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louisereadsbooks's review
2.0
Historically, this novel is really important, being one of the first to show life for the impoverished in Victorian London, etc. And it's got some great characters and a classic plot. So that's what the two stars are for. There's a reason Dickens is famous.
I would give it more stars, but I found it too crowded with characters, and it didn't hold my attention (perhaps because I already knew the story? Or perhaps because the lead character is so passive. I don't know). It's obvious that it was originally a serial. Maybe that's how I should have read it - 2 or 3 chapters a month for over a year.
Hmmm, might try that next time I read a Dickens novel.
I would give it more stars, but I found it too crowded with characters, and it didn't hold my attention (perhaps because I already knew the story? Or perhaps because the lead character is so passive. I don't know). It's obvious that it was originally a serial. Maybe that's how I should have read it - 2 or 3 chapters a month for over a year.
Hmmm, might try that next time I read a Dickens novel.
razishiri's review
5.0
My first attempt and Dickens, and I'm in love. It's like revisting the Roald Dahl books of my childhood... both authors instill a wonderful humor and sense of adventure into their writing.
elizabethcaneday's review
I have no idea how to rate this book. If I write a review, it would be a rant. So I'm going to let it settle for a few days (and get over the gruesome murder at the end).
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
lanegard's review
5.0
Oliver Twist is an interesting book. It is somewhat hard to get into, can be frustrating at times, but the more you get into it, the better it gets. It's a little wordy, so I don't recommend it to young kids (unless you're a brilliant reader).
traceylouise1980's review
4.0
Much like any other Dickens novel you will encounter really. Overly wordy, grim descriptions of life in 19th century London and a host of unpleasant and unlikeable characters, it does what you expect - You feel sorry for Oliver and pray for the crims to be brought to justice. Personally I am not a Dickens fan - I re-read this after 20 years because I am teaching it to a year 7 English group from September - But I did enjoy it. If you can ignore the fact that 50 word sentences are used to say what could have been said in 10 and the blatant racism, sexism and general bigotry (It is worth remembering that it was written in a more prejudiced time, so modern sensibilities can't really be applied here), this is actually a thought-provoking, challenging and harrowing read. Well worth a look, even if Dickens really isn't your thing.
unobstructedspace's review
5.0
96/100
Fuck you Dickens. Fuck you and what you did to my emotions. Insensitive ass....
Fuck you Dickens. Fuck you and what you did to my emotions. Insensitive ass....
18653681's review
4.0
I'm going to be generous and give this a 4. It's a 3.5. The last part of the novel seemed rushed. I was surprised with the violence. Even though this book is titled Oliver Twist, there is little of Oliver we get to know. We know more about the people around him than himself. It reminds me of Great Expectations with less interesting characters. I would consider this novel as Dickens's prototype of his future novels. Overall enjoyable, but not his best.
bibliobethreads's review
4.0
This novel by Charles Dickens is an undeniable classic, and has been immortalised in a lot of people’s minds by the excellent film that was directed in 1968 starring Ron Moody, Harry Secombe, and Oliver Reed. Dickens opens our eyes to a very different London, reeking of poverty and pickpockets to tell the story of a young orphan named Oliver, who runs away from his apprenticeship to a coffin-maker. After meeting the notorious Artful Dodger on the road, he is taken under the wing of Fagin, a “gentleman” who runs a gang of thieves – mainly young boys. Poor Oliver does not do too well on his first outing as a potential pickpocket, he is mistakenly arrested, but then taken into the house of the kind Mr Brownlow, once it is realised that he is not a thief. But life never runs smoothly for Oliver as while carrying out an errand for Mr Brownlow, he is re-captured by Fagin’s gang and forced to complete a burglary assignment with the menacing and terrifying Bill Sikes. He has one friend in this criminal web thankfully, the wonderful Nancy, who has a soft spot for Oliver and assists him as much as she can which leads to incredible dangers for her. At the end of the novel, a lot of mysteries regarding Oliver and his parentage are tied up, leading to hope and happiness for the young orphan in the future.
