--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing…" description: "\"“I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.”\" — Michael Kroft" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg" --- # I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction… ![“I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.” quote by Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg) > ““I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.”” [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning whether Dickens knew his work was historical fiction highlights how author intent can be ambiguous. **In simple terms:** Author intent may be unclear. Key Takeaway Consider multiple interpretations. Themes literature history authorial intent interpretation Mood analytical inquisitive Type critical educational When to use this quote - reading - teaching - research - writing Key Concepts historical fiction genre theory authorial awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing intent affect reading? - Can a work stand alone without author’s intent? A Different Perspective Assuming intent can mislead analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Historical fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-fiction/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ## Related quotes > [As he approached his 28th birthday in February 1840, Dickens knew himself to be famous, successful and tired. He needed a rest, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-tomalin/as-he-approached-his-28th-birthday-in-february-1840-dickens-knew/) [Claire Tomalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-tomalin/) > [The hardest piece of nonfiction I ever wrote isn't anywhere close to the easiest piece of fiction I never wrote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/the-hardest-piece-of-nonfiction-i-ever-wrote-isn-t-anywhere-close-to/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I think it's important to humanize history; fiction can help us remember. A lot of books I've read in the past have been so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-it-s-important-to-humanize-history-fiction-can-help-us/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. And they were all just awful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-did-try-to-write-fiction-i-wrote-10-novels-and-they-were-all-just/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [The first piece of 'long' fiction I wrote was a novella parody of Stephen King's 'Christine.' I was in high school, and my version…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/the-first-piece-of-long-fiction-i-wrote-was-a-novella-parody-of/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [The first fiction I ever wrote was short stories. I was writing short stories in my late teens and early twenties, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/the-first-fiction-i-ever-wrote-was-short-stories-i-was-writing-short/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [I wrote three novels in six months, with a clarity of focus and attention to detail that I had never before experienced. This type…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/i-wrote-three-novels-in-six-months-with-a-clarity-of-focus-and/) [Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/) > [My first novel, 'You Must be Sisters,' was started in Pakistan. I've wrote several novels and a TV drama set or partly-set there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-moggach/my-first-novel-you-must-be-sisters-was-started-in-pakistan-i-ve-wrote/) [Deborah Moggach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-moggach/) > [“Superficially my war was a comfortable exercise in futility carried out in a grand Scottish hotel amongst the bridge players and swillers of easy-come-by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-white/superficially-my-war-was-a-comfortable-exercise-in-futility-carried/) [Patrick White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-white/) > [Nobody told me how hard it was going to be to get published. 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If the second or third sip is cold, I lost track of time and was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/since-writing-i-ve-learnt-to-truly-appreciate-cold-coffee-if-the/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) > [“Just because you're aware that you're a nincompoop, doesn't make you any less of one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/just-because-you-re-aware-that-you-re-a-nincompoop-doesn-t-make-you/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) > [“I've read way too much on the overused/misunderstood buzzwords "Show, don't tell!" that I'm convinced all novels should now be picture books”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-ve-read-way-too-much-on-the-overused-misunderstood-buzzwords-show/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) > [“Dear, she's not tolerant at all of our being Jewish," said Mrs. Rosen. 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I have never seen or heard of a cheerful ghost talker.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-think-finding-that-happy-medium-is-pretty-much-impossible-i-have/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) > [“I want to be -That guy who wrote that thing there,- but I'm currently, -He's who, who wrote what?-”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-want-to-be-that-guy-who-wrote-that-thing-there-but-i-m-currently-he/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) [Explore all 13 Michael Kroft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) ## More Dickens quotes > [Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/something-that-comes-to-us-some-gym-shoe-that-comes-to-us-as-a-result/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“(On Charles Dickens) It has been the peculiarity and the marvel of this man’s power, that he has invested his puppets with a charm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/on-charles-dickens-it-has-been-the-peculiarity-and-the-marvel-of-this/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [Tolkien is as good as Dickens at sketching a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/tolkien-is-as-good-as-dickens-at-sketching-a-scene/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/old-flossie-settle-down-on-the-other-side-of-what-the-dickens-and/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [I was a complete and typical only child. I was bookish, and sport was out of the question anyway. I had read all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-was-a-complete-and-typical-only-child-i-was-bookish-and-sport-was/) [David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/) > [I'm sure I've been influenced by every fine writer I've ever read, from Dickens and Austen to Auden and Jane Hirshfield. 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This bicentenary should help renew our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dickens-s-humanity-and-compassion-made-an-extraordinary-impact-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [On the day long after childhood when I suddenly heard of his death, the sky grew dark above my head. I was walking on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-elizabeth-sangster/on-the-day-long-after-childhood-when-i-suddenly-heard-of-his-death/) [Margaret Elizabeth Sangster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-elizabeth-sangster/) > [Great books are readable anyway. Dickens is readable. Jane Austen is readable. John Updike's readable. Hawthorne's readable. It's a meaningless term. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/great-books-are-readable-anyway-dickens-is-readable-jane-austen-is/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“As I know only too well, anticipation od happiness can sometimes be as gratifying as its consummation. Even during the first months of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaynor-arnold/as-i-know-only-too-well-anticipation-od-happiness-can-sometimes-be-as/) [Gaynor Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaynor-arnold/) > [ \[President Johnson\] had the political will to say that having one in five Americans living in the kind of abject conditions their fellow citizens… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/president-johnson-had-the-political-will-to-say-that-having-one-in/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Something went wrong with my right arm. I no longer could throw hard, and it hurt like the dickens every time I threw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dazzy-vance/something-went-wrong-with-my-right-arm-i-no-longer-could-throw-hard/) Dazzy Vance > [“‎Whoever was the person behind Stonehenge was one dickens of a motivator, I'll tell you that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/whoever-was-the-person-behind-stonehenge-was-one-dickens-of-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) Browse all 324 Dickens quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Kroft" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing-historical-fiction-when-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dickens" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing-historical-fiction-when-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/michael-kroft-36311_dickens_i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing_2273290.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.” — Michael Kroft", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Kroft", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I wonder if Dickens knew he...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing-historical-fiction-when-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing-historical-fiction-when-he/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```