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Sketches by Boz
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Published in 1836 - A novel accompanied by Dickens's personal illustrations. |
| The Pickwick Papers | Published in 1837 - Also an illustrated novel, Dickens's first big success. |
| Oliver Twist | Published in 1838 - A story of poverty and underground thieves in London. The novel was used by Dickens to de-romanticise thieves and inform Londoners of the terrible conditions around them and the suffering of poor orphaned children. The plot of Oliver Twist is today quite famous. |
| Nicholas Nickleby | Published in 1839 |
| Barnaby Rudge | Published in 1841 |
| Master Humphrey's Clock | Published in 1841 |
| The Old Curiosity Shop | Published in 1841 |
| A Christmas Carol | Published in 1843 - Dickens's first of several successful Christmas novels, published at Christmas time. Today, it has one of the most widely known novel plots in the English speaking world. The character of Scrooge is one of Dickens's best remembered, and in modern England the name is used as a synonym for miser. |
| The Chimes | Published in 1844 |
| The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit | Published in 1844 |
| The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home | Published in 1845 - Another of Dickens's Christmas novels |
| Pictures from Italy | Published in 1846 - Influenced by Dickens's recent tour of Italy |
| Dombey and Son | Published in 1848 |
| The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain | Published in 1848 - The last of Dickens's Christmas novels, very similar to A Christmas Carol but with a much more depressing and dark ending. |
| David Copperfield | Published in 1850 - Considered to be very autobiographical of Dickens, and, as it turns out, David (Charles) is one of his most memorable characters. |
| Bleak House | Published in 1853 |
| Hard Times | Published in 1854 |
| Little Dorrit | Published in 1857 |
| A Tale of Two Cities | Published in 1859 - It was originally considered a flop by readers in England, but was eventually recognized as a masterpiece, and today is arguably Dickens's most famous novel, and the first and last lines of the book remain some of the most well quoted in literature. The cities referred to in the title are London and Paris during the time of the French Revolution and make for a great setting. The characters are memorable, especially one of literature's most unlikely heroes, Sydney Carton, who sacrifices his own life to save the life of his one true love's husband. The storyline was influenced by a play that was partially written by Dickens, The Frozen Deep. |
| The Uncommercial Traveller | Published in 1860 |
| Great Expectations | Published in 1861 - The English readers had great expectations for Great Expectations, but when the final chapter was published in 1861, the public was so disliking of the conclusion that Dickens was forced to create another ending for publishing. This ending did not go over too well either, and it took many years for readers to realize that the story was intended to be more pessimistic than its title implied. Today, the story and characters are well known, and it is considered among Dickens's finest works. |
| Our Mutual Friend | Published in 1865 |
| The Mystery of Edwin Drood | Published in 1870 - Dickens's died without completing this murder mystery, and what he had written so far did not contain enough clues to show who he intended the murderer to be. Today, it is often performed as a play in which, during intermission, the audience votes on the ending to be performed from six possible conclusions. |
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