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mmullerm 's review for:
Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens
I just finished Our Mutual Friend.
Dickens had a lot going on in this novel - it almost felt like too much in parts.
With this being his last completed book, Dickens threw in about every big theme he had done in previous books - the plight of the poor, class differences and how money can change people, sibling and family relationships, London and English society, etc. In addition, he had a major theme in Our Mutual Friend of water/rebirth contrasted with water/drowning/death. Lots of water imagery throughout with the River Thames and various bodies of water. There was also a lot of fireside conversations and action in the story - it was kind of a back and forth between fire and water.
Setting was well done and the vast cast of characters was memorable, but kind of overwhelming for me. The plot was unnecessarily complicated especially at the end with the final twists and turns about the will. I feel there were some plot threads that didn’t fully realize their potential or were extraneous to the overarching story.
Our Mutual Friend is a great story with some wonderful lines and passages like only Dickens could deliver. Definitely not to be missed by fans of Dickens - maybe not the best place to start though.
3 stars.
Dickens had a lot going on in this novel - it almost felt like too much in parts.
With this being his last completed book, Dickens threw in about every big theme he had done in previous books - the plight of the poor, class differences and how money can change people, sibling and family relationships, London and English society, etc. In addition, he had a major theme in Our Mutual Friend of water/rebirth contrasted with water/drowning/death. Lots of water imagery throughout with the River Thames and various bodies of water. There was also a lot of fireside conversations and action in the story - it was kind of a back and forth between fire and water.
Setting was well done and the vast cast of characters was memorable, but kind of overwhelming for me. The plot was unnecessarily complicated especially at the end with the final twists and turns about the will. I feel there were some plot threads that didn’t fully realize their potential or were extraneous to the overarching story.
Our Mutual Friend is a great story with some wonderful lines and passages like only Dickens could deliver. Definitely not to be missed by fans of Dickens - maybe not the best place to start though.
3 stars.