Reviews - Oliver Twist, Volume 7

Oliver Twist, Volume 7 by Charles Dickens, Kathleen Olmstead

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Review: One of the first plays I ever saw was Oliver Twist and it has always been one of my favorites. I have always put off reading the actual novel because I was worried that it would colour my enjoyment of the play. I also have always had difficulty reading classic novels due to the overly formal and flowery writing since I am a speed reader. That being said Oliver is actually quite readable in spite of the writing style. The biting social commentary is brilliantly done and Dickens had a true gift for telling a story. I however have to be honest my enjoyment of the novel was marred by the blatant anti-semitism in it, which obviously had been toned down in the play. Also was a little dismayed on how much bleaker and darker the novel is compared to the play -- but hey I am a lighter hopeful girl, so take that with a grain of salt. I actually would have liked to read it in its original serial format, which would have made some of the filler chapters a little more interesting.

Rating: 3.75 Dewey's

I read this as part of my BBC Top 100 Book Challenge and it came installed on my Kobo which is seriously cool

sodalita's review against another edition

3.5

dark hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

yyasmeeen's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

i will finish it one day 🙏🏼 it just was not the right time 🙏🏼

amoeller's review against another edition

5.0

I was thoroughly pleased with this. I fell in love with Oliver and his journey through life, and how he found a family, over and over again. The story was non-stop, always adding new elements that were always getting into Oliver’s way when he was just trying to have a happy life. Oliver is a young boy, born into hell, who sees more of it as he goes through the motion of life as an adolescent. He meets a wide range of characters as he matures. Those include a coffin-seller, a crime lord, an old gentleman, and a sweet woman with her “niece.” He finds love with some of these people, and distaste with the rest, accordingly, I might add. Through a serious of being carted back and forth, kidnapped, and a wide range of illnesses, Oliver finally finds his final home.

Dickens is a master of diction. He keeps the story going with highly descriptive scenes and events. His writing is enthralling, pulling you in from the very beginning and dragging you to the end, with heartbreaking loss and pain, but joy filled moments that make it all right.

Some of my favorite dialogue in this novel was very twenty-one-pilots-esque. (lyrics I had in mind were “We’re broken people,” and “My friends and I have problems.”) Those moments include:

“We are all weak creetures.”

And:

“We’re all afraid…. It’s natural and proper to be afraid, under such circumstances.”

Those were my favorite moments of argument, and truth. I loved it as a whole, and would read it again, if time relented. I will admit that I was reluctant to read it at times, but mainly because my main source of reading time is late at night (around midnight), when I’m ready to nod off. I didn’t want to read when I was so exhausted and at the brink of collapsing from fatigue. So, that is one thing that I recommend: don’t read it when you are overly tired. There is a lot to take in, and being half asleep will not help you understand it any better. My favorite line came in the end, and I was happy to have been wide awake at the point. Bask:

It is a world of disappointment, often to the hopes we most cherish, and hopes do our nature the greatest honour.

Love. Words are power and magic and truth. Dickens is a wielder of words, as many others are. Happy reading.

Thanks for acting like you’re paying attention.

All quotes pulled from the novel, and included bonus content.

Carpe diem.