Oliver Twist

Great and very detailed plot. Dramatic, heavy, realistic. Black critic humor, spread in the plot and hilarious. Sometimes difficult to read. - Trama ben ordita e dettagliatissima. Drammatica, pesante, verista. Umorismo nero, critico, sparso e spassoso. A tratti faticoso da leggere.

It was an audiobook that I listened during housework. Well, this is the last book by Dickens that I listen/read. I imagine they were the telenovelas of his times as they were published in weekly chapters on newspapers. Really it bored me to death. The plot was so artless and boring in its unbelievable coincidences!! No doubt it is an entertaining reading to whom has a lot of spare time just for leisure reading.

'That is no excuse,' replied Mr. Brownlow. 'You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and indeed are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction.'

'If the law supposes that,' said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, 'the law is a ass--a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience--by experience.'

Ecco perchè a Dickens gli si perdona il lacrimoso, l'incredibile serie di coincidenze, il lieto fine obbligatorio e tutto il resto; per cammei come questo!!!

WOMEN POWER!!!

So I've not really enjoyed any Dickens before but the library was promoting a "cityread" event this month when they were trying to get people to read Oliver Twist and have lots of activities relating to the book. (We're having a talk by Jerry White on Law and Order in Oliver Twist on Tuesday and the borough archivist is doing a Dickens walk in Limehouse on Friday). So I thought I'd better read it. I managed to find a lovely 1877 edition on abe for about £5 as I thought if I was going to read Oliver Twist I needed to do it properly and not some modern paperback.

I'm very pleased to say that I really enjoyed this book!!!! It is by far my favourite Dickens and has made me think perhaps I shouldn't totally dismiss him yet. Despite having a child protagonist this was the first book of his that I read that didn't feel like a kids book. Perhaps it was because the poverty and the criminals were just that bit more nasty. There were still the typical foolish Dickens characters that annoy me. But Sikes was actually pretty scary and believable. Fagin was twisted and multi-dimensional. Nancy I actually loved, her drinking, her refusal to leave, her acceptance of her life, her coming back as a ghost. She had agency and did things that had a huge effect on the story and went against society and her fellows and paid for it. But still very much enjoyed her portrayal. I even found Oliver much more likeable than in the film version as he wasn't some blonde cherub but got in fights and stood up for himself. I found the middle class people less interesting. Though was glad to see that even there the women were taking an active role.

I loved all the social commentary and discussion of the poor law, workhouses, etc. This was what I always imagined Dickens should be like. The other books I think came across as just a bit too middle class but this was much more like Zola actually dealing with the lives of poor people. I even found myself enjoying his style much more in this. So now once more I've decided I should try and read more Dickens.