Classics > Charles Dickens Classics

Advantages: A really beautiful story, about Scrooge's past, present and future.
Disadvantages: A little bit boring story.

...outcome of his skinflint ways. A Christmas Carol is not so much a Christmas story but like for New Years. This story can influence us in changing ourselves, if we want this year's resolutions to actually mean something, we need to go through an Ebenezer-like process. For me the past for its lessons, search the present for its patterns, and project where those patterns will lead us in the future. And if the patterns lead to sadness, those patterns ... Read review

Advantages: Everything that's good about Dickens' work is here, a fascinating and consuming read.
Disadvantages: None. Unless you strongly dislike Dickens' writing style I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Great Expectations is often considered to be Dickens' 'best' work, or at the very least amongst the best. I personally agree with this opinion, as a fan of Dickens' books, which is why I have given this product 5 stars. As with most of Dickens' work, this was originally written as a series of weekly newspaper articles. This is worth baring in mind as characters are often 're-introduced' in a sense; however, I would not consider this a shortfall ...
...this to convey additional information about the character as well as reminding the reader who the character is and where they fit in. This classic contains some of Dickens' most intriguing and fascinating charcters. Written in a semi-autobiographical style, naive orphan Pip gives an interesting insight into dark and complex characters from his innocent perspective. The story of Pip's experiences is an enjoyable and consuming read. I would strongly ... Read review

Advantages: Good easy to read book
Disadvantages: Slow start

The Pickwick Papers. A little about the author. Charles Dickens was a great social reformer, most of his books were written to highlight the plight of the lower classes. He was a frequent visitor to the house of commons and campaigned vigorously against debtors prisons. Why the book was written. Charles Dickens was commissioned to write a series of stories about sporting events in England. Having little or no interest in sport he came up with ...
...saw. A taste of the book. This then was the birth of the Pickwick club. A cricket match gives us the sporting excuse for the paymaster but it is the picture of the people that Dickens paints that steal the limelight. The characters are all typically Dickensian and are described wonderfully by the author. The adventures they enjoy and the people they meet could indeed be from any other novel by the same author. The group of friends led by Mr Pickwick ... Read review

Advantages: wonderfully envisaged comic characters
Disadvantages: lack of interest in the main characters

Nicholas approaches his uncle Ralph in London to appeal for assistance for himself, his sister Kate and his mother after his father dies. Unfortunately, Ralph has made a God of money rather than family, and his reluctant 'help' consists in him finding the siblings unsuitable jobs and allowing Kate in particular to be socially abused by his business partners. The novel follows Nicholas's path to becoming a gentleman and re-establishing his sister ...
...for the most part, (all Nicholas wants is to be a gentleman,) but the minor characters are fascinating, and it is not necessarily true that one-sided means boring. Mrs Nickleby is a rich seam of humour as her monologues roll on without impediment, encompassing Shakespeare, partridges, hansom cabs and all sorts without the slightest reference to what her audience might or might not be interested in. Her idea of being courted by 'the gentleman in the ... Read review

Advantages: Rewarding, interesting and a real, cosy, ol' fashioned story!
Disadvantages: Quite a large time investment involved

Our Mutual Friend, By Charles Dickens Some Background The novel was originally published in 1865 and was his last completed work before his death in the summer of 1870. During the latter years of his writing career Dickens moved away from the more comic plots of his earlier years, and developed a far more complex and brooding style. Our Mutual Friend typifies this formula with its numerous, complicated and interlinked plot lines set largely along ...
...so immense and complex that it is without doubt difficult to categorise: It is a love story, a murder mystery, a psychological thriller and a smirk-ridden satire of contemporary society at every level. Main Characters To say to much at this point would be to tell to much - I don't want to ruin the twist in the tail of this one, but here is a useful breakdown of characters and a description (as they stand at the beginning of the book) The Hexams: ... Read review