I do love the story of Oliver Twist and it was a “must pick” for our Kid-Lit challenge this year. The way in which Dickens announces the poverty and hardship of the poor, and the cruel treatment of orphans is almost revolutionary, and his analysis of the social classes in comparison is second to none. Morally speaking, Oliver is the perfect child and resists the many opportunities thrown his way to turn to the dark side, and become just another pickpocket on the streets. The characters written in this novel are also absolute classics – the gang leader Fagin with his jewel-hoarding and fondness for a silk handkerchief, the loveable and tragic Nancy and the evil Bill Sikes are just a few in a list that remain fondly etched on my memories. What did surprise me whilst reading was the anti-semitism displayed by Dickens, as he rarely refers to Fagin by his name, but just as The Jew! And obviously, there is the old stereotype of hoarding treasures like a miser that he attributes to the character, which our current times would claim to be discriminatory and racist. That aside, this is a beautiful classic that I think everyone should read, and that I think will continue to delight readers for years to come.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
I do love the story of Oliver Twist and it was a “must pick” for our Kid-Lit challenge this year. The way in which Dickens announces the poverty and hardship of the poor, and the cruel treatment of orphans is almost revolutionary, and his analysis of the social classes in comparison is second to none. Morally speaking, Oliver is the perfect child and resists the many opportunities thrown his way to turn to the dark side, and become just another pickpocket on the streets. The characters written in this novel are also absolute classics – the gang leader Fagin with his jewel-hoarding and fondness for a silk handkerchief, the loveable and tragic Nancy and the evil Bill Sikes are just a few in a list that remain fondly etched on my memories. What did surprise me whilst reading was the anti-semitism displayed by Dickens, as he rarely refers to Fagin by his name, but just as The Jew! And obviously, there is the old stereotype of hoarding treasures like a miser that he attributes to the character, which our current times would claim to be discriminatory and racist. That aside, this is a beautiful classic that I think everyone should read, and that I think will continue to delight readers for years to come.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
malaynachang's review
3.0
MY OPINION: ***
This really solidified my final opinion on Dickens. I had this weird belief that after my last experience with our good friend Charlie that I actually kind of liked this man's writing. However, I take it all back.
This book was SO long. I listened to it on audiobook and was under the mistaken (stupid) assumption that it was only two parts long (basically, each audiobook part on Spotify is like 3-4 hours). So I was like, yes, it's time to try him out again. And clearly, I know this story well enough from movies and pop culture and all that jazz so I might as well actually read the novel. However, it turns out there were around 5 or 6 parts to this series each over four hours. I was in shock. I was so tempted to quit. But I saw I had already listened to TWELVE HOURS of this so I had to keep going because I did not waste that much time of my life (well really, it was six because I listen on 2.0 speed but you get the point) to just give up.
Eh.
This book was far longer than it needed to be. The first half, I was actually kind of interested. Those first two parts, I was engaged. I actually enjoyed listening to the story of this little orphan boy's horrible experiences in various orphanages and workplaces. However, by the second third or middle area, it started to get a little fuzzy. I was lost, I was bored, I was tuning it out. I had to pull up Sparks Notes to actually understand everything I kept missing because of how much it became elevator music to my mind. Maybe it's because I did it all in one sitting. I don't know. But I remember now why I "don't like Dickens" and never have. Maybe he has "better" works but I feel like if this one failed me, I refuse to go through his even longer novels.
To be quite honest, I think the main problem for me was keeping up with the ten million characters Dickens decided to introduce. Who were all these random people?? Where did they come from?? Why were they there?? This book should NOT have been called Oliver Twist because Oliver was a side character in his own novel. We literally had entire chapters on the "side" characters to the point where Dickens himself had to be like, "Oops, so I forgot about Oliver, let's go see what that kid is up to, even if he is the main character."
I remember I tried to read this book when I was WAY younger because I owned a really nice copy of it (that I have since lost or have buried in my stack of books I hate). I gave up quickly because clearly, my mind was not advanced enough to understand Dickens. Now, as a first-year in college, I STILL did not understand what this man was talking about at some points and the parts I did understand, I just didn't really... care? I felt bad for Oliver but I don't think he deserved 600 pages of woe to get through his story. It's not like he's 80 at the end. He's literally still a little child. He has not grown.
The story is meant to convey some sort of criticism or satire or just commentary on the English Poor Laws and the state of the working-class in England in this time period. I understood that but at the same time, was a little boy really the best narrator we could have gotten? I mean, clearly this was a strategic move to artfully write about these conditions without blatantly highlighting some criticism that would have potentially gotten Dickens in a lot of trouble, but clearly, Oliver was not the best narrator. He isn't even in the book for a good part of it. Did we really need 600 pages to get the point across that the working conditions are trash?
Don't even get me started on the Fagin and his crew. I clearly knew about that from the movies and such but what the hell? The blatant anti-Semitism and biases that Dickens portrayed in this book... I don't even know what to say. Somehow I must have missed that when I watched the movie at age eight. I was in shock everytime he described Fagin's "greedy miserly tendencies" and then gasped at the juxtaposition of that with the fact that Fagin is Jewish. What the hell? And I'm still supposed to treat Dickens like some sort of god at literature?
