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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
A fabulous picaresque, satirical romp. Great characters as expected and all the seeds of the great novels to come. Maybe a bit long but very entertaining.
A funny and endearing collection of stories set around Pickwick and his companions. I found a number of the episodes hinted at the great works to come from Dickens, from cheery Xmas tales to the darkness of debtors prison.
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Delightful and hilarious. Why have I never read this book before?
Eh. Dickens gone wrong. You're pretty much doomed, if you start reading his books with this one. Dull and so not funny. This is Dickens's first novel, so someone might say he deserves some slack. Don't understand that statement. No matter if it's a first or tenth novel, if it's bad it's bad.
The Pickwickians are silly characters, who occasionally meet some person who tells them a story to be added into the books of the Pickwick Club. That's basically it. I think Dickens was just trying to find his voice, and took the role of a literary caricaturist a bit too seriously. Some of the stories were ok, but I didn't understand their function in the story itself. Maybe because I've always hated Humpty Dumpty that I grew up hating the Pickwickians? Oh well, now I've read the book that started it all.
The Pickwickians are silly characters, who occasionally meet some person who tells them a story to be added into the books of the Pickwick Club. That's basically it. I think Dickens was just trying to find his voice, and took the role of a literary caricaturist a bit too seriously. Some of the stories were ok, but I didn't understand their function in the story itself. Maybe because I've always hated Humpty Dumpty that I grew up hating the Pickwickians? Oh well, now I've read the book that started it all.
funny
While some sections of this one were tedious for me, reading it in the here and now, I am sure they were quite entertaining for their time and place. Other sections were very clever still. I’m glad that I read Don Quixote last year, so that I could enjoy the similarities. Dickens is one of my favorite authors, and I’m very glad that these serials were so popular as to give him his start. Pleasant to read, even if not as consistently great as some of his later works.
Three and a half bloated stars.
This took a lot closer to forever to finish than I wish it had. I love Dickens, but this was the third or fourth time really trying to commit to finishing what turned out to be, frankly, an over-long story. Yes, I understand that these sorts of books come from a time when stories were serialized and it was in the author's best interest to stretch it out as long as he/she could, with the requisite cliffhangers. But good lord.
Thankfully, Dickens knows how to spin an often (but not always) compelling yarn. For me, the compulsion was ultimately forcing my way through what sometimes was a slog of a tale. Think of this as Bleak House with a somewhat happier ending.
This took a lot closer to forever to finish than I wish it had. I love Dickens, but this was the third or fourth time really trying to commit to finishing what turned out to be, frankly, an over-long story. Yes, I understand that these sorts of books come from a time when stories were serialized and it was in the author's best interest to stretch it out as long as he/she could, with the requisite cliffhangers. But good lord.
Thankfully, Dickens knows how to spin an often (but not always) compelling yarn. For me, the compulsion was ultimately forcing my way through what sometimes was a slog of a tale. Think of this as Bleak House with a somewhat happier ending.
very episodic with mostly bland characters but you can see sometimes the genius charles dickens would grow up to be in its quick witted narrator and description of the scenery and the daily lives of common people.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated