An interview with Charles Dickens

Today we are going to talk to one of England’s greatest writers, Charles Dickens. He is a
very busy man because in addition to writing novels and short stories, he also does
lecture tours, acts scenes from his most famous books, and travels a lot.

Mr Dickens, it is a great pleasure to talk to you, and thank you for giving us some of your
valuable time! Can I ask you first of all what your childhood was like?
Oh, it was very difficult. I had 7 brothers and sisters and my father had to go to prison because
he owed a lot of money. So, I had to leave school when I was 12 and go to work.

What did you do?

I had to paste labels on pots of boot polish. It was very dirty and difficult and a very unhappy
period for me.

How did you start your writing?

Well, when I was 20, I began work on a newspaper as a junior journalist. I didn’t know what I
really wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to become famous! While I was a journalist, I saw a lot
of terrible poverty in London and decided I wanted to put my experiences and observations into
my writing, particularly in Oliver Twist.

What was London like in those years?

I was 20 in 1832, the year in which I started writing. Conditions were dreadful for many people.
Children started work in factories at the age of 6 – can you believe it? – and many died because
of illness or injury caused by their dirty and dangerous jobs. Diseases like typhus and cholera
were very common, and the houses of the working people usually did not have an inside toilet,
and no running water. I like to think that I helped to change things through my writing.

Were you successful immediately?

Yes, I was very lucky. I wrote The Pickwick Papers in weekly instalments for a popular
newspaper and when the book was published it sold 40,000 copies.

What is your favourite book?

That’s difficult to say, but probably David Copperfield, because I put a lot about myself when I
was young in it. If you want to understand something about me, please read it!

I am sure our readers would like to know where we can find out more about you and your
life.
Oh, the house where I was born in Portsmouth and a house I lived in in London are now both
museums, so please visit me there! In the London house you can see a lot of my handwritten
manuscripts. You will be surprised that I made very few changes and revisions! Some people say
that my novels are very sentimental, but that is what people wanted and what I wanted to give
them. My books are full of amazing and strange characters – larger than life, some say! – and I
gave them wonderful names, like Scrooge, Oliver Twist and many, many more.

Thank you, Mr Dickens,

It has been my pleasure... but now I must get back to desk and see what I can do with my last
novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.