The Pickwick Papers (Penguin Classics)
by Charles Dickens
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Read in June, 2007
I've made a less than completely firm resolution to read all of Dickens' novels, including rereading the ones I read as a youngster, when I was too young to appreciate them fully.
Pickwick is Dickens' first novel, and the first few chapters do indeed come across as 'prentice work. This is understandable, especially given the circumstances under which this serialized novel was undertaken, which Dickens describes in a preface.
The novel has no plot to speak of; it consists of more or ...more
Pickwick is Dickens' first novel, and the first few chapters do indeed come across as 'prentice work. This is understandable, especially given the circumstances under which this serialized novel was undertaken, which Dickens describes in a preface.
The novel has no plot to speak of; it consists of more or ...more
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Dickens' first novel shows his comic gift and knack for character development. Really a string of connected episodes rather than a complex novel as he later created, this is still an enjoyable romp.
My generic comment about Charles Dickens:
First of all, although I am a partisan of Dickens' writing and have read and relished most his works, I concede to three flaws in his oeuvre that are not insignificant. First, while he seemed to develop an almost endless variety of male social types, hi...more
My generic comment about Charles Dickens:
First of all, although I am a partisan of Dickens' writing and have read and relished most his works, I concede to three flaws in his oeuvre that are not insignificant. First, while he seemed to develop an almost endless variety of male social types, hi...more
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Read in May, 2006
I felt proud to be reading this on planes and in the aiports - a kind of "look how smart I am!" statement that gave some pleasure. However, I found it terribly slow and rather meaningless. The writing was exquisite, but I found the plotline boring and the characters less than gripping. An example, especially since I'm wrinkling my nose over the much beloved Dickens? When Sam (the only character I truly adored) followed Pickwick to prison, I found myself truly annoyed with the elder...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
those who wish Dickens wrote perkier novels
I read this for Dickens U. It's a delightful, funny novel (the first by the author). It's very episodic and driven largely the drunken rambles of pseudo-scholar Mr. Pickwick and his companions. In a lot of ways, the text becomes darker (if you find the ending of Candide depressing, you'll find this ending less than happy), with a brief scene at the Fleet which hints at the direction Dickens will go later (there's a Christmas scene with a Scrooge like character, too). It's structured much more li...more
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Read in March, 2008
This was definitely an entertaining book. Samuel Pickwick, Alfred Jingle, and Sam Weller in particular are memorable characters that provided ample humorous situations. The book is written in episodes and many of them are priceless. However, there are several parts of the book that dragged a bit for me, particularly the political debates and the portion where Pickwick spends some time in the Fleet, the London debtors prison. Dickens also goes off on several tangents with stories that are unr...more
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Read in October, 2007
The beginning of what I hope to be a successful attempt at reading all of Charles Dickens' novels in order (with a break in late December for his Christmas stories).
A delightful piece that picks up in both energy and skill as it progresses (seriously, the first chapter seems off-putting, but give it a few more pages). It's interesting to watch Dickens grow as a novelist as he veers away from the set program of writing about drawings produced by an artist (who eventually committed suicide ab...more
A delightful piece that picks up in both energy and skill as it progresses (seriously, the first chapter seems off-putting, but give it a few more pages). It's interesting to watch Dickens grow as a novelist as he veers away from the set program of writing about drawings produced by an artist (who eventually committed suicide ab...more
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Beware: a 5 star and 2 star book in one!
This was my first Dickens - almost my last. Pickwick is a startlingly serio-funny charachter - as well as those around him. Dickens plays jest here with English society (and he had me nearly on the floor) - until, Pickwick finds a social conscience and brains. In one short book, Dickens went from Catch 22 to Bleak House.
I do suggest this for a read, though you might want to rip the paperback in half and toss out the rear end. Then there will be n...more
This was my first Dickens - almost my last. Pickwick is a startlingly serio-funny charachter - as well as those around him. Dickens plays jest here with English society (and he had me nearly on the floor) - until, Pickwick finds a social conscience and brains. In one short book, Dickens went from Catch 22 to Bleak House.
