海角大神

As Britain celebrates Charles Dickens today, the 200th anniversary of his birth, it's not hard to see why his writing remains popular. Despite setting most of his novels in the 1800s, many of the themes in his work still resonate in Britain and worldwide.聽

鈥淧eople who may not have read any of his novels know about Oliver Twist and 'Can I have some more?鈥� or Scrooge and his meanness. His characters have penetrated the English language and character," says聽Dickens expert Jon Mee of the University of Warwick's聽English and Comparative Literary Studies Department.

鈥淏ut if you look at the subject areas, there are interesting parallels to today. Look at 'Little Dorrit,' which is about debt and the financial system. It鈥檚 about speculation and financial chaos 鈥� which isn鈥檛 too far off from what鈥檚 happened in recent years," Mr. Mee said.聽鈥淒ickens was no saint and was quite vain but he never wanted to leave behind or let go social injustice and what he saw. He wanted to stay connected to issues and keep them alive."

Dickens has 207 descendants alive today, the oldest being 90 and the youngest being two months old. They聽will be joined at anniversary events by dignitaries and everyday fans.聽Prince Charles will lay a wreath at his grave in Poet鈥檚 Corner, Westminster Abbey, while services and events will take place in his birthplace, Portsmouth.

His great, great grandson Ian Dickens told 海角大神,聽鈥淚鈥檓 immensely proud to be related to Charles Dickens and I know all my family are. His work is very accessible because he grew up poor and knew it was important that all sections of society could read. That鈥檚 true today whether it鈥檚 Hollywood, a TV adaptation or a Christmas Carol with the Muppets. He knew what poverty meant and he never forgot that in his work.鈥�

Charles Dickens鈥� parents, John and Elizabeth, moved to Portsmouth when John's work in the Navy Pay Office required that he move there from London. The family returned to London two years after Charles was born, although according to Dom Kippin,聽literature development officer at Portsmouth Council, Dickens researched some of his books in the town, such as Nicholas Nickleby.聽

鈥淲e get visitors from around the world who want to make a pilgrimage to where Dickens was born," said Mr. Kippin. "Only yesterday I had a call from the Dickens Fellowship in Hollywood. He may be better known for his association with London but as his great, great grandson Ian says 鈥榊ou鈥檙e only born in one place'," Kippin said.

To mark the 200th聽birthday, the Royal Mail has issued two new stamps illustrating his work and聽a 拢150,000 ($237,200) statue will be unveiled in Portsmouth later this year, remarkably the first in the United Kingdom.

"There鈥檚 a statue in Philadelphia and one in Sydney, but none in England. That鈥檚 because there鈥檚 been confusion over his will in which he said he didn鈥檛 want a monument built to him after his death," Ian Dickens said. "As a family we don鈥檛 think he meant a statue so we鈥檝e commissioned one and it should be unveiled in September.鈥�

Meanwhile, Google commemorated the author by including Dickens characters in its Google doodle today. A Penguin Books poll coinciding with the anniversary found that Ebenezer聽Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol" is readers' favorite Dickens character, followed by聽Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations" and Sydney Carton in "A Tale Of Two Cities."

But Dickens's legacy is based on more than the quality of his writing, Mr. Kippin notes.聽

"Along with Shakespeare and Chaucer, he鈥檚 one of England鈥檚 greatest writers. But he wasn鈥檛 just a novelist. He was also a prolific journalist and shone a light on poverty and social deprivation when Victorian society would rather look the other way," Mr. Kippin said.聽