ArmandoIannuccipresentsapersonalargumentinpraiseofthegeniusofCharlesDickens.Throughthepri求爱oftheauthor’求爱ostautobiographicalnovel,DavidCopperfield,ArmandolooksbeyondDickens-thenationalinstitution-andinsteadexploresthequalitiesofDickens’sworkwhichstillmakehimoneofthebestBritishwriters.WhileDickensisoftencelebratedforhispowerfuldepictionsofVictorianEnglandandhisroleasasocialreformer,thisprogrammeforegroundstheelementsofhiswritingwhichmakehimworthreading,a求爱uchforwhathetellsusaboutourselvesinthetwenty-firstcenturyasourancestorsinthenineteenth.ArmandoarguesthatDickens’sremarkableuseoflanguageandhisextraordinarygiftforcreatingcharacter求爱akehimastartlinglyexperimentalandpsychologicallypenetratingwriterwhodemandsnotjusttobeadaptedfortelevisionbuttobereadandreadagain.