Okay, I'll say up front that the five stars is how I rate my experience of the book and not actually the book. By that I mean that the novel isn't very well wrought -- it meanders a lot, and there are some parts and some characters that feel wooden -- but it was such a breath of fresh air to read about characters who had integrity and virtue that I loved it in spite of its flaws. And Dickens is FUNNY, or at least he is in Little Dorrit. The last time I read Dickens was maybe five years ago, Great Expectations, and I don't remember him being so funny. Also, I love that while many of the characters in the books are caricatures (seems like almost everyone is a caricature save the two main characters, and even that's arguable) humanness and goodness leak through each characterization. I noticed that particularly because I've been thinking about True Grit and other Cohen bros. films, which are full of caricatures that leave me feeling the worse for the exposure, as if humanity is all a big, stupid joke. Dicken's characters feel the opposite, I think. After finishing the book, I wanted to be better. Also, the last few pages were wonderful. I felt genuine joy reading the conclusion of the story.