What is your favorite Dickens work?

[Pip]

I'm curious as to what all of you other Dickens fans hold to be your favorite work by him. I give my vote to David Copperfield

Cheers

[imthefoolonthehill]

Great Expectations followed closely by A Tale of Two Cities

[Scheherazade]

As a child, I loved David Copperfield but A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite now.

PS: I added a poll to this thread for convenience.

[Nightshade]

I really dislike a tale of 2 cities but I liked both David Copperfield and Oliver Twist but my faviorate has to be a christmas Carol.

[mono]

Hmmm, difficulty to say, as I feel tied between Great Expectations, David Copperfield, A Tale Of Two Cities, and Hard Times . . . :rolleyes:



Great Expectations, I think; oddly, I even once named one of my cats Pip - weird, I know.

[Valjean]

My vote goes to Great Expectations. A Tale of Two Cites is a great novel, as Dickens uses it to portray the Bastille, the Guillotine, the riots of Saint Antoine, and the countless other events of the Revoltion better than any writer ever has (especially British ones). The novel lacks emotion, however, especially when compared to Great Expectations. Love, ambition, desperation, fear, regret, heartbreak, and almost any other human emotion are illstrated in this novel, and the reader is pushed and pulled by them right along with Pip. Anyone (especially male) who has not read this book is doing themselves a horrible injustice. The recent movie remake, by the way, is closer to "Days of Our Lives" than to Dickens.

P.S. A Christmas Carol is not even close

[Beaumains]

I like all of his works a great deal, but I appreciate Bleak House for it's cutting social commentary. It really shows how much Dickens detested the injustice of the living conditions of the working class in his day.

[JScottBosch]

My favorite is not on the list: Our Mutual Friend

Cheers! :D

[karanae84]

My favorites are Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. I remember reading both of them in tenth grade and it was Pip who made me fall in love with the author. Friends of mine have complained about his abundant description, but I find that it allows me to live in the moment. The way that Dickens writes leaves me feeling ready to make massive decisions-just like his characters.
Of course, I have yet to read Hard Times... maybe it will prove even better!

[qjkhere]

My favorite is David Copperfield because of the way Dickens portrays pain and suffering. I also like it because most fictional women who marry for the sake of money usually do not realize how bad their husbands are treating their child and Dickens gave a perfect portrayal of that. I thought the description of the depth of the husband's control gave the story momentum.

[yellowfeverlime]

liver twist... definitely

[Pensive]

I will prefer "A Tale of Two Cities" It is a great novel. Specially, I loved the first few lines...

[Rosalind]

I will prefer "A Tale of Two Cities" It is a great novel. Specially, I loved the first few lines...

Yes! The first lines are absolutely brilliant. Dickens' detractors don't seem to realize this, and personally I think it's because they don't get past the winter of despair. Dickens is king of mockery.

I will always have a soft spot for 'Oliver Twist,' but 'A Tale of Two Cities' is my favorite, I think. On the other hand, I agree with Valjean that 'Great Expectations' does a lot better with emotions, except in the case of Sydney Carton. I think he runs a pretty thorough emotional gambit, and the scene at the end may be melodramatic, but it still makes people cry.

[DickensLover]

What are all of you thinking!! Bleak House is my favorite book of all time. I absolutely love every detail of it. It is amazing how 20 different stories and 50 main characters all twist and turn and synthesize perfectly at the end. And as far as social messages go, who could forget Jo? I loved Bleak House because I totally felt a catharsis. I was terrified when someone was about to murder Mr. Tulkinghorn, agonized when Esther couldn't admit to herself that she loved Alan, weeping during the aforementioned situation with Jo, and elated when everything worked out so nicely. They are all fabulous books though! Oliver Twist would have to be a close second. And I just read the Pickwick Papers for the first time a few weeks ago. It is definitely the funniest Dickens novel I've ever read!

