Oliver Twist (Dover Thrift Editions) by Charles Dickens Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Oliver Twist (Dover Thrift Editions)
Book Review: Pleasantly Surprised
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always been intimidated by Dickens, having heard so much about his legendary wordiness and trenchant prose. This was my first attempt to seriously read Dickens, and I was pleasantly surprised at just how readable this book is. I did notice Dickens's wordiness for approximately the first two pages, but after that I was drawn into the story. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Dickens writes with a witty sarcasm- so much for the humorless Victorians. The story of a desperately poor orphan, Oliver Twist offers a deep and complex plot, and plenty of emotional engagement. It's hard not to feel sympathy for suffering young Oliver who, by his own admission, "hasn't a friend in the world." This novel is a book about morality, and is clearly a work of social criticism. Dickens reserves his criticism not for the wealthy, who might seem the obvious target, but for social strivers. Those attempting to raise their social standing, such as the sycophantic Bumble, and the criminal miser Fagin receive the sharpest pricks of Dickens's pen. The truly wealthy are the kindest characters in the book; they are the ones who rescue Oliver and show him true kindness. Dickens kept my attention throughout this novel, I will definitely be exploring more of his canon.
Book Review: Pretty enjoyable
Summary: 5 Stars
Oliver Twist is one of those classic Cinderella stories, in which the protagonist rises from their dark and dreary life to go through a life-changing adventure. The characters are by far the most beautiful part about this novel. Each one of them represents a different attitude and different style of living, and they seem so realistic in what they say and do that it's almost as if you know them in real life. It's also very interesting to find out how life used to work back then, in Dickens's time. However, like any other book, there are some ups and downs, but most of the story is high in the clouds, so don't let that stop you from reading it. I guarantee you that after you read this book, you will feel a slight bit of satisfaction of reading one of the most popular books in history.Book Review: Rameca's Oliver Twist Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Oliver Twist was written for all audiences at every age. This book would appeal to all who like to read stories with a little adventure, mystery, and a good versus evil scenario. This book is considered a classic because it can be read then and now and greatly enjoyed by all young and old. I personally would recommend this book to everyone who is anyone. Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan boy with a life of poverty in the 1830s. Oliver is an orphan boy whose mother died at his birth and was sent to live in an orphanage for the first nine years of his life. Then, sent to a workhouse to stay. He was later put out because he was convinced to ask for more gruel at dinner and sent out work for a chimney sweep then a undertaker. After differences he ran away to London. Oliver met this boy named Jack and stayed with him and his benefactor, Fagin. Oliver was trained to pickpocket and failed at the job. He went to stay with this man named Mr. Brownlow to get his life straight and on track. Then begins the cat and mouse chase between Oliver and Fagin for Oliver himself. In the you have to read it and find out what happens to Oliver and the rest of the characters. This story displays the evils of the Poorhouse `s of the time and the corruption of the people who work there. It also shows London's crime with an emphasis on petty robbery and pick pocketing. Oliver Twist is a story about the battles of good versus evil.Book Review: Riveting but Problematic
Summary: 3 Stars
We all know Oliver Twist somehow, either from pop allusions or musicals or BBC productions, but actually reading Oliver Twist and experiencing the story firsthand definitely gave me a special appreciation for Dickens' sentence structure, imagery, and portrayals of Victorian London, plus I get to claim obnoxious bragging rights (and I'll start off being a little haughty right now: Oliver never actually says "please, sir, may I have some more?" he says "please sir, I want some more." Now you, too, can make people look stupid when they misquote the novel! We all win here.)
So anyway, I enjoyed Oliver Twist immensely and I had difficulty setting it aside to go to bed at night. The suspense and action and twists of fate in every chapter kept me completely enmeshed in the novel. Like, seriously addicted in the evenings. German television's paltry offerings drove me to Dickens, but now I understand how literate people before the mid twentieth century stayed entertained. The text was originally published as serials in a monthly paper so Dickens relied on soap opera suspense techniques to keep readers interested. And his writing has this certain inexplicable, charming quality.
That said, both Dickens and Oliver Twist are a little problematic for me. Modernity and the passing years have rendered Dickens a trifle trite and he has become kind of like the Thomas Kincade of literature. He's just oozing sentimentality. And he's safe. Sure, there'll be whores and murders, and drinki'n and thievi'n, but in the end everything is always alright. The good guy always comes out ahead. And your protagonist remains a saint. A sweet, tender-hearted saint who somehow never sours on life. You're not exactly taking any chances with Dickens.
For modern readers, sometimes Dickens feels hopelessly outdated. Fagin's absolutely black and white portrayal as an evil Jew street gang leader is appallingly anti-semitic. But, as usual in my head, nothing is ever clear and I'm stuck between admiring Dickens' handiwork in creating such a chilling villain in appearance, deed, and speech and loathing the way he characterizes Fagin as first and foremost a Jew. In fact, most of the time he's simply called the Jew by our narrator and various characters. Can we still like the crafting of a character who is this outdated and wrong? Can we overlook the anti-Semitism? I tend to with, for example, Merchant of Venice, because Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock is a least a bit more nuanced and sympathetic, but there's nothing redeeming about Fagin. No easy answers on this one, though I don't think we can overlook the positive political impact Dickens' body of work had on the Victorian social code and the political movements and laws they inspired. Dickens is, after all, the guy who practically began the whole notion of Victorian charity and inspired child labor laws.
Two of the important characters of this work, providing some comic relief and relatively sophisticated satire are The Beadle, Mr. Bumble, leader of the orphanage and workhouse, and his eventual wife, a manager of the workhouse for the poor. These two, through their dysfunctional marriage and misguided ideals of public service, satirize the banally evil and officious bourgeois who are only concerned with status, title, and their own material comforts. Nancy, one of the female members of Fagin's gang of thieves, is also subtle and well-written and she may actually be one of the only truly round characters in the work.
Book Review: The master of irony at his best
Summary: 4 Stars
Oliver Twist is perhaps the most culturally prevalent of Mr. Dickens' novels. Everyone has heard the famous line: "Please sir, can I have some more?" What a lot of people don't realize is that Oliver Twist was actually Dickens' attempt at a social critique of the prevailing prejudices against the poor and downtrodden in Victorian England, and the appalling work and living conditions that they were subjected to as a result of the Poor Law of 1834. In this capacity Dickens was very successful; his novel helped draw attention to the problem and precipitated a wave of compassion toward the poor. However, his success in improving the image of one marginalized group was perhaps marred by the slandering of a second marginalized population: the Jews. Dickens' anti-semitism is very apparent in the character of the Jew Fagin who is repeatedly likened to a demon, and who is characterized by a jumble of derogatory Jewish stereotypes. By contrast, Oliver is hardly characterized at all except to be described as a kind of nebulous blob of pure goodness who is tried by hardship at every turn-- thereby winning our sympathy.
Like many of Dickens' novels, Twist's plot hangs on the convergence of coincidence. Though the seeming acts of fate that drive the story are clearly contrived, it is done in such a self-aware manner that the reader can't help but overlook the ridiculousness of the plot twists. My favorite part of Dickens' story-telling in this novel is the bitingly sarcastic manner in which it is written. The narrative is dry and exceptionally witty, and I frequently found myself laughing out loud at the masterful use of irony that turns what could be rather dark and depressing parts of the novel into dark comedy. The manner of narration makes up for the rather stereotypical good vs evil, villains-get-their-just-deserts plot formulation. I really enjoyed reading Oliver Twist, and I would definitely recommend it for a first time Dickens reader, with the one qualification that it does reflect the prevailing prejudices and racism of the time, and should thus be taken with a large grain of salt.