An Oprah's Book Club Dickens Discussion Webcast
It's the best of times! Oprah sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and Charles Dickens expert Jane Smiley to discuss her Oprah's Book Club picks, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations.
Watch the complete Oprah's Book Club webcast now!
Don't have time to watch the full webcast? Watch a quick Q&A clip with from Oprah's conversation
Why Oprah chose A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for Oprah's Book Club
More on A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Read the excerpts, print the character guides and discuss your questions with other Dickens readers
Watch the complete Oprah's Book Club webcast now!
Don't have time to watch the full webcast? Watch a quick Q&A clip with from Oprah's conversation
- Jane Smiley on reading (and rereading) Dickens
- Was Dickens the first modern day celebrity?
- An introduction to A Tale of Two Cities
- The extremes of Dickens' female characters in A Tale of Two Cities
- The religious beliefs of Charles Dickens
- How Dickens used his writings as a vehicle for social change
- The lessons that can be learned from reading Dickens
- The important role that dialect plays in his writings
- Are there any modern day heros like Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities?
- Why Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities is portrayed so unsympathetically
- Why Great Expectations is an ultimate example of Dickens' writings
- How Dickens' own life was an inspiration for his work
- The secrets of Dickens that drove the plot of Great Expectations
- Authors and their connections to their characters
- Which modern day authors readers might be studying 200 years from now
- Why two endings were written for Great Expectations
- Jane Smiley on her own writing process
Why Oprah chose A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for Oprah's Book Club
More on A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Read the excerpts, print the character guides and discuss your questions with other Dickens readers