This was a Father's Day present from my lovely daughter, Emily. Oliver Twist has taken its place near the very top of my all time favorite books. It is a relatively fast-paced adventure story containing all the elements of great fiction. Unlike other Dicken's novels, this book is more adventurous and requires less mental digestion, although it is still chock-full of indictments of society in general and the bureaucracy that deals with poor folk specifically.

Born an orphan, into the dregs of society, Oliver doesn't seem to stand a chance in his impoverished state. At every stage of his life, society, and the incompetent and uncaring people put in charge of him seem overwhelming. He eventually escapes his drudgery and finds his way to London, but falls into the hands of the sinister arch villain, Fagin. Events unfold that force him into a life of thuggery that goes completely against his nature. Oliver is the pure-hearted protagonist and Fagin is the devil incarnate.

The underlying current of the story is a criticism of England's ability to take care of the poor and down-trodden. The people who are placed in charge of tending to the unfortunate class actually do more to keep them down, practicing the latest social instruments upon them. At times, the criticism comes out in a burst from the author directly to the reader, but in most cases Dickens embeds the ideas thoroughly into the story, so it does not come across as pretentious. I recommend Oliver Twist to readers of all ages. It is a literary classic, one I wish I would have read before and one I will definitely read again. Thanks Em.