{"product_id":"hard-times-bantam-classics","title":"Hard Times (Bantam Classics)","description":"Written deliberately to increase the circulation of Dickens’s weekly magazine, Household Words, Hard Times was a huge and instantaneous success upon publication in 1854. Yet this novel is not the cheerful celebration of Victorian life one might have expected from the beloved author of The Pickwick Papers and The Old Curiosity Shop. Compressed, stark, allegorical, it is a bitter exposé of capitalist exploitation during the industrial revolution–and a fierce denunciation of the philosophy of materialism, which threatens the human imagination in all times and places. With a typically unforgettable cast of characters–including the heartless fact-worshipper\nMr. Gradgrind, the warmly endearing Sissy Jupe, and the eternally noble Stephen Blackpool–Hard Times carries a uniquely powerful message and remains one of the most widely read of Dickens’s major novels.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0553210165\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.0553210165.A\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Acceptable\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Dickens, Charles|Spector, Robert Donald\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Mass market paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Mass market paperback in ACCEPTABLE condition. Book is perfectly usable, but has heavy wear or cosmetic issues which may include a cocked spine, creased spine, heavy wear, yellowed pages, price stickers, etc. Cover art may be different from that shown in photo.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43373898596413,"sku":"BVV.0553210165.A","price":5.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/0553210165-0.jpg?v=1784581633","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/hard-times-bantam-classics","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}