The Wicked Wit of Charles Dickens (The Wicked Wit of series)

by Shelley Klein

Admired by his contemporaries, and a hugely celebrated writer of his day, Charles Dickens is now remembered as one of the greatest English novelists and an influential spokesman for the conscience of Victorian England. His work has inspired, enthralled and entertained millions across the globe, and his social commentary remains as relevant in the modern day as ever. The Wicked Wit Of Charles Dickens explores and reveals aspects of the author's personal and professional life, whilst celebrating his flair for witty and satirical observations about society and human nature. Containing lengthy extracts from scenes of great amusement in his novels, as well as pithy remarks uttered by his unique characters, this is a wonderful collection which can be enjoyed by Dickens' legions of fans, as well as those readers who are new to his writing. Also available in the series are collections from Shakespeare, To Be or Not To Be, and Oscar Wilde, I Can Resist Everything Except Temptation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Own

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of backstory on Dickens and how it influenced his writing. Chapters preempted with inspiration, followed by relative quotes and excerpts.

[Mary Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much of Dickens' humor is best enjoyed in context. Many of the selections in this book would be lost on someone who isn't already familiar with the characters and stories, I'm afraid. Of course, Dickens had some wonderful gems, and some of them are included here. But many of the selections are too long or make little sense to a casual reader. Those looking for an introduction to Dickens through this book will be left scratching their heads and wondering what the heck he's talking about.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is beautiful in appearance and smart and funny on the pages. I learned things about the man and the author. I enjoyed the biographical information along with all the little snippets from his works. This book would be a wonderful gift for any lover of Dickens.

[Matt J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite of the “Wicked Wit” collection thus far. “Eh,” as a quote compilation.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Together with Shakespeare and Twain, Dickens must be the most oft-quoted writer in history. As of this writing, I've only read 3 of Charles Dickens's books: A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities, the last being my favorite, gave it 5 stars. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities had what I associate with the Dickens touch: big and small reveals, coincidences, and chapter cliffhangers--and no wonder, his stories were popularly serialized, he may well have been the progenitor of today's bestselling novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. This book highlights the biting, satirical wit that went into his stories, most palpable in his his stories involving children and old married couples. It also illuminates the ridiculous, onomatopoeiac names he assigned to his characters, such as Cornelia Blimber (Dombey and Son), Mr. Fezziwig (A Christmas Carol), Paul Sweedlepipe (Martin Chuzzlewit), Mr. Wopsle (Great Expectations), and Affery Flintwinch (Little Dorrit).

* As a child, I used to confuse Charles Dickens with Mark Twain. Both wrote what qualifies as classic children's stories turned into movies: A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist for Dickens, Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for Twain. Both were also very vocal in their stand on social and political issues (child labor for Dickens, the "Filipino insurrection" for Twain, to name a few).

[Krisette Spangler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy Dickens' humor, you will love this book. It's full of quotes from his works that will keep you chuckling the whole way through it. He makes the funniest observations about the foibles of mankind.

[Aml Kamal · Rating 5 out of 5]

للناس إللي عايزة تقرأ لتشارلز ديكينز بس متعرفش عنه حاجة و مدرستش عنه في الجامعة أو المدرسة الكتاب دا هينفعها جدا و هيبقى مفيد كبداية

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wicked Wit of Charles Dickens was written by Shelley Klein and Charles Dickens, I suppose, there wouldn't be a book without him. I'm not sure if these quotes are humorous for anyone, or mostly just for Dickens fans. So here are a few of them and you can decide just how amusing you think they are:

'Well', said my aunt, 'this is his boy - his son. He would be as like his father as it's possible to be, if he was not so like his mother, too.'
- David Copperfield

I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born, in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends.
- Great Expectations

'We go upon the practical mode of teaching, Nickleby, the regular education system.
C - l - e - a - n, clean, verb active, to make bright, to scour. W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, winder,
a casement. When the boy knows this out of book, he
goes and does it. It's just the same principle as the use of
the globes. Where's the second boy?'

'Please, sir, he's weeding the garden,' replied a small voice.

'To be sure,' said Squeers, by no means disconcerted. 'So he is.
B-o-t, bot, t-i-n, tin, bottin, n-e-y, ney, bottinney, noun
substantive, a knowledge of plants. When he has learned that
bottinney means a knowledge of plants, he goes and knows 'em.
That's our system, Nickleby: what do you think of it?'

'It's very useful one, at any rate,' answered Nicholas.

'I believe you,' rejoined Squeers, not remarking the emphasis of his
usher. 'Third boy, what's horse?'

'A beast, sir,' replied the boy.

'So it is,' said Squeers. 'Ain't it, Nickleby?'

'I believe there is no doubt of that, sir,' answered Nicholas.

'Of course there isn't,' said Squeers. 'A horse is a quadruped, and
quadruped's Latin for beast, as everybody that's gone through the
grammar knows, or else where's the use of having grammars at all?'

'Where, indeed!' said Nicholas abstractedly.

'As you're perfect in that,' resumed Squeers, turning to the boy,
'go and look after MY horse, and rub him down well, or I'll rub you
down.
-Nicolas Nickleby


Cows are my passion. What I have ever sighed for has been to retreat to a Swiss farm, and live entirely surrounded by cows - and china.
-Dombey and son

So, does a person who isn't a Dickens fan get the humor of these quotes? I don't know, but there are lots more in the book should you want to give it a try.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3-1/2 stars, rounded up.
Slightly torn over my review on this one. The book itself is visually quite beautiful. It begins with a biographical section on Dickens’ life, which was nicely done. Then it is divided into chapters by topic, with an opening paragraph by the compiler, and then quotes or sections of Dickens’ writing, including some from letters, mostly in the section on America.

I expected to totally love this book, because I’ve often thought, while reading anything by Dickens, that I should start a notebook for myself, of my favorite quotes from his writings as I come across them. I’ve never done it yet, but its why I thought this would be a really fun read.

I think this might have one of two results for people who haven’t read Dickens. it will either pull them in and make them want to read more, or it will scare them off. The quotes range from a single line to several pages. Some are ones that many people may have heard, such as “he would make a lovely corpse”, or “there are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts”, but I think some are definitely best if you know a little more of the context surrounding them.

I think anyone who put together a book of this type would have their own version of it, with the quotes that stand out for them the most, so while I applaud the effort here, I would have made different choices in many cases, and probably kept them a little shorter in some instances.

One other thing to mention is that there are quite a few illustrations included, many of them with George Cruikshank’s name scribbled at the bottom of them, but I couldn’t find any reference in the book’s liner notes to mention them or who did the others.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it lacking on some parts sadly, this book has been sat on my bookshelves for a couple of years now and it isn't going to be going back on sadly.
I had kind of expected more from this book other than a few quotes from different works of Dickens, some didn't even seem to match what little the author did write at the start of each chapter.

The only reason that I am giving it two stairs instead of the one is because I enjoyed the introduction the most and felt like I learnt something new about Charles Dickens.

[Cammie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. I bought in store and it doesn’t say these are quotes so I got it thinking each book had a story. IF ITS A BOOK OF QUOTES PUT THAT SOMEWHERE SO PEOPLE KNOW!!!
NONE of the quotes are actually GOOD!!! They make no sense out of context. It was a WASTE of money to buy this. These 3 people who made the book set are making money off RANDOMLY picked quotes of famous writers who are deceased. Lazy and disgusting..

[Randa Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This is a great introduction to Dickens' work and style of writing. It combines a little background biographical information with funny, short quotes and passages. And somehow it didn't spoil any of the books. Definitely try this one if you're scared to pick up one of his books.

I really want to read more Dickens now.

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biographical information on Charles Dickens was quite fascinating. That being said, the quotes that were selected to mark each of the categories were somewhat lackluster. I felt as though the curation could have been better in that regard. All in all, however, it was a rather enjoyable book. It just could have been better.

[Jem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way this one is set up; you get a little bit of Dickens’ history, followed by quotes and passages from his work. Fairly easy/quick read, but I enjoyed it.

[Lullaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Ah, you would make a lovely corpse”

“There are strings, in the human heart that had better not be vibrated”

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents picked this up for me in England as a Christmas present—the best kind! I was excited to have something to read that I KNEW I would love—and I had just finished Jude the Obscure and needed a bit of help recovering.

If you've never tackled a Dickens before, this book is the perfect intro. It gives you a brief glance at his life and how it influenced his works (when I say brief, I mean brief!) at the beginning of each chapter, then includes some of his cleverest excerpts from his books. My favorite chapter was the one titled, "He Had But One Eye: Dickens' Characters"—it never ceases to amaze me how Dickens can give you a complete picture of a character in a couple if well-phrased sentences. He's a master! This definitely made me want to go out and reread some of his stories.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Dickens had a profound private life which came to life in his writings. Once looking at becoming an actor and comic, he took his observations of life and put the twist on them. Thus making him a great writer.

This book is a small compilation of some of his comedic quotes. The reader sees his sarcasm and wit in short bursts. They cover a wid range of subjects from marriage, childhood, politics, wealth, love and society.

Most of the chapters start off with an explanation of how the topic derived from his personal life, which is helpful to those who aren't as knowledgable about his life as some fans.

[Jana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this looking for a certain type of quote which I didn't find. It was a useful way to review Charles Dickens' book for anyone who needs/wants to do that. But is sure was like reading one of his novels

[C Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun primer with a mix of blurbs and longer passages. Not a bad intro or, in my case, refresher for the Charles Dickens catalog. Definitely inspired me to re-read Our Mutual Friend and Martin Chuzzlewit, and to fill in my Dickens gaps (i.e. David Copperfield, Pickwick Papers, etc.).

[Helle · Rating 2 out of 5]

You’d think that a book of quotes is as good as the person who is quoted. In this case, maybe not. Context of quotes can be relevant, as well as how they are collected. In The Wicked Wit of Charles Dickens, the coherence is completely lost, and as such, not as much fun to read as expected.

[Praveen M N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is making me curious about his works! :)