A review by seclement
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

4.0

This book is, like some others have written, quite an insight into how Dickens learned how to write. It is so very long because it was first published in instalments, and I don't really think it's best read front to back. I recommend the audio version (not for those who don't believe audio books can be reading....if that's you, then you know who you are), as the narration is absolutely brilliant. It also comes with the benefit of allowing you to potter around the house while you are reading (making it the perfect lockdown book for 2020), and you can get a deal with Kindle + audiobook if you have a Kindle and want to break it up between things, since it's so long. It's a fun book, it really made me laugh out loud quite a lot, so I have found it a perfect book for our unsettling times. The characters really are caricatures of English characters that did - and in some places still do - exist, which is what makes them so hilarious. For a book written in 85 years ago, it really does hold up well. The first few hundred and last few hundred pages are the best, I feel, as in the beginning the absurdity draws you in, in the middle you get a bit tired of the repetitiveness of the antics, and by the end you see that Dickens has really found his feet as a writer.