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A review by siannaz
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
4.0
“please, sir, i want some more.”
yes. it is true. after only six months, i have finally finished this.
the story of oliver twist holds a special place in my heart, primarily because it was the play my school had us perform in fourth grade (which they then put on youtube, so the internet now is home to a crappy recording of nine year old me as bill sikes with a thick british accent and a suit three sizes too big. which is great.)
and this was the first time i've read anything by dickens (discounting a brief pickup and immediate put down of a tale of two cities when i was nine) so naturally, i chose this book.
and it was...okay.
i'll be honest—at the start, i was very much disappointed with it because the plot was nowhere near as fast-paced and engaging as i'd remembered it to be (though i had only read the shortened kiddie edition) and as the book went on i just kept losing interest until i put it down on my nightstand one day and didn't pick it up again for about three months. and so, it sat there, a permanent reminder of my inability to read anything written before 1900 (excluding, of course pride and prejudice) and filled me with a vague sense of bitterness as i passed it.
and then, a couple of days ago i was bored out of my mind, and i figured i may as well finish it, so i continued. and as i passed the halfway mark, something clicked. i don't know what exactly happened, but suddenly the characters came to life, and the story became interesting, and i was actually invested in what was going on. and i finished it in two days (which is proof that when i want to do something i can do it very well).
i love the exaggeration of the characters, specifically the antagonists (fagin was a comical portrayal of greed and cowardice, bill sikes was pure wrath, monks was envy etc.) and it added a great deal of absurdism to the story, and helped me appreciate dickens' writing style.
also, weird but as i was reading i also was thinking about how the victorians who read this as it was first published only got a couple of chapters every month. the way i would have died of anticipation...(it must have been the og cable tv with a new episode every few weeks. i guess then the book edition is like the bingeable version on netflix)
this review is kind of rambling and everywhere which i guess is a good thing. so: 2 stars, +1 for getting me interested halfway through and +1 for nostalgia)
>> 4 stars
ps: if you want to watch a movie version, i love the 1968 oliver! (by far the best musical adaptation—better even than my fourth grade play)
yes. it is true. after only six months, i have finally finished this.
the story of oliver twist holds a special place in my heart, primarily because it was the play my school had us perform in fourth grade (which they then put on youtube, so the internet now is home to a crappy recording of nine year old me as bill sikes with a thick british accent and a suit three sizes too big. which is great.)
and this was the first time i've read anything by dickens (discounting a brief pickup and immediate put down of a tale of two cities when i was nine) so naturally, i chose this book.
and it was...okay.
i'll be honest—at the start, i was very much disappointed with it because the plot was nowhere near as fast-paced and engaging as i'd remembered it to be (though i had only read the shortened kiddie edition) and as the book went on i just kept losing interest until i put it down on my nightstand one day and didn't pick it up again for about three months. and so, it sat there, a permanent reminder of my inability to read anything written before 1900 (excluding, of course pride and prejudice) and filled me with a vague sense of bitterness as i passed it.
and then, a couple of days ago i was bored out of my mind, and i figured i may as well finish it, so i continued. and as i passed the halfway mark, something clicked. i don't know what exactly happened, but suddenly the characters came to life, and the story became interesting, and i was actually invested in what was going on. and i finished it in two days (which is proof that when i want to do something i can do it very well).
i love the exaggeration of the characters, specifically the antagonists (fagin was a comical portrayal of greed and cowardice, bill sikes was pure wrath, monks was envy etc.) and it added a great deal of absurdism to the story, and helped me appreciate dickens' writing style.
also, weird but as i was reading i also was thinking about how the victorians who read this as it was first published only got a couple of chapters every month. the way i would have died of anticipation...(it must have been the og cable tv with a new episode every few weeks. i guess then the book edition is like the bingeable version on netflix)
this review is kind of rambling and everywhere which i guess is a good thing. so: 2 stars, +1 for getting me interested halfway through and +1 for nostalgia)
>> 4 stars
ps: if you want to watch a movie version, i love the 1968 oliver! (by far the best musical adaptation—better even than my fourth grade play)