Charles John Huffam Dickens (7
February 1812--9 June 1870) was an English novelist,
generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period.
Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any
previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular,
having been responsible for some of English literature's
most iconic novels and characters
Many of his writings were originally published serially, in
monthly instalments or parts, a format of publication which
Dickens himself helped popularise at that time. Unlike other
authors who completed entire novels before serialisation,
Dickens often created the episodes as they were being
serialised. The practice lent his stories a particular
rhythm, punctuated by cliffhangers to keep the public
looking forward to the next instalment. The continuing
popularity of his novels and short stories is such that they
have never gone out of print.
Dickens's work has been highly praised for its realism,
comedy, mastery of prose, unique personalities and concern
for social reform by writers such as Leo Tolstoy, George
Gissing and G.K. Chesterton; though others, such as Henry
James and Virginia Woolf, have criticised it for
sentimentality and implausibility.