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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Not my cup of tea at all. While I don't hate The Pickwick Papers due to it being at least well-written and not totally offensive to my personal standards. But the overwhelming impression that I got from it was boredom, with the occasional brief moment of interest when the short stories came around. Maybe one to pick up if your sense of humour is extremely gentle or if you're already a fan of Dickens. Otherwise I can't really recommend it.
basically a string of comedic sketches. Theyre pretty good in and off themselves, howvere, I don't really like episodic things. Since there isn't really an overarching story (100 pages in) I am not going to make myself finish it.
I do like Charles Dickens, but this one isn't for me.
In the pages that I did like, I did really appreciate the stories withi stories. Dickens is really good at those.
It's to be noted that his work was meant to be read over a large period of time. As it was published in episodes in the newspaper. I think I could get through it like that, but ultimately I don't really have any interest in doing so.
I do like Charles Dickens, but this one isn't for me.
In the pages that I did like, I did really appreciate the stories withi stories. Dickens is really good at those.
It's to be noted that his work was meant to be read over a large period of time. As it was published in episodes in the newspaper. I think I could get through it like that, but ultimately I don't really have any interest in doing so.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Loved this so much. I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end. What more can I say?
One of Dickens' first full out productions. The book has some memorable characters. Chief among them being Samuel Weller, who becomes Mr. Pickwick's valet and is the heart and soul of the tale. The character helped push Dickens' work (which was being serialized, and explains why his works are so lengthy...he was paid per installment) towards being a cultural phenomenon. His work became so popular, in Britain and abroad that you could say that he wound up being a 'rock star' before such a thing was ever dreamt of. The first British Invasion phenomenon if you will...
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
There were a lot of parts in this that I enjoyed and/or found hilarious, and obviously Dickens writing is beautiful. It did feel a bit long to me and towards the end I was ready for it to be over. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I read it over a longer period of time, (eg. reading only a chapter a day) since it was published as a series and doesn’t really have one overarching plot.
Entertaining and lighthearted tales without much connecting them until later in the novel. Memorable characters.
This book turns out to be the pinnacle of Victorian entertainment. There's a lot of steam, drinking, and travel, but not a lot of the simmering rage against social injustices that fuels Dickens' later works (although there is still some). I was halfway through when I googled the history and discovered that it was his very first work, at the age of 24. So the author wasn't the academic, beardless Charles Dickens we see in pictures, but rather a young lad called Charlie. I'd had the impression it was written by a younger person, so that made a lot of sense.
The novel is a very gentle comedy and Pickwick is involved in numerous escapades of hilarity and farce. And yet behind the humor, Dickens shows how these are just ordinary everyday events that happen to us all. At one stage Pickwick loses his hat in a gust of wind. Dickens describes vividly Pickwick's chase of it and describes all the pitfalls of a portly man doing so. He says to chase too hard will see the chaser accidentally step on the hat, and too slow is to lose it altogether. It has the feel of farce but we see this in our daily lives. Even though it's a fun story, the harsh realities of the Victorian era can't be denied. Back then, if you didn't find some way of looking out for yourself and planning for your future, you starved. People made such a big deal out of money because it was a big deal. There was no such thing as welfare payments or government support. Poorhouses and debtor's prisons were places of nightmares. It's easy enough for us to sit back and judge Jingle and Job as villains, but when you look at where they find themselves throughout the course of the story, you can see why they'd do the deeds they did. I'm sure it was the same need that drove lots of boys to become bushrangers in colonial Australia. It's easy to choose to be honest when you don't face a slow, agonizing death.
Overall I enjoyed the first of Dickens' novels but I have two issues with it. I found it a touch too long. Sure it was initially published as a serial but as a combined work the 900 pages by about the 700-page mark were too much. I struggled with the last 200 pages as it all began to feel a bit the same. I put it down for a week and then finished it off but I still think it too long. Maybe some of the stories that Pickwick listens to could be edited out for brevity sakes. The second thing that really did annoy me after a while was Dickens use of the word 'ejaculated'. The characters were almost every page 'ejaculating their words. Using that word continuously really got to me. It is a long novel but I think with Dickens command of the English language he could have inter-posed ejaculated more often with something else. I just couldn't escape what else that word connotes!
The novel is a very gentle comedy and Pickwick is involved in numerous escapades of hilarity and farce. And yet behind the humor, Dickens shows how these are just ordinary everyday events that happen to us all. At one stage Pickwick loses his hat in a gust of wind. Dickens describes vividly Pickwick's chase of it and describes all the pitfalls of a portly man doing so. He says to chase too hard will see the chaser accidentally step on the hat, and too slow is to lose it altogether. It has the feel of farce but we see this in our daily lives. Even though it's a fun story, the harsh realities of the Victorian era can't be denied. Back then, if you didn't find some way of looking out for yourself and planning for your future, you starved. People made such a big deal out of money because it was a big deal. There was no such thing as welfare payments or government support. Poorhouses and debtor's prisons were places of nightmares. It's easy enough for us to sit back and judge Jingle and Job as villains, but when you look at where they find themselves throughout the course of the story, you can see why they'd do the deeds they did. I'm sure it was the same need that drove lots of boys to become bushrangers in colonial Australia. It's easy to choose to be honest when you don't face a slow, agonizing death.
Overall I enjoyed the first of Dickens' novels but I have two issues with it. I found it a touch too long. Sure it was initially published as a serial but as a combined work the 900 pages by about the 700-page mark were too much. I struggled with the last 200 pages as it all began to feel a bit the same. I put it down for a week and then finished it off but I still think it too long. Maybe some of the stories that Pickwick listens to could be edited out for brevity sakes. The second thing that really did annoy me after a while was Dickens use of the word 'ejaculated'. The characters were almost every page 'ejaculating their words. Using that word continuously really got to me. It is a long novel but I think with Dickens command of the English language he could have inter-posed ejaculated more often with something else. I just couldn't escape what else that word connotes!