[DickensLover]

"At such times, a mortal knows just enough of what his mind is doing, ot form some glimmering conception of its mighty powers, its bounding from earth and spurning time and space, when freed from the restraint of its corporeal associate."

-Dickens (Oliver Twist, IX)

[tweety]

i think ilke david copperfield i mean last read it years back . and oliver twist is fine

[kashka]

I'm not inclined to vote as I haven't read them all as yet, I feel that I would do the others an injustice.

What i've read i've loved, and of those I think that Great Expectations is my favourite so far. Miss Haversham and her wedding cake steal the day.

[Schokokeks]

I gave my vote to A Christmas Carol. Having read it several times, I chose it as the base for the annual play for the kids theatre club I direct, which turned out to be hilarious last christmas.

However, I'm still hoping to read more of Dickens, especially with so many of you praising David Copperfield and Great Expectations.

[ProfessorWoland]

It's not really a novel but The Pickwick Papers gets my vote. I think the way that it is almost a collection of sketches benefits Dickens' style.

[Boz]

Indeed, Pickwick Papers was originally called "sketches by Boz" ;) Having read all of Dickens' novels I find this an immensely difficult task. In fact, I would be inclined to say that it depends on what mood I am in, and what type of literary style I'm leaning toward at the moment. There is little doubt which of the choices has the widest universal appeal, even though it was hardly more than a novella, and that would be "A Christmas Carol."

Several have wonderful romantic stories in them, but the two greatest in my humble opinion are found in Bleak House and Great Expectations with a slight edge going to the latter. For the best sample of Dickens' wit, I would definitely opt for the Pickwick Papers, and the best for intrigue (personally I think Dickens would have been a great mystery writer), it would be between the tragically unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood, (I know, not listed), and either Nicholas Nickleby or A Tale of Two Cities. Of course for melodrama, which is found in practically everything Dickens wrote, I would choose The Old Curiosity Shop, or Little Dorrit. Then again, while there is more than a modicum of social issues brought forth in all of his novels, the ones with the greatest social import would seem to me to be Hard Times and Nicholas Nickleby, the latter being the prime mover in bringing an end to much of the attrocities that did indeed exist at the Yorkshire schools. Our Mutual Friend is another great read with practically all of the above elements.

Having been raised in an orphanage myself, I quite naturally have a great deal of attachment for Oliver Twist, and his largely autobiographical novel David Copperfield is, for most, a great Dickens starter.

I'm sorry to see that neither the much maligned Martin Chuzzlewit, nor Barnaby Rudge even made the list of choices (though I doubt either might garner any votes), as I still found them thoroughly enjoyable reads.

I guess that makes my choice a very much vascillating "all of the above" :0

Boz

[Lily Adams]

Oh, A Tale of Two Cities by far! I've read that, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol. Not much too boast about, but I'm reading Bleak House currently, and I plan to read The Pickwick Papers next, and eventually all of Dickens's books. I love A Tale of Two Cities so much. It's dramatic, beautiful, touching, clever, witty, and it's in my favorite time period. How could a girl like me ask for more? I'm a romantic, I know! :lol:

[lavanvijay]

Charles Dickens is great and no one can excel him for his self-knowledge, imagination, wonder and vision for the future. I like A Tale of Two Cities very much and David Copperfield also:thumbs_up

[Lily Adams]

^ Yes, yes! I agree completely! He was such a genius...I think he died too young, but 68 was very old in those days...

[Coxy]

Polls are always great fun but the exclusion of "Chuzzlewit" from the list of options is inexcusable. The novel combines the general good humour of "Pickwick" with the social observation and satire of "Bleak House". The plot isn't too melodramatic or preposterous and the character of Mr Pecksniff is right up there with Fagin or Urian Heep topping the pop chart of memorable Dickens' villains.

How to say this delicately? Does the work suffer from lack of acclaim due to the chapters set in, and criticising, the America of the 1840's?

