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Oliver Twist
Born in the workhouse, the orphaned Oliver Twist has known nothing but hunger and misery. He runs away to London to start a better life, but instead falls in with the wicked Fagin and his gang of thieves. Just when everything seems hopeless, events take an unexpected turn.
56 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1999
About the author
Brenda Ralph Lewis
96 books21 followersBrenda Ralph Lewis is a writer with over 200 books on history and numerous magazine articles and television documentaries to her name. Her fascination with Scottish history and culture began early in her career and she has since returned to the subject at every opportunity. She regards [her] book on tartans as a labor of love.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 10, 2019
Yes, Oliver still wants more, is still taken in by Fagin, still loses Nancy and is still adopted by Mr Brownlow. So Dickens would have been pleased at this retelling of his classic story as, even in its briefest form, it retains all the salient action.
Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress as it was also known, is Charles Dickens' second novel and it was first published in serial form between February 1837 and April 1839. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who loses his mother at his birth, is looked after by a woman for a time and then is taken to a workhouse by Mr Bumble. It is there that he shocks everyone by asking for more food, which results in him being locked up in a dismal cell for weeks.
He is then rescued from the workhouse by Mr Sowerby, an undertaker for whom he works as an apprentice. But eventually Mr Sowerby decides to send him back to the workhouse but Oliver could not face that so he runs away to London. There he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin to whom he is introduced and to whom he takes an instant dislike.
Oliver is coerced into assisting in stealing property and is caught, seemingly in the act of stealing a watch from a Mr Brownlow. He ends up in court but just as he is going to be declared guilty a bookseller rushes into the court room to declare that he saw that Oliver was not the guilty party. Mr Brownlow comes to the rescue and escorts Oliver from the courtroom.
Meanwhile Fagin and his gang are not happy that Oliver has disappeared after being in court and fear that he might talk about their activities. So Fagin employs Bill Sikes to find Oliver, which he does with the aid of Nancy. Sikes takes Oliver out of London and abandons him in a ditch from where he is discovered and eventually taken back to Mr Brownlow.
When Oliver recovers, Nancy agrees to help him and the authorities to find Fagin and his gang but Sikes gets wind of what she is up to and shoots her dead - but not before she has spilt the beans. The climax comes when Sikes falls off a roof as he flees and Fagin is arrested, tried and sent to the gallows.
Meanwhile Oliver lives happily with Mr Brownlow, who adopts him as his own. And there ends the tale that Charles Dickens would have delighted at being retold in this sympathetic and very readable way.
Sat bemoaning the fact that I had an extremely painful abscess in my mouth I spotted this version of Oliver Twist on an adjacent chair so, with no energy to move, I picked it up and read it for a second time.
It is the classic tale of the boy who asks for more and authors Brenda Ralph Lewis and Ronne Randall tell the story extremely well in the 32 pages. All the salient points are there so we relive the sympathy for Oliver, the nastiness of Fagin, the tragedy of Nancy, the death of Bill Sikes and the happy ending as Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver, who comes into the inheritance he was due. And all along the lovely illustrations of John Holder add charm to the book.
Whether the charm of the book came through more because I was feeling sorry for myself (I apologise for mentioning this again), I would have given it four stars on this second reading.
Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress as it was also known, is Charles Dickens' second novel and it was first published in serial form between February 1837 and April 1839. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who loses his mother at his birth, is looked after by a woman for a time and then is taken to a workhouse by Mr Bumble. It is there that he shocks everyone by asking for more food, which results in him being locked up in a dismal cell for weeks.
He is then rescued from the workhouse by Mr Sowerby, an undertaker for whom he works as an apprentice. But eventually Mr Sowerby decides to send him back to the workhouse but Oliver could not face that so he runs away to London. There he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin to whom he is introduced and to whom he takes an instant dislike.
Oliver is coerced into assisting in stealing property and is caught, seemingly in the act of stealing a watch from a Mr Brownlow. He ends up in court but just as he is going to be declared guilty a bookseller rushes into the court room to declare that he saw that Oliver was not the guilty party. Mr Brownlow comes to the rescue and escorts Oliver from the courtroom.
Meanwhile Fagin and his gang are not happy that Oliver has disappeared after being in court and fear that he might talk about their activities. So Fagin employs Bill Sikes to find Oliver, which he does with the aid of Nancy. Sikes takes Oliver out of London and abandons him in a ditch from where he is discovered and eventually taken back to Mr Brownlow.
When Oliver recovers, Nancy agrees to help him and the authorities to find Fagin and his gang but Sikes gets wind of what she is up to and shoots her dead - but not before she has spilt the beans. The climax comes when Sikes falls off a roof as he flees and Fagin is arrested, tried and sent to the gallows.
Meanwhile Oliver lives happily with Mr Brownlow, who adopts him as his own. And there ends the tale that Charles Dickens would have delighted at being retold in this sympathetic and very readable way.
Sat bemoaning the fact that I had an extremely painful abscess in my mouth I spotted this version of Oliver Twist on an adjacent chair so, with no energy to move, I picked it up and read it for a second time.
It is the classic tale of the boy who asks for more and authors Brenda Ralph Lewis and Ronne Randall tell the story extremely well in the 32 pages. All the salient points are there so we relive the sympathy for Oliver, the nastiness of Fagin, the tragedy of Nancy, the death of Bill Sikes and the happy ending as Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver, who comes into the inheritance he was due. And all along the lovely illustrations of John Holder add charm to the book.
Whether the charm of the book came through more because I was feeling sorry for myself (I apologise for mentioning this again), I would have given it four stars on this second reading.
June 5, 2022
Great story of course - being one of Charles Dickens' most famous characters (especially due to Lionel Bart's musical versions, on stage and film). If you're familiar with the film, you may notice the understandable artistic licence Lionel Bart took in simplifying the story. But I take that to be part of the fun of reading the original. Dickens was highly observant of Britain's class structure and the ease at which one could fall - something he knew from personal experience and put to great effect in this book. The fall from grace of Mr Bumble is tragic-comic (and quite cruel, proving the point).
The book is very much of its time, and although Dickens was acutely aware of poverty and class, he seemed to have a racial blind spot - still controversial to this day.
The book is very much of its time, and although Dickens was acutely aware of poverty and class, he seemed to have a racial blind spot - still controversial to this day.
May 12, 2010
ammmazing what a story line a classic and always will be
February 6, 2020
Retold in a shorter version, but still a good story
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews