to Charles Dickens. I just got through Bleak House and I’m almost done with Martin Chuzzlewit, and now I’m excited to keep going. I’d love recommendations on which editions/publishers to look for when I’m picking up the rest. I’m mostly thinking of buying new, but I’m open to great used editions too if they’re worth it. My biggest thing is that I want a good, sturdy binding. I also liked the Bleak House I read a lot because it had illustrations and an intro by GK Chesterton, so I’d definitely like more of that—solid notes or an intro, and illustrations if possible. If anyone has suggestions for specific editions/books, or even a publisher that does a decent job with all (or most) of Dickens’ big works, I’d really appreciate it.

I’ve started reading Hard Times by Charles Dickens and I'm really enjoying it so far. Do you have any other Dickens recommendations, aside from Great Expectations and Oliver Twist?

By FolioCrewless

Honestly, anything with his name on it.

Is Charles Dickens really all that great?

By window_verse

I get why everyone praises Dickens, but he just hasn’t clicked for me. He’s probably one of the most famous “classic” authors, and I’ve tried about four of his books, but they kept feeling worse as I went. I don’t think it’s the old-fashioned writing either, since I actually like stuff like Charlotte Brontë, Melville, and Poe. What bothers me is that his writing feels really repetitive and kind of flat. And I’m always getting stuck in those overly descriptive parts where every paragraph seems packed with adjectives, which makes it hard for me to stay interested. If you’re into Dickens, I’d genuinely like to hear which specific book(s) you like and what you see in them. Maybe I’m just expecting the wrong things from his stories.

Hard Times: Thoughts?

By Narrow-Rabbit

I’m getting into the third book of Hard Times, and I’ve actually been enjoying it more than a few of the takes I’ve seen floating around. Has anyone else read it and had their own experience with it?

Hard Times -just finished it

By hidden_raven6223

Spoilers!!! I really liked this one—honestly, it might be my favorite Dickens book so far. I’m super excited to actually talk about it with people. And that ending… the repeated “these things were to be” hit me hard. Plus the part where it’s basically said Louisa doesn’t remarry after Bounderby dies—yeah, that was a total gut punch. I can’t tell what the author wants me to imagine, like, does she end up dying? Does she just raise Bounderby’s kids by herself? What even happens to her? Also, what about Slackbridge? Is he just gone from the story now, or do we know anything that I missed?

Which is your favorite Charles Dicken's book and why do you like it more than the others?

By listensAnchor3742

I really like stuff like *Oliver Twist*, *Great Expectations*, and *A Christmas Carol*, but if I had to pick, my favorite Dickens book is *Our Mutual Friend*. A lot of people seem to have never even heard of it unless they’re really into classic fiction. What I like most is that it doesn’t feel quite as bleak as some of his others. The characters are all over the place—in class, gender, and personality—and there’s romance, but it stays pretty understated instead of getting overly dramatic. Plus the mystery side of the plot keeps pulling me in, and I honestly find myself curious about what’s going on with the smaller characters too.