A review by anneofgreenplaces
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

4.0

As always, absolute character gold, especially the villains (Fagin is just mesmerizing in his machinations and perceptiveness and tension with Sikes and Munks) and the satirical characters like Mr Bumble and Noah Claypole. Interestingly I don't think Oliver Twist is really the central character, except as a plot device and symbol of (spunky) innocence unjustly treated by society and redeemed by good treatment; the crime gang are the central characters, especially Fagin and Nancy and to some extent Sikes. The benevolent characters are, as usual, somewhat two-dimensional and uninteresting, although not unpleasant to read the emotionally satisfying storyline of Oliver's rescue. Nancy is at an interesting boundary between the two, since she can be read rather sentimentally, this tragic fallen woman, but is so intelligent and fierce. The Munks plot/Oliver backstory got a bit cumbersome and monologuey by the end, but the Fagin-Sikes-Nancy subplot was riveting and shockingly dark/violent.