Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
I enjoyed the book once I got into it and began understanding the characters and remembering who was who… I generally have a difficult time understanding Dickens works, I had to watch the movie to help myself begin to understand it, but I always enjoy the story.
It was an enjoyable story pointing out the dangers of miserliness, the silliness of both the upper and lower classes for looking down upon the other, and the great danger of unchecked passion and jealousy.
It was an enjoyable story pointing out the dangers of miserliness, the silliness of both the upper and lower classes for looking down upon the other, and the great danger of unchecked passion and jealousy.
The last of Dickens' I read, Bleak House, could have been John Grisham a century and a half earlier. Our Mutual Friend, about a largish group of people, could have been a group writing project byu Occupy Wall Street ... a century and a half earlier. Some of Dickens' usually smooth narration suffers a bit in the middle and some of the later sections - this was his last completed novel - but it makes its points steadily, piece by piece. Recommended toward the top of the Dickens list.
The last novel he actually completed. The pre-Drood novel.
In some ways a study in executing a clever trick: What happens when you hide something in open view? The plot/the puzzle gets resolved a little too miraculously at the end. Sort of feels as if Dickens looked at a calendar and said, "Ooops. My 18-19 month run is almost coming to an end, I better wrap up this up." He then rolls in the Boffins who explain every twist and turn behind the plot resolution that has occurred. That said, the book contains wonderful characters and great descriptions of London and waterfront life at the time. Additionally, the book is very much a critique of the Debtors/Poor House laws of England at the time...something reenforced with the Postscript by Dickens in the version I read. OK, OK, OK, I've convinced myself... I'm adding that fourth star though I wish I could add only half a star. Now to focus on the biography and then, after that, I think Bleak House!
In some ways a study in executing a clever trick: What happens when you hide something in open view? The plot/the puzzle gets resolved a little too miraculously at the end. Sort of feels as if Dickens looked at a calendar and said, "Ooops. My 18-19 month run is almost coming to an end, I better wrap up this up." He then rolls in the Boffins who explain every twist and turn behind the plot resolution that has occurred. That said, the book contains wonderful characters and great descriptions of London and waterfront life at the time. Additionally, the book is very much a critique of the Debtors/Poor House laws of England at the time...something reenforced with the Postscript by Dickens in the version I read. OK, OK, OK, I've convinced myself... I'm adding that fourth star though I wish I could add only half a star. Now to focus on the biography and then, after that, I think Bleak House!
One of Dickens' best. The vast interweaving of characters, each of whom seems to be both a stock type, but also as real as you or I, is a pleasure to watch unfold.
Also satisfying is that under Dickens' divine machinations, everybody gets their just deserts. So it's kind of like a Jackie Chan movie, but with deeper characters and less kicking.
Mil Nicholson's reading is excellent - I recommend her readings for any audiobook you can get your hands on - and they're free!
Also satisfying is that under Dickens' divine machinations, everybody gets their just deserts. So it's kind of like a Jackie Chan movie, but with deeper characters and less kicking.
Mil Nicholson's reading is excellent - I recommend her readings for any audiobook you can get your hands on - and they're free!
I read this book more than five years ago. But the opening, with the Gaffer paddling through the murky Thames, looking for corpses, the dust heaps of the Golden Dustman, Mr. Venus, the "articulator of bones," the cloaked pursuit at the end -- all of these stayed with me. One of Dickens's finest works, and one of his darkest and richest.
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:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While, in my opinion, Dickens’ best work is Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend is right along that line. It’s very story driven, as opposed to, say, Nicholas Nickleby or any other of his earlier work. Now, it still retains his character-heavy storytelling traits and his almost ridiculous plot twists. Frankly, the love story between John Harmon and Bella Wilfer and the “change” found in Noddy Boffin that helped to bring it about was a bit too much for me, but it’s often not the main story of Dickens’ novels that I remember with the most fondness. It was the story of Eugene Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam that truly captured me and will bring me back to this novel again. I loved the character of Wrayburn ( I loved Harmon as well, but he felt so under-used) and his friend Mortimer Lightwood. The scenes between the two were some of the best scenes of friendship in Dickensian literature since David Copperfield. However, the character who I felt the most interest in was the “second” villain: Bradley Headstone. In my opinion, he’s one of the most interesting villains of all of Dickens’ novels. He reminded me of Carker from Dombey and Son to a small extent, but he had a depth that I’m not used to seeing in Dickens’ works. His motives ring true of an actual human being, as opposed to many of Dickens’ villains, which seems only to be caricatures of evil men, ignoring all that could’ve made them good or all that does make them good. Actually, that’s not a truly fair statement, because as soon as I typed it, my head was flooded with many villains from Dickensia (I don’t think that’s a word people really use, but there you have it) that are more human sometimes than the heroes, but regardless off that, the story of Wrayburn, Hexam, and Headstone was by far the most interesting part of the book.
To finish, the book is his last full work, and is the culmination of everything in him, both his flaws and his strengths. I don’t think it’s his best work, but even his best work is not my preferred work. Like I said, I think Dickens’ best novel is Bleak House, but I’ll take all the flaws of David Copperfield any day. And I think Our Mutual Friend is a wonderful amalgamation of the two.
