i think ilke david copperfield i mean last read it years back . and oliver twist is fine
i think ilke david copperfield i mean last read it years back . and oliver twist is fine
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.
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.
"Where mind meets matter, both should woo!"Currently reading:
* Paradise Lost by John Milton
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.
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
Last edited by Boz; 11-07-2006 at 09:30 PM.
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!
Last edited by Lily Adams; 01-04-2007 at 09:48 PM.
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
^ Yes, yes! I agree completely! He was such a genius...I think he died too young, but 68 was very old in those days...
Last edited by Lily Adams; 01-05-2007 at 01:08 AM.
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?
What is your favourite Dickens? A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Great Expectations...
Great Expectations, runner up would be David Copperfield. While Copperfield is more of a soap, Expectations was more of a thriller to me.
HMMMMM Tricksy! I think I most enjoyed a christmas carol!
penuriosus est is quisnam denies scientia
Asa Adams
Currently reading
Ethan Frome
Portrait of an artist.....again*sigh*
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.
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew.
Till now is "Bleak House" followed by "David Copperfield" but that would probably change in the future.
"Great expectations" would be my first choice, followed by "A Tale Of Two Cities" then "Our Mutual Friend" (a lenghty one !!)
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