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A review by bergsteiger
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
4.0
Charles Dickens is like a Reuben sandwich. I don't like sauerkraut, rye bread, or swiss cheese and can do without corned beef or thousand island dressing, but a Reuben is one of my favorite things to have for lunch. Likewise, Dickens is garrulous, unsubtle, politicized, and dripping with sentimentality, yet I enjoyed reading this as much as I did Great Expectations.
Dickens is a master storyteller, laying out vivid settings and sprinkling them with very real characters. As I mentioned before he is undoubtedly wordy, causing one to easily get bogged down if they are not particularly fond of the style. And this is where I make my confession. I listened to this one on CD in my car. I felt that if I were to actually try and finish this one before the year ended it was the only way. I quite enjoyed it.
The story itself is about young orphaned Oliver Twist and his youth in London and the nearby countryside. He struggles through the indifference of the church-run system and the seamy underworld of London, eventually emerging with people, while not of the highest stations, definitely the highest moral character.
Ultimately this is a good versus evil story with Oliver himself as the fulcrum for the two sides. On the one there is the repulsive Fagin, brutal Sikes, and scheming Monks, against the astute Mr. Brownlow, and generous Rose Maylie.
If it weren't for the incessant harping on how horrible the formal establishments of the time were and how absolutely neatly tied together the story was at the end this would have been an easy 5 stars. As it were though, I would still heartily recommend this both as a classic and simply as a good story to read by the hearth.
Dickens is a master storyteller, laying out vivid settings and sprinkling them with very real characters. As I mentioned before he is undoubtedly wordy, causing one to easily get bogged down if they are not particularly fond of the style. And this is where I make my confession. I listened to this one on CD in my car. I felt that if I were to actually try and finish this one before the year ended it was the only way. I quite enjoyed it.
The story itself is about young orphaned Oliver Twist and his youth in London and the nearby countryside. He struggles through the indifference of the church-run system and the seamy underworld of London, eventually emerging with people, while not of the highest stations, definitely the highest moral character.
Ultimately this is a good versus evil story with Oliver himself as the fulcrum for the two sides. On the one there is the repulsive Fagin, brutal Sikes, and scheming Monks, against the astute Mr. Brownlow, and generous Rose Maylie.
If it weren't for the incessant harping on how horrible the formal establishments of the time were and how absolutely neatly tied together the story was at the end this would have been an easy 5 stars. As it were though, I would still heartily recommend this both as a classic and simply as a good story to read by the hearth.