Dickens wrote no Classic. He came nowhere near writing anything that would be included in my list of Classics.

I've always thought of Dickens as a lightweight who focused too narrowly on social conditions and inequities of a particular time and place. It is my opinion he wrote little of relevance to the world of today or even the 20th century. Very long bows need to be drawn to give evidence and show his work was much more than shallow social comment.

I've never enjoyed the English authors of his era - apart from the Lord, Bulwer-Lytton and his 'Zanoni'. hmmmm Eternal life ... a topic much more interesting than the tales of grimy and soulless lives.

Howard's love of Dickens...I'd enjoy knowing what he thought of Barbara Baynton.
In fact I'd like to know the author's opinion of her views of the legendary Australian egalitarianism

At least the 'street kids' in Dicken's book had someone to care for them, even if they were taught to steal for their living.
but Marylin Shepherd and her ilk bleat on and on about would be migrant's offspring and detention while ignoring the plight of our own 'orphans'
Anything to denigrate Howard will do, there is nothing lower in their opinion than to put illegal's children in safe detention with food,clothing,television etc while pretending there are no homeless,destitute Australian children.
I know which lot get the most media attention,the lot that sing the saddest song.

As I've said in other posts, I have to wonder how it is that John Howard - who surely has too much on his plate to consider the various English syllabi - finds the time to make broad and sweeping pronouncements about the "quality" of literature being taught in our schools.

Dickens is indeed a fantastic writer, a man popular in his own time with a broad audience. His novels are alive with the senses of his characters' world, his characters have important lessons to teach us while never lacking in eccentricities which make them at once unique and a part of the fabric of the society Dickens seeks to portray.

I agree with Peter: there is absolutely nothing like a passionate teacher to change the way you see a book. I doubt 'The Merchant of Venice' would have held me in its thrall if not for the robust reading and discussion in our Year 10 European English/History class with a fantastic teacher.

The best English teachers (and there are plenty of them) build real links between less accessible works and the students they teach: but if our Prime Minister can't even be bothered valuing the role they play, perhaps they shouldn't bother?

Part of the important role of the English syllabus in the 21st Century is to balance novels with other forms of cultural product, if only to engage those students for whom reading remains a challenge to be overcome, rather than a joy. And there's nothing easy about studying film texts: dissecting their messages and meaning can be just as complex.

Having said that, I'm not advocating for 'Oliver!' (The Musical) to replace 'Oliver Twist'...

I think Howard reads Dickens to give him ideas.
He may also read George Orwell (1984) which seems to be a text book for some of the world's "leaders".