Other than the blatant prejudice, I did enjoy a fair amount of the story. By the time we got to the end, I was fairly invested in most of these characters' lives. While I don't think it needed to drag on as long as it did, I get it. The man had things to say and being a writer of the classics, he needed 15 lines to say something that could have been summed up in five words. So be it. Will I be reading another Dickens? Not anytime soon. I probably will at some point in the future just to make sure but I don't think this man is for me.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a socially-conscious novel of the English 1930s. If you've seen the film, just know there are no songs in this book.
Main Character: Oliver Twist
Sidekick(s): Friends, etc
Villain(s): Fagin, betrayal, abuse, etc
Classics Elements: This is a classic "masterpiece" of English literature.
This really solidified my final opinion on Dickens. I had this weird belief that after my last experience with our good friend Charlie that I actually kind of liked this man's writing. However, I take it all back.
This book was SO long. I listened to it on audiobook and was under the mistaken (stupid) assumption that it was only two parts long (basically, each audiobook part on Spotify is like 3-4 hours). So I was like, yes, it's time to try him out again. And clearly, I know this story well enough from movies and pop culture and all that jazz so I might as well actually read the novel. However, it turns out there were around 5 or 6 parts to this series each over four hours. I was in shock. I was so tempted to quit. But I saw I had already listened to TWELVE HOURS of this so I had to keep going because I did not waste that much time of my life (well really, it was six because I listen on 2.0 speed but you get the point) to just give up.
Eh.
This book was far longer than it needed to be. The first half, I was actually kind of interested. Those first two parts, I was engaged. I actually enjoyed listening to the story of this little orphan boy's horrible experiences in various orphanages and workplaces. However, by the second third or middle area, it started to get a little fuzzy. I was lost, I was bored, I was tuning it out. I had to pull up Sparks Notes to actually understand everything I kept missing because of how much it became elevator music to my mind. Maybe it's because I did it all in one sitting. I don't know. But I remember now why I "don't like Dickens" and never have. Maybe he has "better" works but I feel like if this one failed me, I refuse to go through his even longer novels.
To be quite honest, I think the main problem for me was keeping up with the ten million characters Dickens decided to introduce. Who were all these random people?? Where did they come from?? Why were they there?? This book should NOT have been called Oliver Twist because Oliver was a side character in his own novel. We literally had entire chapters on the "side" characters to the point where Dickens himself had to be like, "Oops, so I forgot about Oliver, let's go see what that kid is up to, even if he is the main character."
I remember I tried to read this book when I was WAY younger because I owned a really nice copy of it (that I have since lost or have buried in my stack of books I hate). I gave up quickly because clearly, my mind was not advanced enough to understand Dickens. Now, as a first-year in college, I STILL did not understand what this man was talking about at some points and the parts I did understand, I just didn't really... care? I felt bad for Oliver but I don't think he deserved 600 pages of woe to get through his story. It's not like he's 80 at the end. He's literally still a little child. He has not grown.
The story is meant to convey some sort of criticism or satire or just commentary on the English Poor Laws and the state of the working-class in England in this time period. I understood that but at the same time, was a little boy really the best narrator we could have gotten? I mean, clearly this was a strategic move to artfully write about these conditions without blatantly highlighting some criticism that would have potentially gotten Dickens in a lot of trouble, but clearly, Oliver was not the best narrator. He isn't even in the book for a good part of it. Did we really need 600 pages to get the point across that the working conditions are trash?
Don't even get me started on the Fagin and his crew. I clearly knew about that from the movies and such but what the hell? The blatant anti-Semitism and biases that Dickens portrayed in this book... I don't even know what to say. Somehow I must have missed that when I watched the movie at age eight. I was in shock everytime he described Fagin's "greedy miserly tendencies" and then gasped at the juxtaposition of that with the fact that Fagin is Jewish. What the hell? And I'm still supposed to treat Dickens like some sort of god at literature?
Other than the blatant prejudice, I did enjoy a fair amount of the story. By the time we got to the end, I was fairly invested in most of these characters' lives. While I don't think it needed to drag on as long as it did, I get it. The man had things to say and being a writer of the classics, he needed 15 lines to say something that could have been summed up in five words. So be it. Will I be reading another Dickens? Not anytime soon. I probably will at some point in the future just to make sure but I don't think this man is for me.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a socially-conscious novel of the English 1930s. If you've seen the film, just know there are no songs in this book.
Main Character: Oliver Twist
Sidekick(s): Friends, etc
Villain(s): Fagin, betrayal, abuse, etc
Classics Elements: This is a classic "masterpiece" of English literature.