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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Rereading classics that I've adored previously or like with this one, grew up with the storyline is quite interesting. While I still find a lot of the things I like by a story I also read the things in the story that isn't so great. Classics in general can have quite dusty ideas about people so it's far from a perfect book Yet it's a story I come back to time and time again.
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I grew up with Oliver twist retellings and adaptations so I got nostalgic feeling for him. The story is deeply moving and so extreme, I just wanna reach down my book and pick him up into safety. Even tough this might not be Charles Dickens best work, I can see that, but it's still is one of those books that means the most for me I given it 5 stars.
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I grew up with Oliver twist retellings and adaptations so I got nostalgic feeling for him. The story is deeply moving and so extreme, I just wanna reach down my book and pick him up into safety. Even tough this might not be Charles Dickens best work, I can see that, but it's still is one of those books that means the most for me I given it 5 stars.
Loved this Audible Original version by Sam Mendes. The full cast actors and sound effects were phenomenal. It was like a movie for my ears. Makes me want to pick up the physical book sooner rather than later.
52Books2023 Reading Challenge: Featuring an inheritance
52Books2023 Reading Challenge: Featuring an inheritance
I may have read this as a teen. Glad I re-read [most of] it for school. The irony is so much funnier as a grown up.
A classic story that I enjoyed very much although it was quite hard to understand at times. I think the twist for Oliver at the end is just what the book needed! One of the best books to curl up with in bed!
Elena, aged 10.
Elena, aged 10.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 4.0
YTD: 9
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful
It would be easy to say that Oliver Twist is a Victorian story about an orphaned boy who has to join a gang of ruffians in order to survive life on the streets but then, through some dues-ex-machina, is saved and rewarded beyond imagination. The truth is, though, that Oliver Twist is not about any one boy’s plight; in fact, the character Oliver is probably not directly engaged in the story for more than perhaps half of the novel. So, what is this story about, then? It is about every orphaned boy or girl, and the misery they are forced to endure. It is about the hypocrisy of a Christian society, who prides itself on the “charity” it provides to the poor, all the while blaming the poor for their own unfortunate circumstances and punishing any who dare to ask for more aid or better care. Dickens manages to tell a nation’s story through the life of one boy; he exposes a dark, seedy underbelly to the public eye, and forces shame upon those who would stand by and do nothing, while innocents suffer.
Read the full review at www.roofbeamreader.net
Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 4.0
YTD: 9
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful
It would be easy to say that Oliver Twist is a Victorian story about an orphaned boy who has to join a gang of ruffians in order to survive life on the streets but then, through some dues-ex-machina, is saved and rewarded beyond imagination. The truth is, though, that Oliver Twist is not about any one boy’s plight; in fact, the character Oliver is probably not directly engaged in the story for more than perhaps half of the novel. So, what is this story about, then? It is about every orphaned boy or girl, and the misery they are forced to endure. It is about the hypocrisy of a Christian society, who prides itself on the “charity” it provides to the poor, all the while blaming the poor for their own unfortunate circumstances and punishing any who dare to ask for more aid or better care. Dickens manages to tell a nation’s story through the life of one boy; he exposes a dark, seedy underbelly to the public eye, and forces shame upon those who would stand by and do nothing, while innocents suffer.
Read the full review at www.roofbeamreader.net
The first third or half was a bit of a slog, given the amount of (understandable) time devoted to the petty criminals of the story and too little time with the more interesting and good characters. Of course the latter were even more appreciated after reading about the former. The last half of the book was much more interesting and enjoyable and moved quickly, making this novel well worth reading. This was the first Dickens' novel I've read and I hope it won't be the last.
Not an obvious choice for bedtime reading for a six-year-old, but one thing led to another... She loved it -- we only had to skip over Nancy's murder -- despite the intricate, sometimes positively baroque, language, which she obviously didn't understand word for word. Of course, the plot is ridiculous, but also brilliant.
As always, absolute character gold, especially the villains (Fagin is just mesmerizing in his machinations and perceptiveness and tension with Sikes and Munks) and the satirical characters like Mr Bumble and Noah Claypole. Interestingly I don't think Oliver Twist is really the central character, except as a plot device and symbol of (spunky) innocence unjustly treated by society and redeemed by good treatment; the crime gang are the central characters, especially Fagin and Nancy and to some extent Sikes. The benevolent characters are, as usual, somewhat two-dimensional and uninteresting, although not unpleasant to read the emotionally satisfying storyline of Oliver's rescue. Nancy is at an interesting boundary between the two, since she can be read rather sentimentally, this tragic fallen woman, but is so intelligent and fierce. The Munks plot/Oliver backstory got a bit cumbersome and monologuey by the end, but the Fagin-Sikes-Nancy subplot was riveting and shockingly dark/violent.
I very much enjoyed this book. BUT, not as much as A Tale of Two Cities. But, I'd have to say that Oliver Twist was well written and a fun book to read. It was cool to read a story of a baby boy and was born and raised an orphan, to him running away, then had all these hardships come upon him until everything turned out just fine in the end. The characters were good, the story was good, everything about it was good! I really enjoyed this book.
A story about rags to riches. Not because of hard work but because of inheritance. Which is typical of books from that era so I’m not that annoyed about it.
This book felt like a first draft of David Copperfield (which is one of my favorite novels of all time), throughout reading this book I’d see glimpses of characters from David Copperfield and it made me enjoy the book even more.
I might be biased in this review because I enjoy this type of novels, but I will not apologise for the books I enjoy (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง.
This book felt like a first draft of David Copperfield (which is one of my favorite novels of all time), throughout reading this book I’d see glimpses of characters from David Copperfield and it made me enjoy the book even more.
I might be biased in this review because I enjoy this type of novels, but I will not apologise for the books I enjoy (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง.