Post Comment
What books should everyone read before they die?Add Book
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
Literature
James Mustich
Aug 13, 2018
Oliver Twist was its author’s second novel, telling a continuous story in a way his first did not. What’s innovative in the book is not its shape, however, but its focus: Never before had a child been put so center stage in a novel; more importantly, while Wordsworth had evoked it in verse, never before had childhood been treated in a prolonged narrative as a state of being in its own right, with all the colors and contours of an emotional landscape as fully developed as an adult’s. As Oliver progresses from workhouse minion to undertaker’s assistant to conscript in the thieving army of urchin pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger and in thrall to the seedy ringleader Fagin, the reader is treated to a searing social satire on the treatment of paupers and bereft children, a vivid portrait of the urban criminal underworld, and a suspenseful if murky plot that is a roller coaster of melodramatic hopes and fears, degradations and redemptions.
I read this book in elementary school and it hooked me on the beauty of a good novel
0
Add Reply
Post Reply
Although this is not a great novel, and definitely not Dicken's best, it is essential as a source of both scathing social commentary of its times (and all time) and for its iconic characters that we still know and identify with whether we've read the novel or not.
0
Add Reply
Post Reply
This was the first full book i read from Dickens. Love the story.
0
Add Reply
Post Reply
Agree (78)
Life's too short (9)
Want to read
Share
"1,000 Books To Read Before You Die" is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing, Inc. Based on the book: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich, (Workman Publishing Co., Inc.: © 2018 James Mustich)
All other website content © 2018-2024 The Company of Books LLC.
All other website content © 2018-2024 The Company of Books LLC.