Reviews

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

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h_motionless's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The Old Curiosity Shop is fun and cozy, while tense and bleak at times, and balances the two very well. The cast of characters is immaculate, especially the villainous Quilp who stands out as one of Dickens’ most detestable antagonists. My two major problems with the novel, however, are the extraordinarily slow pacing in the middle portion of the novel, and Dickens’ tendency to over-write seemingly insignificant scenes, while almost brushing over the scenes with potent emotional impact.

sengentaro's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

lillowo's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

It's a book! Charles Dickens got paid by the word and you can see it in this book. There are stories and subplots that just didn't need to exist.

Overall I enjoyed the book but I would have enjoyed it if it was half the word count so much more. Our characters are sweet and interesting but they feel very one note overall for me. We have a bad guy, we have a good guy, we have an honest guy... So on and so forth.

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Content Warnings