A review by whippycleric
Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens

challenging funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A tricky one to rate as is always the case with collections of short stories or "sketches" in this case. I'd say I really enjoyed about a third of this book, found another third agreeable, and the other third quite a slog. It's a great book to study Dicken's writing style, and as a lesson in how to describe characters it's a masterclass. There're some absolute gems of sentences in this which really made me smile, at the same time there was chunks which took a lot of effort to get through. Looking at how I've rated other books and imparticular Dickens novel, I am going with a high 3. Not one I'd recommend outside of the most ardent Dickens fans or those wanting to learn how to bring characters to life without using plot. It's a very aged writing style but given the nuggets of gold dotted throughout I'm happy to have read it.