To finish, the book is his last full work, and is the culmination of everything in him, both his flaws and his strengths. I don’t think it’s his best work, but even his best work is not my preferred work. Like I said, I think Dickens’ best novel is Bleak House, but I’ll take all the flaws of David Copperfield any day. And I think Our Mutual Friend is a wonderful amalgamation of the two.
4.5 stars, Dickens is the BEST! This was not my favorite Dickens read (that honor belongs to Bleak House or David Copperfield), but this is certainly top 5.
Dickens has a truly stellar ability to map out his characters and interweave them in amazingly complex ways, as a reader you always know that if a character speaks, they'll factor into the narrative somehow. Our Mutual Friend was a little more full of villains than usual, but Dickens doled out the poetic justice just as I knew he would-comedy and all.
There were even moments when the tension of the character development was getting to me and I felt as though I HAD to look up what happened, or I would scream! As much as I enjoyed the read, getting through 800 pages can be a bit daunting when you're looking to find out what happened to a beloved (or loathed) character.
I found the ending to be slightly reminiscent of Oliver Twist or Great Expectations, but not entirely in a good way. Characters were (conveniently) doing more in the background to effect characters and the ending that I found to be little cheap on Dickens' part. I understand why he did it, but I feel as though he could have done better.
I DEFINITELY recommend this book to everybody who enjoys reading, Dickens is OG and this is on par with some of his best! Yes it's long, but it takes time to develop characters and allow Dickens to weave his masterful web-it's worth the time, I promise!
Dickens has a truly stellar ability to map out his characters and interweave them in amazingly complex ways, as a reader you always know that if a character speaks, they'll factor into the narrative somehow. Our Mutual Friend was a little more full of villains than usual, but Dickens doled out the poetic justice just as I knew he would-comedy and all.
There were even moments when the tension of the character development was getting to me and I felt as though I HAD to look up what happened, or I would scream! As much as I enjoyed the read, getting through 800 pages can be a bit daunting when you're looking to find out what happened to a beloved (or loathed) character.
I found the ending to be slightly reminiscent of Oliver Twist or Great Expectations, but not entirely in a good way. Characters were (conveniently) doing more in the background to effect characters and the ending that I found to be little cheap on Dickens' part. I understand why he did it, but I feel as though he could have done better.
I DEFINITELY recommend this book to everybody who enjoys reading, Dickens is OG and this is on par with some of his best! Yes it's long, but it takes time to develop characters and allow Dickens to weave his masterful web-it's worth the time, I promise!
Our Mutual Friend is frequently compared to Bleak House and Little Dorritt, which I think is funny because those are my favorite and least favorite Dickens' books (out of the ones I have read - still missing a couple).
It does have the mystery aspect and more nuanced female characters like Bleak House and drags significantly in the middle like Little Dorritt does. I really liked the beginning and the ending but man this was boring in the middle.
Although I liked the female characters here better than in many of Dickens' novels, I was frustrated at the way Bella was treated and manipulated by people who care about her to "fix" her. I would have been furious at the end if I was her, but instead she has converted to Dickens' ideal female - submissive, well mannered and angelic. But at the same time, I appreciated Bella's earlier fight with the Boffins, which Dickens also seemed to have admired. It is not an easy book to review or to sort my thoughts out about, which is also true of Dickens himself who on one hand I love so much I cried at his grave in Westminster but at the same time realize that he seems like he was a bit of an ass.
I will say reading this made me appreciate why the writers on Lost had Desmond carry it around. The book centers a lot on the line between life and death. I think in my rankings of Dickens' books it goes above Little Dorritt (which I didn't like) and above The Old Curiosity Shop (which was mostly forgettable) as well. I think all three of these suffer from not having a great cast of secondary characters the way most of Dickens' books do. Except for Jenny the secondary characters in this all ran together. There were no Mr. Skimpoles or Mrs. Jellybys or Uriah Heeps here.
It does have the mystery aspect and more nuanced female characters like Bleak House and drags significantly in the middle like Little Dorritt does. I really liked the beginning and the ending but man this was boring in the middle.
Although I liked the female characters here better than in many of Dickens' novels, I was frustrated at the way Bella was treated and manipulated by people who care about her to "fix" her. I would have been furious at the end if I was her, but instead she has converted to Dickens' ideal female - submissive, well mannered and angelic. But at the same time, I appreciated Bella's earlier fight with the Boffins, which Dickens also seemed to have admired. It is not an easy book to review or to sort my thoughts out about, which is also true of Dickens himself who on one hand I love so much I cried at his grave in Westminster but at the same time realize that he seems like he was a bit of an ass.
I will say reading this made me appreciate why the writers on Lost had Desmond carry it around. The book centers a lot on the line between life and death. I think in my rankings of Dickens' books it goes above Little Dorritt (which I didn't like) and above The Old Curiosity Shop (which was mostly forgettable) as well. I think all three of these suffer from not having a great cast of secondary characters the way most of Dickens' books do. Except for Jenny the secondary characters in this all ran together. There were no Mr. Skimpoles or Mrs. Jellybys or Uriah Heeps here.