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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
If I knew how much I was going to enjoy this classic, I would not have put it off so long.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read in my first English lesson of in High school, i guess it started off my 'affair' with books with abandoned protagonists,making their way in the world. It was exquisite.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've only ever read one Dickens book, Great Expectations, and I really loved it. Oliver Twist, however, is a dreadful bore, filled with annoying characters, an awful lot of filler, soap opera levels of coincidence, and pretty sure rampant antisemitism.
I know that a lot of Dickens' stories were originally published in periodicals, a chapter at a time or whatever rate it was, so the fact this reads like a soap isn't that much of a surprise. Soapy twists and "duff duff" moments abound, but it's the seemingly endless filler that kills me. Imagine following along with this as it was being published, and waiting however many weeks for a new chapter and all you get is Mr Bumble trying to get the workhouse lady to marry him. I'd have been fuming!
As for the story itself, Oliver is so annoying. I know he's supposed to be so sweet and kind, despite the hardships he faces, but honestly he's far too passive for my liking. Nancy is by far the most interesting character, but she's used very little, and we all know how she ends up.
I know that a lot of Dickens' stories were originally published in periodicals, a chapter at a time or whatever rate it was, so the fact this reads like a soap isn't that much of a surprise. Soapy twists and "duff duff" moments abound, but it's the seemingly endless filler that kills me. Imagine following along with this as it was being published, and waiting however many weeks for a new chapter and all you get is Mr Bumble trying to get the workhouse lady to marry him. I'd have been fuming!
As for the story itself, Oliver is so annoying. I know he's supposed to be so sweet and kind, despite the hardships he faces, but honestly he's far too passive for my liking. Nancy is by far the most interesting character, but she's used very little, and we all know how she ends up.
Ok, but definitely not for me. Honestly, if I wasn't on a kick to read classics, I probably wouldn't have finished this one.
The story was ok. Once I arrived at the end and it all came full circle, I was happier with it. However, the way it was written was tough to follow so my mind wandered a lot mid-chapter. Oliver was a sweet boy that fell into hardship at the hand of many, so he was likeable but I struggled with how the story became about everyone around him. I missed him being more central to the story over the scheming of others. Though I did enjoy a couple of the side characters.
The story was ok. Once I arrived at the end and it all came full circle, I was happier with it. However, the way it was written was tough to follow so my mind wandered a lot mid-chapter. Oliver was a sweet boy that fell into hardship at the hand of many, so he was likeable but I struggled with how the story became about everyone around him. I missed him being more central to the story over the scheming of others. Though I did enjoy a couple of the side characters.
(for school—legal fictions) interestingly so much more enjoyable (and funny) reading dickens now than in high school (granted, different dickens books)
While my life has been filled with books, I’ve never immersed myself in Dickens the way that many lovers of British literature have. That’s why I chose Oliver Twist as a book I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve not read. It seems like a book I should have read well before now. But, having finished, while I experienced Dickens’ ability to hook me as a reader, I was not enamored with the story. So many things seemed circumstantial. While life does include an enormous amount of serendipity, the fact that every person in Oliver’s life somehow connected directly back to his tragic birth felt contrived. And the many references to “The Jew” Fagin and other social/racial bumbling made this book feel dated. I do appreciate Oliver’s sweet and shining personality throughout his trials, and the references to goodness and kindness in others. But overall, not a favorite of mine.
Charles Dickens had plenty of reasons to be miserable. He grew up in a large, dysfunctional family, constantly on the cusp from poverty, his father was sent to a debtor’s prison, and young Charles was forced to work in a factory job that he hated, constantly surrounded by young people his age who were in worse spots than he was, and it would have a strong impact on his life and writing. Such suffering and adversity might drive anyone mad or to the depths of cynicism or despair, but Dickens never wrote with bitterness, but with joy.
I've heard a few people compare Dickens to Horatio Alger, and if that's the case then they are sorely mistaken. His wit, eye for the follies and ills of humanity, and an acute awareness for social commentary puts him far above his contemporaries, and in many ways authors who work today. Certainly the comparison to Alger could be applicable to Dickens, both often dealt with down and out protagonists finding their ways in life. But out of the two, I found that Dickens had the keener sense of irony. He is self aware, yet never cynical in his critiques and satire and he writes with the eye of a thoughtful entertainer. Alan Moore once mused on how entertainment can be just as profound and beautiful as any form of literature, and that is certainly the case with Dickens, and I'll always point to Dickens as proof of this statement.
Wilde once critiqued Dickens as a romantic sentimentalist, but unlike sentimentalists, Dickens routinely forced his audience to see the horrors and despairs that the real world, and Oliver Twist is no different. The horrors that Oliver is forced to go through is filled with anger and vitriolic satire, and Dickens used his penchant for caricature to satirize the greed and gluttony of the men and women who use child workers for their own ends, while also showing the cyclical nature of crime, particularly with children and neatly personified in the dastardly Bill Sykes. And while Wilde would often revel in his own perceived cleverness, Dickens remains an observer, constantly poking and prodding at the ills of society, but never losing hope and always remaining optimistic of man's nature, even if it is cautious in nature.
