The Qatari Forum for Authors, within “Among Shelves” initiative which is broadcasted weekly on its YouTube channel and presented by the writers Hassan Al-Anwari and Reem Daibees, shed the light on the novel entitled “Great Hopes” of international English Writer and Novelist Charles Dickens.
At the beginning, the writer Hassan Al-Anwari, introduced the novelist Dickens who was born in southern England in 1812. He is a novelist, writer and social critic and within unanimous of critics he is the greatest English novelist in the Victorian era.
He lived a miserable childhood because his father worked in a modest job and supported his large family. He was forced to leave the school when he was young and his family sent him to hard work with a little pay in order to share in family expenses noting that the experiences of this miserable childhood had an impact on him and left deep human impressions in his sense which were subsequently reflected on his work and many of h is works still retain his popularity until today.
He added that Dickens was distinguished by his witty humor and sharp irony and depicted an aspect of the lives of the poor. He published more than 12 important novels and a large number of short stories including stories about the Christmas Idea and a number of plays. Also, he wrote non-fiction books pointing that the novel “Great Hopes” is one of his most famous novels at the international level and has been translated into several international languages to become the focus of the filmmakers’ attention to make more than 250 theater and television works.
On her part, the writer Deem Daibees presented a hint about the novel and said, “Charles believed that all bad conditions can be treated whatever their deterioration. So, he used his eloquent pen to call for the liberation of the human society from evils and unjust social conditions that surround it.” She pointed that the novel is a biographical story of the writer like many of his works in which he narrates his experiences in life and with people.
She added, “The Great Hopes was first published in as a series starting in 1860 and then published in full in 1861 and it is considered one of best works of Dickens and one of his most popular novels.”
She explained that the novel follows the formative novel style where the writer follows the story of a man or a woman in their strive and endeavor for maturity from the childhood and the novel focuses on a poor young man named Pip who was granted the opportunity to become a distinguished gentleman within mysterious philanthropist. Events of the novel took place in Kent and London in early and middle of the nineteenth century noting that events are filled with extreme images and topics such as poverty, ships, jails and chains. The novel has a group of characters that entered popular culture and includes topics of wealth, poverty, love, rejection and victory of good over evil in the end.