A review by whippycleric
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

As I gradually work through Dickens this was my 4th novel, and one I had only heard of in passing when compared the the well known others. It surprises me how little known this one is given that in my opining, it's much better than Oliver Twist, and at least somewhat better than Great Expectations. The biggest downside to this book is the slow pace of the first half, somewhat lacking in plot and focusing heavily on character development. Given the breath, and depth, of the characters in this novel though it was kind of necessary to have this long build up to the riots. My other favourite Dickens novel is A Take if Two Cities, this being another historical revolution setting it's unsurprising I enjoyed it so much,the big difference being I'd never heard of the Gordon riots before making it all the more interesting. I still have a lot of Dickens to go but this will surely be one of the highlights