Hunted Down: The Detective Story of Charles Dickens
3/5
()
About this ebook
As I have retired, and live at my ease, I possess the means that I used to want, of considering what I have seen, at leisure. My experiences have a more remarkable aspect, so reviewed, than they had when they were in progress. I have come home from the Play now, and can recall the scenes of the Drama upon which the curtain has fallen, free from the glare, bewilderment, and bustle of the Theatre.
Let me recall one of these Romances of the real world.
There is nothing truer than physiognomy, taken in connection with manner. The art of reading that book of which Eternal Wisdom obliges every human creature to present his or her own page with the individual character written on it, is a difficult one, perhaps, and is little studied. It may require some natural aptitude, and it must require (for everything does) some patience and some pains. That these are not usually given to it,—that numbers of people accept a few stock commonplace expressions of the face as the whole list of characteristics, and neither seek nor know the refinements that are truest,—that You, for instance, give a great deal of time and attention to the reading of music, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, if you please, and do not qualify yourself to read the face of the master or mistress looking over your shoulder teaching it to you,—I assume to be five hundred times more probable than improbable. Perhaps a little self-sufficiency may be at the bottom of this; facial expression requires no study from you, you think; it comes by nature to you to know enough about it, and you are not to be taken in.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced ‘Oliver Twist’, the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870, he was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day.
Read more from Charles Dickens
Legal Loopholes: Credit Repair Tactics Exposed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Stories and Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassic Children's Stories (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hard Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charles Dickens: The Complete Novels (Quattro Classics) (The Greatest Writers of All Time) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Christmas Library: 250+ Essential Christmas Novels, Poems, Carols, Short Stories...by 100+ Authors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghostly Tales: Spine-Chilling Stories of the Victorian Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gothic Novel Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5David Copperfield (Centaur Classics) [The 100 greatest novels of all time - #64] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 1 (30 short stories) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Notes: For General Circulation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Christmas Stories of All Time: Timeless Classics That Celebrate the Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Short Ghost Stories Of Charles Dickens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Christmas Carol: Level 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Charles Dickens Collection Volume One: Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and Bleak House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Beautiful Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Classic Christmas: A Collection of Timeless Stories and Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Book of Christmas Tales: 250+ Short Stories, Fairytales and Holiday Myths & Legends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Hunted Down
Related ebooks
Hunted Down Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hunted Down and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Charles Dickens Collection Volume Four: Hunted Down, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and The Old Curiosity Shop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSteiner's Tour Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Surly Tim": A Lancashire Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Friend the Chauffeur Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome novels – Volume 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThieves' Wit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Red Robe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tiny 1st Volume: A Short Collection of Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Female of the Species Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Albert Payson Terhune Reader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Entanglement of Events: Here There and Everywhere Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoorways in the Sand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Some novels – Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Red-Headed League Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPharos, the Egyptian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpare Hours Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPharos, the Egyptian (Horror Classic) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pharos, the Egyptian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventure of the Beryl Coronet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diary of a Chambermaid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThieves’ Wit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Stage--and Off The Brief Career of a Would-Be Actor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Chambermaid's Diary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Path of Duty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPharos, The Egyptian: A Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime and Tyde Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Crime Thriller For You
Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cain's jawbone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silent Wife: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thirteen: The Serial Killer Isn't on Trial. He's on the Jury. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Who Was Taken: A Gripping Psychological Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of Us Is Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 120 Days of Sodom (Rediscovered Books): With linked Table of Contents Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lucky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes on an Execution: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Silent Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blacktop Wasteland: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Justine: Good Conduct Well Chastised Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Widow: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butcher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Appeal: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cleaning the Gold: A Jack Reacher and Will Trent Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Devils Are Here: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Forgotten: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Hunted Down
16 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm not sure why this is subtitled with "detective stories" as Hunted Down is a single story. Or at least in this edition it is. It didn't grab me as much as some of his other work I've read, but it's a decent story, especially if you enjoy the style of that time.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mr Sampson, the Chief Manager of a Life Assurance Office tells the story of Julius Slinkton and the life assurance on his friend Beckwith.
My copy of this book only contained this one mystery which was an enjoyable read
Book preview
Hunted Down - Charles Dickens
V.
I.
Most of us see some romances in life. In my capacity as Chief Manager of a Life Assurance Office, I think I have within the last thirty years seen more romances than the generality of men, however unpromising the opportunity may, at first sight, seem.
As I have retired, and live at my ease, I possess the means that I used to want, of considering what I have seen, at leisure. My experiences have a more remarkable aspect, so reviewed, than they had when they were in progress. I have come home from the Play now, and can recall the scenes of the Drama upon which the curtain has fallen, free from the glare, bewilderment, and bustle of the Theatre.
Let me recall one of these Romances of the real world.
There is nothing truer than physiognomy, taken in connection with manner. The art of reading that book of which Eternal Wisdom obliges every human creature to present his or her own page with the individual character written on it, is a difficult one, perhaps, and is little studied. It may require some natural aptitude, and it must require (for everything does) some patience and some pains. That these are not usually given to it,—that numbers of people accept a few stock commonplace expressions of the face as the whole list of characteristics, and neither seek nor know the refinements that are truest,—that You, for instance, give a great deal of time and attention to the reading of music, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, if you please, and do not qualify yourself to read the face of the master or mistress looking over your shoulder teaching it to you,—I assume to be five hundred times more probable than improbable. Perhaps a little self-sufficiency may be at the bottom of this; facial expression requires no study from you, you think; it comes by nature to you to know enough about it, and you are not to be taken in.
I confess, for my part, that I have been taken in, over and over again. I have been taken in by acquaintances, and I have been taken in (of course) by friends; far oftener by friends than by any other class of persons. How came I to be so deceived? Had I quite misread their faces?
No. Believe me, my first impression of those people, founded on face and manner alone, was invariably true. My mistake was in suffering them to come nearer to me and explain themselves away.
II.
The partition which separated my own office from our general outer office in the