I do suggest this for a read, though you might want to rip the paperback in half and toss out the rear end. Then there will be n...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
A classic that I enjoyed start to finish. Great to be reminded of why Dickens is universally regarded as being one of the top twenty authors of all time (and that's being conservative). Yes it's his first novel, yes it was originally published in serial form, so it reads in nice complete thirty page blocks, many of which are comic set pieces. But when he sends you off on a detour to describe something, you know you can relax and go along for the ride--you are in the hands of a master, and you...more
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Read in January, 2008
This is the first book I'm reading for an independent study on Dickens. I don't intend to include all the books I'm covering for school, but I'll put the Dickens on there to encourage anyone who scans my meager shelves here at goodreads to check these novels out. Pickwick Papers is hilarious and for those familiar with Dickens's later, darker fair (David Copperfield, for instance), PP provides an opportunity to see CD writing in an 18th century vein (not unlike a Fielding novel) but with charact...more
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Read in September, 2007
How Dickens got his start as a serial writer, and one of the greatest writers of the 19th century! The Penguin Classic edition is really good (as all of the Penguins are) at pointing out what changes Dickens made to the series of humourous episodes to something more quixotic. The noble qualities shine brighter and brighter in Pickwick, going into Debtor's Prison to avoid paying off two scoundrel lawyers, and his final act of kindness to the much changed Alfred Jingle were examples enough of Pi...more
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Almost anything by Dickens is a must read but for people who are not native english speakers the language is sometimes a little hard to get into without perserverance, and then it is great. the underlying social message in many of the books is also sometimes difficult with at least some knwoledge of the social history of Victorian England.
Pickwick is possibly one if not the most easily read with it's unique cast of charachters ad there daily exploits. Give it a chance and you will become a D...more
Pickwick is possibly one if not the most easily read with it's unique cast of charachters ad there daily exploits. Give it a chance and you will become a D...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
People who like being recommended books
Sam Weller does not appear for the first few hundred pages which was one of the reasons I was reading it in the first place. Jolly good tho'.
Some months later...
It turns out that Samivell Weller is perhaps one of the most annoying characters in English literature. I found it tedious and ultimately a battle of wills. I eventually finished the book. Did I win or did I lose? I hope this hasn't put me off Dickens. Maybe I will return when I am fifty.
However, the bit set in Fleet Debtors ...more
Some months later...
It turns out that Samivell Weller is perhaps one of the most annoying characters in English literature. I found it tedious and ultimately a battle of wills. I eventually finished the book. Did I win or did I lose? I hope this hasn't put me off Dickens. Maybe I will return when I am fifty.
However, the bit set in Fleet Debtors ...more
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Read in January, 1998
recommends it for:
comedy lovers
The funniest book ever written! I was on the floor, I mean really ROFLMAO. I laughed till I cried, till my diaphragm went into painful spasms. I couldn't see and I couldn't speak. Exquisite writing as usual with Dickens. Sentence composition beyond my wildest dreams. I did not know comedy could be that pleasurable to read. I reccommend this book to the utmost high for a rolling good time. Excuse me while I go laugh myself into silliness just recalling the scene with Pickwick getting jost...more
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Read in June, 2008
I'll revise this when I finish, but the election scenes between the Buffs and the Blues fit right in with this election year. -- Cleaned up men to shake hands with and bathed babies to pat on the heads and maybe you might want to plant a kiss on one of them.-- Paraphrasing the advice given by one side's 'campaign manager.' Luckily, I can read this a couple of chapters at a time, the way Dickens sent it to be published in serial form.
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Read in March, 2008
Oh my gosh. It took me over a year to get through this book. I had a hard time. I like Charles Dickens but I was not feelin it in this book. It was hard to get really interesting. The individual happenings were entertaining but after one chapter you could forget about it for weeks and not feel the need to pick it up again.
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Read in September, 1993
recommends it for:
journalistic nobodies
Dickens has been quoted to say that David Copperfield was his most highly prized literary work. Then again, the man was by then also a celebrity and suspect to the machinations of public sensation. So, I say cock and ninny poo. The Pickwick Papers super abounds in emotional meaning, historical significance, and character depth, and was one of my favorite reads for descending me into near-sightedness.
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I picked this up, out of desperation for something to read in English, in a book shop in Granada, Spain. It was so tedious and self-conscious and completely unfunny that I abandoned it somewhere on my travels through Spain - either on a train or in a hotel room, don't remember which.
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Read in June, 1996
recommends it for:
Dickens rookies
This was my introduction into Dickens and it hooked me. His populism works really well here as he balances and interweaves several types of stories at once while trying to please a newspaper audience. Since the chapters are relatively short, it's a good beginning point for Dickensbecause you can take it in small doses at a time, just as it was intended for its original audience.
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recommended to Clare by:
Anne Blythe nee Shirley
Some Dickens novels depress me too much presently, but I have read that The Pickwick Papers is a interesting deviation from Dickensian themes of treachery, poverty, betrayal, death..y'know, all the good stuff. Anne from Anne of Green gables referred to it greedily and lovingly in Anne of the Island. (Ahhhh, Gilbert and Anne..ahem, I digress.)
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Read in January, 2008
One of my favorite quick and dirty methods of assessment of authors is to ask myself whether I think I'd like to sit down to have a meal or drink with them. For both Dickens and Pickwick, the answer is a resounding YES! Much out-loud laughter is a sign of a good book, I think.
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