[Brendan Madley]

What is your favourite Dickens? A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Great Expectations...

[mtpspur]

Great Expectations, runner up would be David Copperfield. While Copperfield is more of a soap, Expectations was more of a thriller to me.

[Asa Adams]

HMMMMM Tricksy! I think I most enjoyed a christmas carol!:)

[Pensive]

I have read Hard Times and A Tale of Two Cities.Even though both novels were awesome, but I found A Tale of Two Cities better than the other.

[manolia]

Till now is "Bleak House" followed by "David Copperfield" but that would probably change in the future.

[Hermia]

"Great expectations" would be my first choice, followed by "A Tale Of Two Cities" then "Our Mutual Friend" (a lenghty one !!)

[Birdy123]

Definately 'Oliver Twist', followed by 'Great Expectations,' we're studying the latter in english at the moment, i love the way Dickens symbolises each of the characters within their environment.

[adagiosostenuto]

My favorite is David Copperfield. I deeply enjoyed and savored every golden moment of it. To me it is a masterpiece of humanity that, through so many endearing characters and the things that happen to them, explores the human psyche in a way that is so easy to digest, so touching, and so human.

[Fen]

My favourite is the Old Curiosity shop it was the first Dickens I read and it blew away all my preconceptions about him it was so moving and funny, I just fell for little Nell and Dick. A tale of two cities would be my second because of the death of Sydney but only just. Mostly it was a disappointment I felt you couldn't connect with the heroine Lucy and her husband Charles .

[GrayFoxDown]

My favorite Dickens' novel is undoubtedly DAVID COPPERFIELD. It's certainly one of the greatest (if not THE GREATEST) examples of autobiographical-style writing and it's Dickens most personal work (it was his favorite novel). I've been reading DC ever since I was a child (for nearly 45 years now!) and every new reading brings me renewed discovery and delight...I love it!

[stella]

of course"Great Expectations" i can't think of any equivalent

[anansi*_16]

I'd have to say A Tale Of Two Cities. It is a masterpiece that stretches through time and will always be one of my top reads.

[Philip Knight]

I think Bleak House is his best (so far as I've read), but David Copperfield is my favourite.

[AARONDISNEY]

As yet I'm only a little over halfway through the Dickens novels. I've read (in this order) David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, A Tale of Two Cities, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Hard Times, and I'm currently about 100 pages into Martin Chuzzlewit.

I, personally, preferred Nicholas Nickleby to the rest. I loved hating Wackford Squeers and all his family. They were greedy for the tuition of the children and torturous to those kids.....which was horrible enough, but to be especially cruel to the pure hearted Smike really pulls you into the story. I like the namesake of the book for his true to life heroics. He was not so perfectly angelic as many of Dickens' heroes are, but his passion was always perfectly directed in the right direction. And to see Ralph Nickleby's downward spiral is very rewarding of your hopes for justice, even if the justice was self inflicted. I just loved this story and am truly surprised to find my vote the first to be cast in Nickleby's direction.

I also really enjoyed David Copperfield, Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities. "Two Cities" is an incredibly interesting story, but the only character I really connected with in it was Sydney Carton...it's greatness rested completely in it's story line and not at all in it's characters.

And Edwin Drood is so intriguing and will remain so. There are literally as many conceivable endings to that as there are sentences in the book.

I just love Charles Dickens and I've only just begun reading fiction literature. I'm hooked on his stuff though.

[quasimodo1]

Great Expectations...in my view...his finest work with the most ascerbic commentary on the times. quasimodo1

[AARONDISNEY]

I'm going through Martin Chuzzlewit right now and am really enjoying it. He's a little hard on my country, but it's kinda funny (even if I am one of the most influential citizens of the U-nited States) but I love the characters. The 'bad' characters are a little mysterious and not so much out and out 'bad and proud of it' like Scrooge and Quilp, and the 'good' characters are angelic in their purity but not 2 dementional.

