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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
It had some good parts and some great parts, but it was soooo looong!
So nice to read some Dickens that is mostly really funny. A collection of picaresque adventures, it’s quite incredible how Dickens’s first novel is so masterful and as fine an example of his brilliance as his later works. A delight!
Such a delightful book. The English language has changed so much over time and reading The Pickwick Papers reminded me of this.
Even though it was written almost 200 years ago, it is an entertaining and at times hilarious read. The norms of the time seem otherworldly (and this is a good thing in certain circumstances) but what I enjoyed was the way Dickens wrote. So many words, so much detail and such a reflection of the way things were done in the 1830s.
The members of the Pickwick Club - or Pickwickians - have so many adventures but I think my favourite involved poor Mr Tracy Tupman and his lost love of the old Spinster Aunt to Mr Jingle. The despair of the taunted Tupman, the chases by horse and carriage, the discovery of the runaway pair was a joy to read.
This is not a short read, but a very entertaining one.
Even though it was written almost 200 years ago, it is an entertaining and at times hilarious read. The norms of the time seem otherworldly (and this is a good thing in certain circumstances) but what I enjoyed was the way Dickens wrote. So many words, so much detail and such a reflection of the way things were done in the 1830s.
The members of the Pickwick Club - or Pickwickians - have so many adventures but I think my favourite involved poor Mr Tracy Tupman and his lost love of the old Spinster Aunt to Mr Jingle. The despair of the taunted Tupman, the chases by horse and carriage, the discovery of the runaway pair was a joy to read.
This is not a short read, but a very entertaining one.
5 very large stars. This is such a wonderful example of deep character development at its finest... the kind of book where you are sad to say goodbye to the characters by the end of the book because you feel that you deeply know them and will miss them. I give unreserved recommendations to read this book!
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars. I really love Dickens, so I had high expectations walking into this, but I was not disappointed - of course, Dickens never does! It took a minute for me to get used to the format of the book, it was a bit like soaking into a very warm bath. It was just a touch too hot, but I was slowly able to sink in and thoroughly enjoy myself.
Mr. Pickwick was an enjoyable character, and his friends were stolid, engaging types. It was a new change of pace, a up-beat Dickens novel, but there were moments of this book that had me laughing out loud. It was reminiscent of Wodehouse, though with a fair bit less levity.
I was certainly hoping for a little more satisfaction or even revenge on a couple plot lines, but I was to be disappointed. This book wonderfully ties up loose ends as Dickens always does, but I am clearly more petty than Mr. Dickens & Mr. Pickwick. This book was still thoroughly enjoyable.
I recommend this book to all fans of Dickens or great English literature. While not my favorite of his novels, this was still a great read.
Mr. Pickwick was an enjoyable character, and his friends were stolid, engaging types. It was a new change of pace, a up-beat Dickens novel, but there were moments of this book that had me laughing out loud. It was reminiscent of Wodehouse, though with a fair bit less levity.
I was certainly hoping for a little more satisfaction or even revenge on a couple plot lines, but I was to be disappointed. This book wonderfully ties up loose ends as Dickens always does, but I am clearly more petty than Mr. Dickens & Mr. Pickwick. This book was still thoroughly enjoyable.
I recommend this book to all fans of Dickens or great English literature. While not my favorite of his novels, this was still a great read.
Dickens for Greg, Dickens for Greg. What would summer be without it?
This one is all over the place, but once I got into it it started to tear along and I read the last half of it (350-ish pages) in less than two days. Vacation helps.
I love the bizarre and entirely digressive short stories interspersed throughout. Hard not to put Harry Secombe in the main role...
This one is all over the place, but once I got into it it started to tear along and I read the last half of it (350-ish pages) in less than two days. Vacation helps.
I love the bizarre and entirely digressive short stories interspersed throughout. Hard not to put Harry Secombe in the main role...
Infinito! Questa era l’idea che avevo in testa mentre leggevo questo libro. Non solo per la sua lunghezza, ma perché non avendo un filo comune, il libro sarebbe potuto andare avanti in eterno! E’ il resoconto del viaggio di alcuni membri del Circolo Pickwick e delle loro dis-avventure. All’interno di questo racconto poi, fanno capolino tantissimi personaggi, ognuno con la sua storia da raccontare e con la sua vita vissuta. Sembra quasi un libro a cerchi concentrici, buona metafora della vita di ognuno di noi dei suoi incontri e come questi possono influenzare o meno il nostro percorso. Mr Pickwick, un vero gentleman. L’ho adorato sin dall’inizio grazie anche al suo meraviglioso ottimismo. Punto centrale di tutta l’opera è comunque l’ironia, con l’intento di rendere maggiormente concreti i vari personaggi e di sdrammatizzare la situazione dell’Inghilterra del periodo. Uno spasso il modo di parlare di Mr Jingle!
Enjoyable book following the adventures of four friends traveling around England and getting into burped scrapes. But really Sam Weather was the real hero of the story.
Nice happy ending.
Nice happy ending.
Delightful sometimes seems a belittling compliment but I don’t know a better word for this book, which was so funny and buoyant, rich, and also human. Best is, as Dickens’ first book, you see the the seed of much of his later work here: the interminable law suits (Bleak House), the beloved relative in the debtors’ prison (Little Dorrit), the finger-wagging spirits (A Christmas Carol), and more.
This book was the favorite of both Fernando Pessoa and Giuseppe Lampedusa, and such high-brow admiration made me a bit afraid of what it would be like. I’d also heard there wasn’t much of a story line, so I worried. Would there be a plot? Would there be characters to follow? Wouldn’t it suck if I didn’t like it?
I worried for naught, for though the narrative is somewhat liquid, running here and there on various tangents, there is a plot to frame it, and the characters are marvelous, especially --as anyone who’s read the book knows -- Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick’s servant. Mr. Pickwick himself radiates benevolence, and as always with Dickens, the outright melodrama of it all is like a little kindling in your hands. Dickens is a great observer, and his scenes and dialogues can be hilarious. Take, for example, Sam Weller’s father’s explanation of the character of pike keepers:
"Wery queer life is a pike-keeper's, sir."
"A what?" said Mr. Pickwick.
"A pike-keeper."
"What do you mean by pike-keeper?" inquired Mr. Peter Magnus.
"The old 'un means a turnpike keeper, gen'l'm'n," observed Mr. Samuel Weller, in explanation.
"Oh," said Mr. Pickwick, "I see. Yes; very curious life. Very uncomfortable."
"They're all on 'em men as has met vith some disappointment in life," said Mr. Weller senior.
"Ay, ay?" said Mr. Pickwick.
"Yes. Consequence of vich, they retires from the world, and shuts themselves up in pikes; partly with the view of being solitary, and partly to rewenge themselves on mankind, by takin' tolls."
"Dear me," said Mr. Pickwick, "I never knew that before."
Hey, me neither! But now I do.
Like Fernando Pessoa, I can only now say that a great tragedy of my life is having read "The Pickwick Papers," since I can never read it for the first time again.
This book was the favorite of both Fernando Pessoa and Giuseppe Lampedusa, and such high-brow admiration made me a bit afraid of what it would be like. I’d also heard there wasn’t much of a story line, so I worried. Would there be a plot? Would there be characters to follow? Wouldn’t it suck if I didn’t like it?
I worried for naught, for though the narrative is somewhat liquid, running here and there on various tangents, there is a plot to frame it, and the characters are marvelous, especially --as anyone who’s read the book knows -- Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick’s servant. Mr. Pickwick himself radiates benevolence, and as always with Dickens, the outright melodrama of it all is like a little kindling in your hands. Dickens is a great observer, and his scenes and dialogues can be hilarious. Take, for example, Sam Weller’s father’s explanation of the character of pike keepers:
"Wery queer life is a pike-keeper's, sir."
"A what?" said Mr. Pickwick.
"A pike-keeper."
"What do you mean by pike-keeper?" inquired Mr. Peter Magnus.
"The old 'un means a turnpike keeper, gen'l'm'n," observed Mr. Samuel Weller, in explanation.
"Oh," said Mr. Pickwick, "I see. Yes; very curious life. Very uncomfortable."
"They're all on 'em men as has met vith some disappointment in life," said Mr. Weller senior.
"Ay, ay?" said Mr. Pickwick.
"Yes. Consequence of vich, they retires from the world, and shuts themselves up in pikes; partly with the view of being solitary, and partly to rewenge themselves on mankind, by takin' tolls."
"Dear me," said Mr. Pickwick, "I never knew that before."
Hey, me neither! But now I do.
Like Fernando Pessoa, I can only now say that a great tragedy of my life is having read "The Pickwick Papers," since I can never read it for the first time again.