Born 200 years ago today, Charles Dickens (1812-70) is arguably the greatest novelist in English and quite certainly the creator of more memorable characters than any writer since Shakespeare. Just recall a few names: Fagin, Miss Havisham, Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, the Artful Dodger, Mr. Pickwick, Sam Weller, the Fat Boy ("I wants to make your flesh creep"), Sairey Gamp, Madame Defarge, Mr. Gradgrind, Krook (who self-combusts), Little Nell, Scrooge -- the list could go on and on. These bit players in the novels that run from The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist to The Mystery of Edwin Droodaren't just alive, they're immortal.
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