I still consider Nickleby my favorite, but this is a good story and definitely deserving of a spot in the poll (even if it wouldn't get a vote).

[quasimodo1]

A Tale of Two Cities

[bazarov]

After Great Expectations I really doubt I will read Dickens in next 5 years.

[caffeinecups]

Wow, lots of Dickens fans here. I must say you guys have read more than a couple of his books! I noticed that lots made mention of David Copperfield, which I might wanna check out sometime. I've only read A Christmas Carol and I must say it's always been an all-time favorite book of mine. Sometimes I reread it just to pass the time on a sad day.

[LadyWentworth]

I read "A Tale of Two Cities" the summer I was 12. This was mainly because I had just started to really get into the reading thing (I had just finished "Wuthering Heights" - I recieved it as a graduation gift for graduating from elementary school). I absolutely loved it. So, I voted for that one.

I will say, though, that "Nicholas Nickleby" is a close second. Honestly? If it would've been completed, I would probably say "The Mystery of Edwin Drood".

[ntropyincarnate]

My favorite is definitely "A Tale of Two Cities," which to me is about redemption, and that's my favorite kind of story. Followed by "Oliver Twist," then "David Copperfield."

[Tersely]

I love Great Expectations. Therefore it was my vote (although I love most of Dickens work!)

[quasimodo1]

Dickens best...Great Expectations

[RJbibliophil]

I have only read Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, and A Tale of Two Cities. The last happens to be my favorite. :)

[bounty]

id say a tale of two cities. david copperfield is up there also and gee its hard not to like the pickwick papers....

[dee in tex]

I said Tale of Two Cities just because that's been my oldest favorite. But I recently read Bleak House and and slowly fell in love with it. I'm currently reading David Copperfield but I'm missing the humor and sarcasm, the rediculousness from Bleak House.

[hoope]

Great Expectation .. David copperfield.. and christmas carol too.... but i like everything he wrote

[Nemo Neem]

I'd have to say Great Expectations. It's so frickin' hilarious. A Tale of Two Cities is second.

[mona amon]

I like Bleak House, Great Expectations and Little Dorrit the best. I feel they're all equally good, but I voted for Great Expectations as it was my first Dickens, and so has a special place for me.

[blazeofglory]

David Copperfield

[estelwen]

Bleak House, followed closely by Nicholas Nickleby. I just finished Nicholas for perhaps the fourth time and enjoyed it more than ever. Pickwick is also a favorite.

The other day I was pondering a legal proceeding with which a friend is involved, and was struck with little Miss Flite, waiting for her judgement, surrounded by her birds named Joy, Hope, Faith, Despair, and others. Tears came to my eyes as I thought of her waiting forever, growing more and more insane but gently so. I am thankful that my friend's 'judgement will arrive soon' and sobered by the comparison.

[Chuzzlewit]

I would say Pickwick Papers right now. I have about three novels of his left to read, but out of what I've read, Pickwick Papers is my favorite!

[Dort]

Love your blue-flying-bird !!!!! :O ooops! that was meant for 'Pensive'
BTW, I voted for Bleak House, although I enjoy David Copperfield & Great Expectations almost as much.

[Miki2502989]

david copperfield definetly, because of the characters. enjoyed every one of them

[kelby_lake]

I'm torn between a few, Hard Times being one of them. Who'd've thought Dickens had written a novel about the grim north?

[Jackson Richardson]

I'm torn between a few, Hard Times being one of them. Who'd've thought Dickens had written a novel about the grim north?

It's the only Dickens novel that doesn't include scenes set in London, as far as I can remember.

I've just voted for Bleak House. I know out of context Ada and Esther are embarrassingly drippy in their own way, but in the context of the whole they work. It is all utterly grotesque and so much more convincing than worthy realism. (Mary Ann Evans, you know who I mean.)

