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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
It is the fate of most men who mingle with the world, and attain even the prime of life, to make many real friends, and lose them in the course of nature. It is the fate of all authors or chroniclers to create imaginary friends, and lose them in the course of art.
Charles Dickens debuteerde in 1836 op 24-jarige leeftijd met The Pickwick papers, een schelmenroman over de avonturen van de heer Pickwick en diens vrienden, de Pickwickclub. Oorspronkelijk werden de avonturen in een reeks van afzonderlijke verhalen gepubliceerd, die destijds tot groot vermaak en de doorbraak van de jonge Dickens leidden.
Helaas deden de verhaaltjes mij weinig. Ze geven in zekere zin een geestig beeld van de Engelse samenleving aan het begin van de negentiende eeuw, maar hebben weinig om het lijf. Het taalgebruik van Dickens is onmogelijk en ik vermoed dat veel referenties uit die tijd me zijn ontgaan. Waarschijnlijk had ik er beter aan gedaan een Nederlandse vertaling met noten te kiezen. Zo nu en dan moest ik tijdens het lezen aan het werk van Tolkien denken: mogelijk liet de schrijver van [b:The Hobbit|5907|The Hobbit, or There and Back Again|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546071216l/5907._SY75_.jpg|1540236] zich inspireren door Dickens, bijvoorbeeld voor de kneuterigheid van hobbits of de loyaliteit van knecht Sam, een figuur die ook in The Pickwick papers een continue rol speelt.
Met twee sterren doe ik dit werk ongetwijfeld tekort; ze reflecteren uitsluitend mijn eigen gevoelens erbij.
“She has produced some delightful pieces, herself, sir. You may have met with her 'Ode to an Expiring Frog,' sir.”
Meh… not my favourite but I’m trying to read more books by men. Might abandon the goal though, I’m NOT enjoying it.
Meh… not my favourite but I’m trying to read more books by men. Might abandon the goal though, I’m NOT enjoying it.
How a 24-year-old had the depth of understanding of human relationships to write about them with such humor is mind-blowing. Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick's man servant, may be the greatest sidekick in history.
Charming and blithe but about 50% too long. Seems like another age that I started reading this.
I haven't enjoyed Charles Dickens so much in the past, but I loved the Pickwick Papers! The book is episodic at first as Mr. Pickwick and his friends travel around and have various adventures, or listen to stories. However, just as I was getting tired of that style of writing Dickins brings on the Mrs Bardell plot, and gives the remainder of the book more solid form. The scene where she thinks that he is proposing to her, when he is actually explaining that he plans to hire a servant is hilarious. Her lawsuit for breach of promise allows Dickens to write about the horrors of the legal system and debtors prison, two themes he felt very strongly about. This was a very funny book, and I think I will try reading some more Dickens some day.
Memorable characters but the plot never quite materializes. (Confession time: I skimmed a few parts.)
It pains me to give a Dickens novel anything less than 4 stars, but this really was too saggy and overlong. Fantastic in parts, and Samuel Weller was a classic Dickens creation, but could’ve done with a bit of judicious editing, in my expert opinion.
Maybe it's because I had a couple of false starts before I managed to finish this book, but this was not one of my favorites in the Dickens oeuvre. It was episodic, like many of his books, but because the episodes weren't really linked by an overriding plot, it didn't pull me in the way his novels generally do. It was fairly obvious in this book that Dickens was paid by the word!...and I felt like he tried out and rejected several different ideas in the course of the book: where did the rest of the club members go after the first few chapters? But Sam and Tony Weller are unforgettable, and there are some marvelous ghost stories in here.
Early this year I read Bleak House and Little Dorritt, both great books I highly recommend. Pickwick Papers isn’t a great book, however it is very entertaining and certainly worth reading. The book isn’t plot driven, instead follows the adventures of the Pickwick Club as a devise for dozen and dozens of well told and humorous stories containing great characters. This devise reminded me of Don Quixote. Easy to see why the young Dickens became popular. Also enjoyed the foreshadowing of works recently read such as criticism of the slowness and injustice within the judicial system of Bleak House, the agony and ineffectiveness of debtors prisons appearing in Little Dorritt, and the seeds of tales similar to the Christmas Stories.
So much fun! I laughed out loud several times. Dickens humor is timeless.
My mom passed away five weeks ago, and my first book to read since her passing I needed to choose with care. The episodic shenanigans of the Pickwickians was the perfect reading material that wouldn't trigger further melancholy feelings. Really lifted my spirits.
I want to read everything he ever wrote. This isn't even his top ten probably and it's obviously genius.
My mom passed away five weeks ago, and my first book to read since her passing I needed to choose with care. The episodic shenanigans of the Pickwickians was the perfect reading material that wouldn't trigger further melancholy feelings. Really lifted my spirits.
I want to read everything he ever wrote. This isn't even his top ten probably and it's obviously genius.