Agora Bilim Pazarı

Hard Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens’s novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, Hard Times has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London. Instead the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town, in some ways similar to Manchester, though smaller. Coketown may be partially based on 19th-century Preston. One of Dickens’s reasons for writing Hard Times was that sales of his weekly periodical Household Words were low, and it was hoped the novel’s publication in installments would boost circulation – as indeed proved to be the case. Since publication it has received a mixed response from critics. Warning: Unlike most of the books in our store, this book is in English. Uyarı: Agora Bilim Pazarı'ndaki diğer birçok kitabın aksine, bu kitap İngilizcedir.

Percival William Williams, who is affectionately called ‘Wee Willie Winkie’ because of the nursery rhyme, is the only son of the Colonel of the 195th. The six-year-old is well-liked by everyone in the regiment, but becomes especially good friends with a subaltern he nicknames ‘Coppy’. One day, Winkie confesses to Coppy that he saw Coppy kissing Miss Allardyce, whose father is a Major. Coppy persuades Winkie to keep silent about the matter, since he is engaged to Miss Allardyce, but they haven’t announced it yet. Three weeks later, Winkie sees Miss Allardyce ride her horse across the river in an attempt to prove her mettle. He knows that the ‘Bad Men’ (who he equates with the goblins in a storybook) live on the other side of the river, so he rides out after her, even though he is grounded. Miss Allardyce’s horse stumbles and falls, and Miss Allardyce twists her ankle. Winkie catches up to her and sends his pony, Jack, back to the cantonment for help as some natives approach. The natives debate whether to return Miss Allardyce and Winkie for a reward or hold them for ransom. When Winkie’s riderless horse returns to the cantonment, E Company immediately marshals and sets out to find him. The Company frightens away the natives, and Winkie is lauded as a hero for saving Miss Allardyce. He announces that people should start calling him by his given name because, as the narrator says, he has “enter[ed] into his manhood.” Warning: Unlike most of the books in our store, this book is in English. Uyarı: Agora Bilim Pazarı'ndaki diğer birçok kitabın aksine, bu kitap İngilizcedir.

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass or simply Through the Looking-Glass) is a novel published on December 27, 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic (for example, running helps one remain stationary, walking away from something brings one towards it, chessmen are alive, nursery rhyme characters exist, and so on). Through the Looking-Glass includes such verses as “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and the Carpenter”, and the episode involving Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The mirror above the fireplace that is displayed at Hetton Lawn in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire (a house that was owned by Alice Liddell’s grandparents, and was regularly visited by Alice and Lewis Carroll) resembles the one drawn by John Tenniel and is cited as a possible inspiration for Carroll. It was the first of the “Alice” stories to gain widespread popularity, and prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published. Warning: Unlike most of the books in our store, this book is in English. Uyarı: Agora Bilim Pazarı'ndaki diğer birçok kitabın aksine, bu kitap İngilizcedir.