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ruthiella 's review for:
The Pickwick Papers
by Charles Dickens
Dickens first “novel” began as a commission to write short, satirical sketches about a private Gentlemen’s Club to accompany comic drawings for serial publication. However, Dickens soon convinced his publishers that this should be the other way ‘round and the drawings should accompany his sketches.
I don’t know if I would have noticed it on my own, but since I knew the history of the book prior to reading it, I did observe that the chapters got longer, the plot more convoluted and the character arcs more apparent as the book progressed. Most importantly, the titular Pickwick starts off as object of ridicule but ends up (along with his faithful servant Sam Weller) being the hero of the book. The notion of satirizing private clubs is eventually dropped and replaced with social critiques of Victorian society which will later be more fully expressed in later Dickens’ novels such as Bleak House and Little Dorrit.
All this makes for a slightly rambley and inconsistent read, but I did enjoy it.
I don’t know if I would have noticed it on my own, but since I knew the history of the book prior to reading it, I did observe that the chapters got longer, the plot more convoluted and the character arcs more apparent as the book progressed. Most importantly, the titular Pickwick starts off as object of ridicule but ends up (along with his faithful servant Sam Weller) being the hero of the book. The notion of satirizing private clubs is eventually dropped and replaced with social critiques of Victorian society which will later be more fully expressed in later Dickens’ novels such as Bleak House and Little Dorrit.
All this makes for a slightly rambley and inconsistent read, but I did enjoy it.