Yet Dickens was an entertainer first, and his works are often filled with wild, strange characters, lively and colorful prose, and a neat, if not occasionally long winded, pace. Oliver Twist showcases his knack as a storyteller as he spins a yarn regarding the tale of young Oliver Twist, and it's a story as entertaining, funny, profound, and touching as any other novel that can be read by academia today. It is often funny how they forget that Dickens was the King of his time, and was initially dismissed as popular trash not unlike King has been. Though this is nothing new, many people often tend to discover great talents as time goes along.
One of his few issues is his problem with women. While not exactly a misogynist, there is a constant flatness with his women characters, either having them as neurotic, nagging killjoys or pure, innocent souls who wouldn't hurt a fly, and even sometimes going into cliches like the whore with a heart of gold and such other things, it makes me wish that Dickens had more of the depth and wit that he gave to his male characters to his female characters, but they never feel distracting. There is also the controversy with his character Fagin and if he's an anti-semitic stereotype, but I've never thought so. Fagin, much like Sykes, is a character to be pitied, as they are both men who've felt forced to commit horrible deeds in order to keep themselves alive, though unlike Sykes, he is not a man to be feared, and you feel an amount of pity once he goes through the fate that he does.
Dickens is the rare author who writes a political satire that's actually funny, an entertainer who's not afraid to be enjoyable as well as being intelligent, and a optimistic writer who isn't afraid to have hope, while never stooping into escapism or overt sentimentality.
I've heard a few people compare Dickens to Horatio Alger, and if that's the case then they are sorely mistaken. His wit, eye for the follies and ills of humanity, and an acute awareness for social commentary puts him far above his contemporaries, and in many ways authors who work today. Certainly the comparison to Alger could be applicable to Dickens, both often dealt with down and out protagonists finding their ways in life. But out of the two, I found that Dickens had the keener sense of irony. He is self aware, yet never cynical in his critiques and satire and he writes with the eye of a thoughtful entertainer. Alan Moore once mused on how entertainment can be just as profound and beautiful as any form of literature, and that is certainly the case with Dickens, and I'll always point to Dickens as proof of this statement.
Wilde once critiqued Dickens as a romantic sentimentalist, but unlike sentimentalists, Dickens routinely forced his audience to see the horrors and despairs that the real world, and Oliver Twist is no different. The horrors that Oliver is forced to go through is filled with anger and vitriolic satire, and Dickens used his penchant for caricature to satirize the greed and gluttony of the men and women who use child workers for their own ends, while also showing the cyclical nature of crime, particularly with children and neatly personified in the dastardly Bill Sykes. And while Wilde would often revel in his own perceived cleverness, Dickens remains an observer, constantly poking and prodding at the ills of society, but never losing hope and always remaining optimistic of man's nature, even if it is cautious in nature.
Yet Dickens was an entertainer first, and his works are often filled with wild, strange characters, lively and colorful prose, and a neat, if not occasionally long winded, pace. Oliver Twist showcases his knack as a storyteller as he spins a yarn regarding the tale of young Oliver Twist, and it's a story as entertaining, funny, profound, and touching as any other novel that can be read by academia today. It is often funny how they forget that Dickens was the King of his time, and was initially dismissed as popular trash not unlike King has been. Though this is nothing new, many people often tend to discover great talents as time goes along.
One of his few issues is his problem with women. While not exactly a misogynist, there is a constant flatness with his women characters, either having them as neurotic, nagging killjoys or pure, innocent souls who wouldn't hurt a fly, and even sometimes going into cliches like the whore with a heart of gold and such other things, it makes me wish that Dickens had more of the depth and wit that he gave to his male characters to his female characters, but they never feel distracting. There is also the controversy with his character Fagin and if he's an anti-semitic stereotype, but I've never thought so. Fagin, much like Sykes, is a character to be pitied, as they are both men who've felt forced to commit horrible deeds in order to keep themselves alive, though unlike Sykes, he is not a man to be feared, and you feel an amount of pity once he goes through the fate that he does.
Dickens is the rare author who writes a political satire that's actually funny, an entertainer who's not afraid to be enjoyable as well as being intelligent, and a optimistic writer who isn't afraid to have hope, while never stooping into escapism or overt sentimentality.
3,5/5.
I had difficulties getting into it, and remembering all the characters. but the end was brilliant!
I had difficulties getting into it, and remembering all the characters. but the end was brilliant!
Very well written and some excellent characterisation. A few too many convenient coincidences though, and the way Dicken keeps referring to Fagan as "the Jew" was rather jarring.