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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, it's nice to see the humorous--nay, hilarious--side of Dickens. I just wish there were more of a plot for me to chew on.
Really enjoyed the humor of this book. Because it was his first, it is very easy to see some of his future novels contained within this one - at least as far as subject matter is concerned. If you like silly humor, it's a good choice.
So, this was Charles Dickens' first novel and his first novel that I have read (I consider A Christmas Carol to be more of a novella). So, how does it hold up?
There is a claim that a good portion of English culture arises from the works of Charles Dickens. The question then becomes: is it works or just the Pickwick Papers? There are plenty of goings on that would be recognizable as now being part of the broader culture... or at least use to be. Of course, Dickens also borrowed a lot from his own culture and from works of literature previous to his own.
In particular, there is a lot of influence seen from Cervante's Don Quixote. The silliness of the main premises and of the characters combined with the relationship between Mr. Pickwick and Samuel Weller mirroring that of Don Quixote and Sancho Pancho make this very clear. However, whereas Cervantes started out to critique the knight literature of his time, from the outset, Dickens is concerned with satirizing and critiquing late Georgian/Pre-Victorian English society. He does this with Pickwick's interactions with the law and debtors' prison but also through some of the stories they hear along the way.
Most of the stories themselves go against the lighthearted feel of the rest of the novel. In fact, it's a bit jarring to go from the bright, idealist viewpoint of Pickwick to the dreary, hopeless atmosphere of the tale about a dying clown. This showcases Dickens' range of writing, but also allows him to drive some serious points about his society without changing the mood of the main story. In fact, some of the best writing in this novel is in some of these stories, the one about the Sexton and the Goblin particularly stands out as memorable and powerful.
It is not a perfect novel. A lot of the characters are mostly ignored throughout the novel (in particular two of Pickwick's traveling companions, Mr. Tupman and Mr. Snodgrass). This happens once Samuel Weller appears on scene and he and Pickwick pretty much steal the show with Mr. Winkle managing to get some attention towards the end.
All in all, it is a very good freshman effort on Dickens' part. It is of such a quality that one would have to think he had written plenty of other stories before. It continues to still be an entertaining and relevant read even today, a testament to its brilliance and the stagnation of society's moral improvement.
There is a claim that a good portion of English culture arises from the works of Charles Dickens. The question then becomes: is it works or just the Pickwick Papers? There are plenty of goings on that would be recognizable as now being part of the broader culture... or at least use to be. Of course, Dickens also borrowed a lot from his own culture and from works of literature previous to his own.
In particular, there is a lot of influence seen from Cervante's Don Quixote. The silliness of the main premises and of the characters combined with the relationship between Mr. Pickwick and Samuel Weller mirroring that of Don Quixote and Sancho Pancho make this very clear. However, whereas Cervantes started out to critique the knight literature of his time, from the outset, Dickens is concerned with satirizing and critiquing late Georgian/Pre-Victorian English society. He does this with Pickwick's interactions with the law and debtors' prison but also through some of the stories they hear along the way.
Most of the stories themselves go against the lighthearted feel of the rest of the novel. In fact, it's a bit jarring to go from the bright, idealist viewpoint of Pickwick to the dreary, hopeless atmosphere of the tale about a dying clown. This showcases Dickens' range of writing, but also allows him to drive some serious points about his society without changing the mood of the main story. In fact, some of the best writing in this novel is in some of these stories, the one about the Sexton and the Goblin particularly stands out as memorable and powerful.
It is not a perfect novel. A lot of the characters are mostly ignored throughout the novel (in particular two of Pickwick's traveling companions, Mr. Tupman and Mr. Snodgrass). This happens once Samuel Weller appears on scene and he and Pickwick pretty much steal the show with Mr. Winkle managing to get some attention towards the end.
All in all, it is a very good freshman effort on Dickens' part. It is of such a quality that one would have to think he had written plenty of other stories before. It continues to still be an entertaining and relevant read even today, a testament to its brilliance and the stagnation of society's moral improvement.
I get that it is early Dickens brilliance and stuff, but man… I was so glad to be done. This is sooooooo long and doesn’t have enough overarching plot to hold my interest for 800 pages. I’m probably never going to reread it.
Full of wonderful characters but easy to put down for a little bit before picking back up due to the montage-like quality of the novel.
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.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
While there were parts of this book I thought were great and funny, for the most part I didn't enjoy reading it. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get through and meandering for large sections. Hopefully this isn't indicative of my experience with Dickens in the future as I'm excited to read his other, more famous, novels.
This book was a long read, I had to take a small break from it. The book took forever to get started but when Sam got in I started to enjoy quite more. I was doing his accent for days. I could tell this was Charles Dickens first novel because he got carried away, and there is no plot whatsoever but I still really enjoyed it. His excuse is because it was published serial in a newspaper or something. Another plus for this book that it gave me a lot AR points for English so that made me pretty darn happy.
Over all a great read.
Over all a great read.
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No