My Favourite Author-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.

My Favourite Author

My favorite author is the Victorian novelist, Charles Dickens. My first acquaintance with him dates back to my early boyhood when I saw a film version of his famous novel A Tale of Two Cities which made a deep impression on my mind. As I grew up, I read the original novel. My interest in Dickens deepened and in the course of a few years, I read his Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield and other principal works.

What appeals to me most in Dickens is his zest for life. His curiosity about his fellow beings, his genial sympathy and his keen observation of life give a remarkable air of freshness and vigour to his books. True, his sphere of observation is London, especially its middle classes, but few novelists have done greater justice to that aspect of London life. The only distant rival is Charles Lamb, but he is an essayist and his scope is narrow and limited. My favorite author knows London intimately and lovingly and his rich imagination gives a romantic glow to his pictures of London.

Those who approach Dickens to find a well-knit and compact story will be disappointed for his novels are loose, episodic and rambling like life itself. Such readers had better choose Alexander Dumas or Thomas Hardy. Dickens does not bother about what is technically known as plot-construction. His stories are rambling narratives, full of many a happy digression, for his aim is to present life in its endless variety its undisciplined richness.

The humour of Dickens is captivating beyond measure. He possesses a loving indulgent heart. The drama of life is a great fascinating spectacle for him. He would watch, poke fun at it, but never turn up his nose at it. He enjoys the odd, the droll, the grotesque scene of life. Dickens, it has been wittingly remarked, sees every nose twice as big as it is. Thus, his pages abound in eccentric, queer personages, who provide side-shaking laughter. The humour of Dickens is broad and facial. The fact is that he believes in having a hearty laugh, without caring to be too witty or intellectual.

The novels of Dickens provide both pleasure and instruction. In them, he exposes many evils of his day. Public executions, un- satisfactory private schools, harsh treatment of children, the se- verity of Poor Law and many other Victorian ills are held up to ridicule. His stories have a certain moral purpose. But he is not on that account a didactic writer. It is an admitted fact that his novels awakened the moral conscience of English public, but it is unfair to hold that Dickens always sacrifices his art for the sake of social reforms.

The greatest achievement of Dickens is the creation of im- mortal characters. Most of his characters are drawn from middle classes; he left alone the aristocracy and the lowest classes. His characterisation may not be subtle psychological or penetrating but what variety and vitality it possesses! Among his men, David Copperfield, Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Micawber, Sidney Carton, Mr. Pecksniff, tower above the rest while some of his unforgettable women are Mrs. Joe Gregory, Miss Havisham, Mrs. Cummidge and Miss Betsy Trotwood.

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