Project Gutenberg 1997-01-01 Public domain in the USA. 32054 Dickens, Charles 1812 1870 Boz Dickens, Charles John Huffam Hard Times Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Times_(novel) Transcribed from the 1905 Chapman and Hall edition by David Price. "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens is a novel written in the mid-19th century, during the Victorian era. The narrative centers around the life of Thomas Gradgrind, who is obsessed with the notion of teaching only factual knowledge to children, emphasizing a rigid and utilitarian perspective on education and life. The characters introduced in the opening chapters include Gradgrind himself, who embodies the cold practicality he preaches, and Sissy Jupe, a girl from a circus background, who struggles with the restrictions of Gradgrind’s educational philosophy. The novel sets up a conflict between imagination and reason, hinting at the struggles the characters will face in a world dominated by facts. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to the harsh educational atmosphere that Gradgrind has created, where emotions and creativity are neglected in favor of cold, hard facts. Gradgrind's dire insistence on teaching only facts leads to an unsympathetic environment, and we witness his interaction with Sissy, who seems unable to conform to his rigid standards. Gradgrind’s home life and his interactions with his children, Louisa and Tom, reveal a family dynamic that is stunted by their father's beliefs. As Gradgrind proudly walks through the town of Coketown, a representation of industrialism and utilitarianism, we see the bleakness of a life devoid of wonder and imagination. The opening sets the stage for a critical exploration of Victorian society, its educational values, and the human spirit's response to such constraints. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 79.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en England -- Fiction Domestic fiction Social problems -- Fiction Utilitarianism -- Fiction Education -- Fiction Political fiction PR Text Category: Novels Category: British Literature 665059 2025-07-01T07:11:30.682298 text/html 684898 2023-12-18T18:30:20 text/html 1348739 2025-07-01T07:11:39.852288 application/epub+zip 1355054 2025-07-01T07:11:32.990302 application/epub+zip 323364 2025-07-01T07:11:31.650291 application/epub+zip 1564287 2025-07-01T07:11:44.992262 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1526042 2025-07-01T07:11:38.861265 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 469394 2022-09-01T08:09:00.647116 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 626321 2025-07-01T07:11:29.456366 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 606603 2023-12-18T19:20:01 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18618 2025-07-01T07:11:45.144224 application/rdf+xml 10618 2025-07-01T07:11:32.154308 image/jpeg 3022 2025-07-01T07:11:31.901299 image/jpeg 1340527 2025-07-01T07:11:30.758297 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia