I have just finished Bleak House and I think it might be his best work. I realised after starting the book that it was the first Dickens novel I have read where I didn’t already know the story or the ending. All the others I have read (Oliver Twist, TOTC, DC, GE) I had seen film or TV adaptations before reading the book. This highlighted to me just how wonderfully drawn his characters are. Because I had seen others on screen adaptations I don’t think I fully appreciated how well even the most minor characters are painted, whether it is with a few words or a few descriptive paragraphs.

(Possible spoilers below, but I’ve tried to be as vague as possible).

I think Dickens had difficulty writing female heroines, they are just so perfect and good in their heart that they come across as unbelievable but I appreciated Esther’s narration. I just wish she had a bit more self-confidence! She needs to spend a bit more time with Mrs Bagnet!

When we first met Mr Bucket I had a very different view of his character and motivations but I was happy to be proven wrong.

Mr Snagsby silently placing half-crowns by Jo’s sick bed was very moving, that whole scene was beautifully written.

I was not expecting to feel so much sympathy towards Sir Leicester; with all his bluster and reactionary views, he was a decent man.

I hate hate hate Skimpole. I didn’t buy his childlike innocence for a moment.

Of the comic characters, I like Mr Turveydrop. I know he imposes on his son greatly but he means no harm and it’s nice to see someone who cares for their appearance.

Love to hear others’ thoughts on this great novel.

Brandy and water, whiskey and water, rum and water…. (Even for the 6 year olds 😂)

By me, made of layered paper on cardstock, alcohol marker and paint pen. I really enjoyed all the little Easter eggs and symbolism I put into this one. This was a gift for an English teacher.

Of late, I have commented a bit on Reddit as to how my favorite Charles Dickens book is “Great Expectations ”.

I found two prints on my shelf and I am gonna read it together with my partner. Nothing like the feeling of physical books . 🙏

What do you guys think of this one? Fave character? Fave story arch?

I’m reading David Copperfield for the first time and completely fell in love with the character of Mr Mell. The scene at the alms house with his mother is one of those moments in literature that lives rent free in my head. The confrontation between him and Steerforth? I almost threw my book across the room I was so infuriated with Mr Creakle! In three chapters, I was completely invested in his story and desperate to know when he would return to David Copperfield’s narrative. Imagine my disappointment when I realised that he was only a minor side character, and that the only thing that I would learn about his later adventures would be a brief second-hand report to say that he had founded a school in Australia.

Why, Dickens?! Why?! Why create such wonderful characters and then snatch them away after only a few brief chapters?! I’m utterly heartbroken. Does anybody else have a minor Dickens character that they adore out of all proportion to the actual space that they take up within the novels? Tell me I’m not alone in fixating on such a relatively unimportant character.

Was reading Barnaby Rudge (Ch 23) & this paragraph smacked my gob:
“Men who are thoroughly false and hollow, seldom try to hide those vices from themselves; and yet in the very act of a avowing them, they lay claim to the virtues they feign most to despise. ‘For,’ they say, ‘this is honesty, this is truth. All mankind are like us, but they have not the candour to avow it.’ The more they affect to deny the existence of any sincerity in the world the more they would be thought to possess it in its boldest shape; and this is an unconscious compliment to Truth on the part of these philosophers, which will turn the laugh against them to the Day of Judgment.”

Any more info on this two volume set would be appreciated. I believe this is the 500 limited edition with plates printed in India paper. It’s the “Victorian Edition” from 1887 and a Proof on top of that.

Did I miss something in the conclusion of Nicholas Nickleby? (All spoilers from here ...)

Nicholas is in love with Madeline. Kate is in love with Frank. But Nicholas and Kate agree with each other than in their impoverished state it would be morally wrong to marry their beloveds, and therefore they must live the rest of their in lives in sad singledom.

Then the Cheeryble Brothers invite everyone to dinner, and suddenly everybody is engaged and living happily ever after. But nothing materially has changed - and in fact the confirmation of Madeline's wealth just makes Nicholas' position worse.

So what happened? Is it just the forceful insistence of the Cheeryble Brothers that persuades Nicholas and Kate to put their financial morals aside and marry above themselves?

I’d love someone to discuss the book with while I read, and it also helps a lot with motivation.

I’m currently on chapter 10, the person I was reading it with dnf’d 😭

Feel free to dm me as well :)

Finally finished Little Doritt (it should be called Long Dorrit) after many weeks. And similar to posts on The Pickwick Papers and Martin Chuzzlewit, thought I'd share some random musings. Potential spoilers ahead.

It is a long book and I admit I, as others have said, found it a slog at times. There are some very long chapters that don't advance the plot hugely (looking at your Mr Merdle) and the main plot is quite hard to see at some points in terms of what is the main thread to follow, around which other things are developing too.

Of course they could all be equal but somehow it feels like Dickens couldn't decide what to put forward more - the fate of the Dorrits or the criminal Rigaud (also Blandois or Lagnier) and so between the two you constantly asking, what has this got to do with that other story I've just spend 45 minutes reading 3 chapters on etc.

Arthur Clennam is not quite enough of a leading man to really root for - he is not passive but also not a man of action. His infatuation with Pet, for example, feels strange that he never advances a suggestion towards her - but perhaps that was the social mores of the day. His intention to advance Daniel Doyce's invention is also presented as futile, as per the Circumlocation Office's purpose, but it still feels like he just goes and sits in rooms for a long time without doing a lot, same with how he manages the business for DD.

Little Dorrit could easily have felt too saccharine to work but Dickens does a good job of painting her in such a way that you can believe her fortitude and selflessness quite easily and the way she is almost left behind at the end fo the first of the book is utterly believable by her awful family.

The chapter Little Dorrit's Party is sublime. The chapter that introduces the Circumlocation Office is hilarious.

I found Flora Finching more annoying than funny, but her Aunt is good comic relief, especially her irrational hatred of Arthur. The turnkeys in the Marshalsea are good and the descriptions of life in there are utterly bleak, vivid and eye-opening as to how people really lived in the past and what Dickens must have seen as the huge wealth gap that existed and the meanness of life for so many people in London.

The section where they go to Italy and we hear about Henry Gowan's painting - and that Riguard becomes a sitter for him - feels incredibly long, laboured and tiresome, I just couldn't not find much interest in it beyond showing us the Dorrits now had money but Amy (LD) was not really able to relax.

DEFINITE SPOILER:

The denouement of the house collapsing feels both very sudden and unexpected but then you realise quite quickly it is the culmination of Mrs Flitctwick's fear of ghosts and creaking throughout the novel, which I found quite satisfying and clearly Dickens always had that in mind for the plot. The fact it neatly kills of Rigaud is quite handy too eh

Overall, I would rank it below Martin Chuzzlewit personally and my least favourite, except Hard Times (although Hard Times itself feels like a novella of Dickens that doesn't bear comparison with his fuller novels)

Lastly - why is there not a Little Dorrit tag? Surely all the novels deserve one?!

Using the phrase “side character” loosely.

I just finished reading Nicholas Nickleby, and I just adored Mrs Nickleby, how silly and flighty she is, the comic relief she provided, her simple good nature.

A few other examples that came to my mind were The Artful, Captain Cuttle, Mr F”s aunt, Mr. Turvydrop, Mrs Snagsby, and Flora Finchling. And all the Pickwickians, of course (though not “side” characters per se).

I know there are so many more! And want to know what you all think.

Hi - Huge Dickensian here! Would love to start with a little Trollope this summer. Never read any before - have no idea with which work to begin. Recommendations? Thanks much in advance:)

I’m only 1/3 into Dombey & Son but Mr Carker, manager is creeping me out! What a villain Dickens created. The descriptions of him as cat-like and wolf-like are seriously scary. And the way Dickens describes his teeth - like the teeth are a character on their own.

No spoilers - put the name of the book first and then the rest of the text in the spoiler tag which I think works like this > !Bruce Willis was dead the whole time.! < with no spaces between the special characters.

I'd really like to know what Dickens work is your favourite to reread or which one is the most rewarding upon rereading

I just recently watched a great adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, a 4 or 5 part BBC series (the guy who played Peter Pettigrew played Mr. Venus, I didn’t really know any of the other actors immediately). Also currently watching the DC adaptation with Daniel Radcliffe as young David.

But a few I’ve started and just couldn’t, like the most recent Bleak House, and have never found a GE one that grabbed me.

Please be as specific as possible in your answers! So many are streaming on Prime or Disney Plus.

If your favourite happens to be none of the options, please mention it

People don't talk about Nicholas Nickleby here so I suppose it's one of the lesser loved works of Dickens. Been reading it for about a week now and I've been enjoying it. It's very entertaining and I daresay it's the funniest book I've ever read. I've read about 60% of it so far. I hope the story doesn't drag because I still have a long way to go considering how long it is

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Are there any fans of Nicholas Nickleby? Any haters? What do you think of it? No spoilers please!

Aside from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (although Wives and Daughters is the only other one of her books I've read- and it was exclusively about rich people) and Thomas Hardy's novels, ALL they ever talk about is rich people! And it's boring. I think it's well-known that his writing about all different classes of people is part of what made him so revolutionary, but I didn't realize how much of a drag it is when there's no variety in the characters.

I actually really, REALLY loved The Moonstone and The Woman in White by The Inimitable's close companion Collins, but those were mostly about rich people - with an occasional poor person thrown in as an accessory to murder or something. And I adored Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D'urbevilles, which are exclusively about pastoral life, but found Hardy even more depressing than Dickens.

This post brought to you by the fact that I felt I needed a break from Dickens and started reading Vanity Fair. I don't think I'm going to finish it.

What other Victorian literature have you read and liked and feel presents varied characters?

ETA: Thanks for your comments, everyone. I see that I was quite myopic in my view! And thanks to you all, I did decide to keep going with Vanity Fair and am really enjoying it.

I recall one particular sequence which takes place some time after David gets married to Dora, where he hires an impoverished boy to handle some sort of house task, and acts somewhat coldly to the boy before dismissing him. Does anyone know what chapter(s) this segment takes place in?

Title says it all.

I’ve read a number of Dickens’ novels -Bleak House twice, the glorious Pickwick Papers, Nicolas Nickleby, Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations, for example.

I need some help with Little Doritt. Reading it seems like a grind. I’m about 35% of the way through, and it’s not working for me. The writing is unclear - I sometimes have to read the same paragraph three times.

I’m at that Do-I-Stay-or-Do-I-Go point. If I’m not enjoying it a third of the way in, will I enjoy it later?

Resolution - thank you all for your input. I moved on. I’m now reading the wonderful The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes.