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ladydewinter 's review for:
Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens
“Our Mutual Friend” is one of the Dickens books mentioned several times in KJ Charles’s books (that fact is part of the reason I decided to read all of Dickens‘s books in the first place), and all I knew about it was that it featured a presever. It’s Dickens’s last finished novel, so it’s an interesting contrast to “The Pickwick Papers”. (It wasn’t a conscious choice to read them in this order, but a fortunate one now that I realize it.) It’s interesting to see how much his storytelling capabilities have developed, how he uses foreshadowing and how he lays the groundwork for later plot developments. I actually like both his energetic, more slap-dash approach and this book’s more sophisticated plot.
In terms of just the story, this may be the best Dickens book I‘ve read so far. As in, if you asked me for the Dickens book with the most involving plot, this is the one I‘d recommend. Other books are funnier or have better characters, or more abstract literary merits, but this one wins “best plot“ (so far).
Also, as an aside, I just love that I am not the only person shipping Eugene and Mortimer. There are many reasons to hate the internet, but fanfiction isn’t one of them.
Another thing I love: The postscript where Dickens writes, “[...] to hint to an audience that an artist (of whatever denomination) may perhaps be trusted to know what he is about in his vocation, of they will perhaps concede him a little patience [...]”. He sounds like a GoT writer ahead of his times.
In terms of just the story, this may be the best Dickens book I‘ve read so far. As in, if you asked me for the Dickens book with the most involving plot, this is the one I‘d recommend. Other books are funnier or have better characters, or more abstract literary merits, but this one wins “best plot“ (so far).
Also, as an aside, I just love that I am not the only person shipping Eugene and Mortimer. There are many reasons to hate the internet, but fanfiction isn’t one of them.
Another thing I love: The postscript where Dickens writes, “[...] to hint to an audience that an artist (of whatever denomination) may perhaps be trusted to know what he is about in his vocation, of they will perhaps concede him a little patience [...]”. He sounds like a GoT writer ahead of his times.