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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Actual rating 4.5/5
I've always found Dickens at his best when he's being satirically critical about Society, meaning the fashionable but shallow London elite, and when he's got something to say about the world around him. He definitely has something to say here. His focus is on money and on what it does to people, for good and for bad. He doesn't spare the fashionable elite when he holds a mirror up to their hypocrisies and faults. He seems to delight in poking fun at them and stripping away their veneer, even cleverly calling one of his Society couples the Veneerings. He always was good at names was old Charlie.
A great failing of Dickens is his overuse of unbelievable and unrealistic (and sometimes nonsensical) coincidences. He does use that device a little here, but it's more plausible than in some of his books, and it actually works and makes sense for the plot. He's also toned down his pure heroines. Where Esther Summerson in Bleak House becomes grating in her purity and goodness, Lizzie Hexam never does. Lizzie, though good, never makes a show of it like Esther, and she became the character I rooted for most.
The spirited and mercenary Bella was an interesting character too, and I enjoyed, and was surprised by, the story that was built around her. Dickens shows in this novel that he's capable of surprising in a less melodramatic way than in a lot of his other work. I also enjoyed the kindly, warm-hearted Boffins, sharp Miss Jenny, and patient John.
I think here more than anywhere, Dickens shows his ability to create character and to detail motivation. I think that's clearest in his creation of the character of Bradley Headstone. I'm not sure he's created a more in depth character than the passionate but self-restraining schoolmaster.
It takes a little bit of time to get into this novel, but, once you do, the characters pull you in. Dickens has always been good at giving just desserts at the end, and this one is no different: the good end happily and the bad end unhappily, and it's all very satisfying.
I've always found Dickens at his best when he's being satirically critical about Society, meaning the fashionable but shallow London elite, and when he's got something to say about the world around him. He definitely has something to say here. His focus is on money and on what it does to people, for good and for bad. He doesn't spare the fashionable elite when he holds a mirror up to their hypocrisies and faults. He seems to delight in poking fun at them and stripping away their veneer, even cleverly calling one of his Society couples the Veneerings. He always was good at names was old Charlie.
A great failing of Dickens is his overuse of unbelievable and unrealistic (and sometimes nonsensical) coincidences. He does use that device a little here, but it's more plausible than in some of his books, and it actually works and makes sense for the plot. He's also toned down his pure heroines. Where Esther Summerson in Bleak House becomes grating in her purity and goodness, Lizzie Hexam never does. Lizzie, though good, never makes a show of it like Esther, and she became the character I rooted for most.
The spirited and mercenary Bella was an interesting character too, and I enjoyed, and was surprised by, the story that was built around her. Dickens shows in this novel that he's capable of surprising in a less melodramatic way than in a lot of his other work. I also enjoyed the kindly, warm-hearted Boffins, sharp Miss Jenny, and patient John.
I think here more than anywhere, Dickens shows his ability to create character and to detail motivation. I think that's clearest in his creation of the character of Bradley Headstone. I'm not sure he's created a more in depth character than the passionate but self-restraining schoolmaster.
It takes a little bit of time to get into this novel, but, once you do, the characters pull you in. Dickens has always been good at giving just desserts at the end, and this one is no different: the good end happily and the bad end unhappily, and it's all very satisfying.
I loved Eugene Wrayburn and Jenny Wren. I hated the twist at the end.
It's been a long time since I've read any of Dickens' works. I'm still a big fan of the Pickwick Papers, but Out Mutual Friend still provided the same endearing characters and loathsome villains I expect to see in his serious works. His last finished novel before his death, his topics are as relevant today as they were in the 1860's.
No more Dickens. I can't keep doing this to myself.
Dickens may be my favorite author of all times, and yet I read this book for the first time last year. I would have given it five stars on first reading. It's a mature work, with many subplots (including a murder mystery) and the combination of humor and grim realism that distinguishes Dickens. It offers the added depth that comes from exploring the effects of wealth and poverty in a far more nuanced way than he does in, say, Oliver Twist. I felt that in Our Mutual Friend, Dickens wrote like Dickens, Austen, and Thackeray combined. Watching the BBC adaptation did nothing to lessen my admiration.
On re-reading it, however, I can't help feeling that Bella Wilfer (who is really the center of the book, much more than the title character) has been poorly used. Yes, the novel gets all its dramatic force from her, as she discovers that she is not so mercenary as she has believed herself to be and truly is capable of love. But I have to regard the book as a masterpiece for its time, but not a story I would want to pass on to the children of the 21st century.
On re-reading it, however, I can't help feeling that Bella Wilfer (who is really the center of the book, much more than the title character) has been poorly used. Yes, the novel gets all its dramatic force from her, as she discovers that she is not so mercenary as she has believed herself to be and truly is capable of love. But
Spoiler
the man she eventually marries, John Rokesmith ne Harmon, deceives her in order to test her, and keeps on deceiving her well past the point where she has proved herself. His old retainers, the Boffins, who apparently cherish both John and Bella, side with him in the deception. And when she is finally enlightened as to whom she has really married and how he has been deceived, her reaction is basically, "Well, I deserved it, and it was all for my own good." This is true in context. It is also the kind of thing a battered wife would say, and it makes me intensely uncomfortable.
Not one of Dickens' best books. His final completed work, it simply does not have the verve for which most of his work is known. Some of the characters are as engaging as any he wrote previous to this book, but many are pale simulacrum of those previously invented, as if he cannot be bothered to come up with entirely new people to write about or things for them to do. Though there is something of a mystery around a murder, this book predates the popularity of the murder genre and Dickens seems to have had no idea that the suspense induced by this could have driven the book forward.
All of this is not to say that this was not a delightful read. Dickens is always fun and interesting, with twists of plot and turns of phrase that are as refreshing as they are original. But if one had to choose only one or two of his books to read, this would certainly not be on the list.
All of this is not to say that this was not a delightful read. Dickens is always fun and interesting, with twists of plot and turns of phrase that are as refreshing as they are original. But if one had to choose only one or two of his books to read, this would certainly not be on the list.
I tried but I can't take it anymore. Abandoning the ship at 23%. I'm not interested in any of the characters and his humor is not my cup of tea. The text is bloated with many repetitions and empty sentences. I had to begin to skim read. After some hours of not enjoying the book, I decided that life is too short to get in a bad mood because of a book. The end for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
