Other editions of book The Chimes

*This Book is annotated (it contains a detailed biography of the author). *An active Table of Contents has been added by the publisher for a better customer experience. *This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errors. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth. It is the second in his series of "Christmas books": five short books with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840s.

putting it in his pocket again: 'but it almost goes against the grain with me to read a paper now. It frightens me almost. I don't know what we poor people are coming to. Lord send we may be coming to something better in the New Year nigh upon us!''Why, father, father!' said a pleasant voice, hard by.But Toby, not hearing it, continued to trot backwards and forwards: musing as he went, and talking to himself.'It seems as if we can't go right, or do right, or be righted,' said Toby. 'I hadn't much schooling, myself, when I was young; and I can't make out whether we have any business on the face of the earth, or not. Sometimes I think we must have--a little; and sometimes I think we must be intruding. I get so puzzled sometimes that I am not even able to make up my mind whether there is any good at all in us, or whether we are born bad. We seem to be dreadful things; we seem to give a deal of trouble; we are always being complained of and guarded against.

The story of Trotty Veck, a poor ticket porter, whose outlook is changed from despair to hope by the spirits of the chimes on New Year's Eve. Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. A prolific 19th Century author of short stories, plays, novellas, novels, fiction and non-fiction; during his lifetime Dickens became known the world over for his remarkable characters, his mastery of prose in the telling of their lives, and his depictions of the social classes, morals and values of his times. Some considered him the spokesman for the poor, for he definitely brought much awareness to their plight, the downtrodden and the have-nots. He had his share of critics, like Virginia Woolf and Henry James, but also many admirers, even into the 21st Century.

‘The Chimes’ by Charles Dickens – a timeless literary masterpiece of the Victorian era – has captivated millions of hearts and minds of readers for a century and a half all over the world. This unique edition includes dedicated author’s biography, novel synopsis, historical context, little knows facts, contemporary critique and illustrations. This edition is also carefully formatted for comfortable reading.On New Year’s Eve, Trotty Veck is informed by his daughter Meg that she is marrying her fiancé Richard the next day. Their happiness is thwarted by encounter of alderman, political economist and a young gentleman, who make the three main characters feel they hardly have any right to exists, not to mention marry. Trotty helps a poor country person, Will Fern, giving him and his family lodgings and food. During the night, the bells in the church seem to call Trotty, who climbs onto the bell tower, and discovers the spirits of the bells and their goblin and … the rest will be revealed to curious reader. ‘The Chimes’ is a heart-warming short novel, a must read for all Dickens fans.‘The Chimes’ was first published in 1844.Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and died in 1870. He left a legacy of magnificent novels that are still very popular with readers.

The second of Charles Dickens's renowned Christmas books comes to Amazon Kindle in this unique edition which includes:* Colour first edition cover and title page* 13 internal illustrations by John Leech, Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle and Clarkson Stanfield* Active table of Contents* Navigation points* 1319 locations* Professional-style formatting throughoutThis ebook is an electronic representation of the first hardback edition of The Chimes published by Chapman & Hall in 1844. A great deal of care and attention has been paid to the text, proofreading and formatting to give you the most pleasurable reading experience possible on your Kindle. The illustrations have been newly-sourced in high-resolution and optimised to the best possible standard.

One New Year's Eve, Trotty, a "ticket-porter" or casual messenger, is filled with gloom at the reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers, and wonders whether the working classes are simply wicked by nature. His daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry next day. Trotty hides his misgivings, but their happiness is dispelled by an encounter with the pompous Alderman Cute, plus a political economist and a young gentleman with a nostalgia, all of whom make Trotty, Meg and Richard feel they hardly have a right to exist, let alone marry…(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In is a short novel by Charles Dickens and is the second book in his series of Christmas books. The Chimes is a story of about self-respect and the consequences of their choices. It may not be as popular as the first book, A Christmas Carol; it probably packs more of an emotional punch than either story. It is a tale that will--as the best of Dickensian melodrama does--grip you and wring your heart. One really gets the sense of what reading Dickens must have felt like to his contemporaries.The book includes original illustrations by Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle,John Leech and Clarkson Stanfield, an active/navigable table of contents, and a Free audiobook link for download (which can be downloaded using a PC/Mac) at the end of the book.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) has been called “the man who invented Christmas”. “The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In” is the second of his Christmas books. It was published in 1844.The ebook contains beautiful illustration by Daniel Maclise (1806-1870), Richard Doyle (1824-1883), John Leech (1817-1864), William Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867).It also contains an essay on Dickens and Christmas written by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) in 1906.

