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I can't call myself a complete fan, but he had his moments and I suppose that's what got his remains interred in Westminster Abbey.
The two hundreth aniversary of Dickens' birth is approaching and the London Daily Telegraph is running a series of photos of various places frequented by him including places visited in America.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/9056693/Charles-Dickens-on-travel.html
The above link is of pictures of various places he commented on, including Boston and New York. He was at his best, I think, in the his comment on New York with its repetitive phrases.
One thing that irritates me in this set of pics, is the one purporting to show fog over the Thames River, or at least fog as Dickens (and myself although I'm not a Dickens contemporary, of course) must have seen it. London fog used to be a thick, dirty yellow where a hand could not be seen even if it were shoved under the nose. That's the real meaning of 'A pea souper'. Really. Times were the fog lifted high above the ground and it was as if the darkest night you can imagine had descended. Street lights were essential (although I don't know if the old lamplighter went around to the side streets lighting them - I was too young to be allowed out.) The last London fog that I heard about was around sixty years ago when around 4,000 people with lung problems are reported to have died. Strict rules on what sort of fuel could be burned put an end to that. So, Anyway, I often see pictures of London fog that's nothing more than aslight mist, and it peeves me.
Anyway, On the right hand side of this picture set you'll find a list of links to other sets of pics in this series.
My main interest lies in the fact that my very early years were spent in the area of the City that Dickens knew.
Weird Jim
"Good reading is the only test of good writing"
Robertson Davies. A voice from the attic 1960
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