Charles Dickens Speech Collection

Author: Charles Dickens (Deckens), translated by Ding Jianmin, Yin Qipeng, Xu Weibin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The gardens of Dickens's works are lush with greenery. Each speech in the garden is like a rare bloom, though small in volume, its fragrance is no less than that of more dazzling flowers such as The Pickwick Papers and Great Expectations. If the Speeches Collection were missing from the Complete Works of Dickens, the collection would likely lose half of its brilliance, as Dickens the orator is almost as outstanding as Dickens the novelist. The contemporary British scholar Fielding once praised Dickens thus: "Before or after him, no one has achieved such fame as a writer and orator simultaneously." However, although Dickens's novels have long been familiar to Chinese readers through translation, his speeches have yet to receive the attention of translators. The reason may lie in the translators' tastes: previous translators of Dickens's works seemed to possess a natural talent for criticism. They were not only skilled at pouring their thoughts and emotions into their translations but also often enjoyed delivering comprehensive and systematic discourses in prefaces, making the systematic novels their preferred choice.