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In is a short novel written by Charles Dickens originally published in 1844. It is the second in his series of Christmas books, 5 books which were published in the 1840s, the most known of them was published one year later: A Christmas Carol. The other 3 books were The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.The book was written during Dickens long visit to Italy. According to John Forster, his first biographer, one day Dickens was struck by the clamor of the Genoese bells, which were heard from the villa where he was staying.As A Christmas Carol had been very well received the year before, The Chimes aroused public interest and anticipation. Nearly 20,000 copies were sold in the first 3 months and it was widely reviewed and discussed. The book remained popular for many years, although in the long term its fame was eclipsed by that of A Christmas Carol.The book is divided into four parts named "quarters", after the quarter chimes of a striking clock.

On New Year's Eve, Trotty, a poor elderly "ticket-porter" or casual messenger, is filled with gloom at the reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers, and wonders whether the working classes are simply wicked by nature. His daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry next day. Trotty hides his misgivings, but their happiness is dispelled by an encounter with the pompous Alderman Cute, plus a political economist and a young gentleman with a nostalgia, all of whom make Trotty, Meg and Richard feel they hardly have a right to exist, let alone marry.Trotty carries a note for Cute to Sir Joseph Bowley MP, who dispenses charity to the poor in the manner of a paternal dictator. Bowley is ostentatiously settling his debts to ensure a clean start to the new year, and berates Trotty because he owes a little rent and ten or twelve shillings to his local shop which he cannot pay off. Returning home, convinced that he and his fellow poor are naturally ungrateful and have no place in society, Trotty encounters Will Fern, a poor countryman, and his orphaned niece, Lilian. Fern has been accused of vagrancy and wants to visit Cute to set matters straight, but from a conversation overheard at Bowley's house, Trotty is able to warn him that Cute plans to have him arrested and imprisoned. He takes the pair home with him and he and Meg share their meagre food and poor lodging with the visitors. Meg tries to hide her distress, but it seems she has been dissuaded from marrying Richard by her encounter with Cute and the others.In the night, the bells seem to call Trotty. Going to the church, he finds the tower door unlocked and climbs to the bellchamber, where he discovers the spirits of the bells and their goblin attendants who reprimand him for losing faith in man's destiny to improve. He is told that he fell from the tower during his climb and is now dead, and Meg's subsequent life must now be an object lesson for him. There follows a series of visions which he is forced to watch, helpless to interfere with the troubled lives of Meg, Richard, Will and Lilian over the subsequent years. Richard descends into alcoholism; Meg eventually marries him in an effort to save him, but he dies ruined, leaving her with a baby. Will is driven in and out of prison by petty laws and restrictions; Lilian turns to prostitution. In the end, destitute, Meg is driven to contemplate drowning herself and her child, thus committing the mortal sins of murder and suicide. The chimes' intention is to teach Trotty that, far from being naturally wicked, mankind is formed to strive for nobler things, and will fall only when crushed and repressed beyond bearing. Trotty breaks down when he sees Meg poised to jump into the river, cries that he has learned his lesson and begs the Chimes to save her, whereupon he finds himself able to touch her and prevent her from jumping.At the end of the book, Trotty finds himself awakening at home as if from a dream as the bells ring in the New Year of the day Trotty originally climbed the tower. Meg and Richard have chosen to wed, and all of her friends have spontaneously chosen to provide a wedding feast and celebration. The author explicitly invites the reader to decide if this "awakening" is a dream-within-a-dream. The reader must choose between the harsh consequences of the behaviour of the upper classes in Trotty's vision, or the happiness of the wedding.