Mrs Jellyaby, Harold Skimpole, Inspector Bucket, the cousin with her guitar, Mr George, the junk shop owner who goes up in smoke, Mr Guppy, Miss Flite, Granfather Smallweed, old Mr Turveydrop... all utterly individual, totally outrageous as studies in realism, and yet so, so true to life. More true than boring all realism can do.

[kelby_lake]

It is all utterly grotesque and so much more convincing than worthy realism. (Mary Ann Evans, you know who I mean.)


A reference to Middlemarch? ;)

[Jackson Richardson]

No more than the rest of George Eliot's works. I used to love her novels, but she now seems a bit on the worthy side. I can see theoretically why she is a better novelist than Dickens - more intelligent, better informed, not so outrageously sentimental and melodramatic, giving us character's inner life - but for the reasons stated, Dickens beats her hollow.

[kelby_lake]

No more than the rest of George Eliot's works. I used to love her novels, but she now seems a bit on the worthy side. I can see theoretically why she is a better novelist than Dickens - more intelligent, better informed, not so outrageously sentimental and melodramatic, giving us character's inner life - but for the reasons stated, Dickens beats her hollow.

I think that Dickens comes out as the better novelist. Eliot's politics outweigh her ability to tell a story.

[Jackson Richardson]

I think that Dickens comes out as the better novelist. Eliot's politics outweigh her ability to tell a story.

Sorry about the delay in reply. I don't understand that comment. Dickens repeatedly includes political campaigns (Poor Law Oliver Twist, legal injustice Bleak House, Yorkshire schools Nicholas Nickelby, debtors' prison and snobbery Little Dorrit, industrial exploitation Hard Times and so on).

And although I don't want to be siding with repression, I get the impression there can be something self-righteous about him when he is in campaigner mode.

By contrast, George Eliot is so concerned to see the good in everyone, which can be admirable in a person but a bit limiting in a novelist, and you'd be hard pressed to deduce her (progressive) political opinions.

[kelby_lake]

My favorites are Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. I remember reading both of them in tenth grade and it was Pip who made me fall in love with the author. Friends of mine have complained about his abundant description, but I find that it allows me to live in the moment. The way that Dickens writes leaves me feeling ready to make massive decisions-just like his characters.
Of course, I have yet to read Hard Times... maybe it will prove even better!

Hard Times is a good, though odd, novel. It's the only Dickens novel set in the North and it's very industrial and grim. There's lots of grotesquerie and tragicomedy and the book may not live up to the promise of its opening- a classically Dickensian satire on education- but there is still much fun to be had, and it's half the size of a normal Dickens novel.

[kelby_lake]

Sorry about the delay in reply. I don't understand that comment. Dickens repeatedly includes political campaigns (Poor Law Oliver Twist, legal injustice Bleak House, Yorkshire schools Nicholas Nickelby, debtors' prison and snobbery Little Dorrit, industrial exploitation Hard Times and so on).

And although I don't want to be siding with repression, I get the impression there can be something self-righteous about him when he is in campaigner mode.

By contrast, George Eliot is so concerned to see the good in everyone, which can be admirable in a person but a bit limiting in a novelist, and you'd be hard pressed to deduce her (progressive) political opinions.

Okay, both of them are overtly moral but Dickens does do a better job with satire and is the most entertaining writer of the two. There are some interesting characters in Middlemarch but they're nowhere near the vividity of Dickens at his best. Even his sentimental characters (cough cough Tiny Tim) are still interesting.

[Motherof8]

My favorite Dickens work is David Copperfield.

[ajvenigalla]

Great Expectations or Bleak House is probably his greatest. But my favorite is A Tale of Two Cities.

[bounty]

mine too aj...with david copperfield a close second.

im reading a Charles dicken's biography right now. the author wasn't particularly enamored of bleak house. made me not want to read it.

[Pike Bishop]

Bleak House is definitely the best Dickens novel I've read, and Harold Bloom considers it his masterpiece. Many artists dislike their best works; it just reflects their own personal relation to their creation.