Charles Dickens: A Critical Study

George Gissing (1857-1903) was considered by some as one of the foremost English novelists of his time, along with George Meredith and Thomas Hardy. As an author, Gissing was hugely inspired by Dickens and had a great respect for the man and his works. He first read The Old Curiosity Shop when he was ten, and he continued to read Dickens with ‘wonder, delight, admiration and love’ throughout his lifetime. In his seminal Charles Dickens: A Critical Study, Gissing describes Dickens as ‘one who desired radical changes, in the direction of giving liberty and voice to the majority of the people’.

[Page 234 and 235 from George Gissing's Charles Dickens: A Critical Study. ]