Pickwick papers

I had a look at Chapter 28, kev. As far as I see, Mr Pickwick is regarded as a close friend and benefactor of the bride's family, and besides, one of the witnesses of the wedding. He brings not only himself and his friends to the wedding, but also a lot of choice food. The father of the bride seems not to be a poor man, but the wedding profits largely from Mr Pickwicks contributions in food and in good humor. Probably the relationships were less formal as maybe in other book. And it was Christmas Time. Dickens was writing one of his typical Christmas stories which celebrated the good will and the joy among all the people,where the rich helped the poor, the young the old, the healthy the sick one. He wasn´t so particular about family ties or time of acquaintance it seems, he was celebrating the universal ties of friendship. It becomes easy to understand if you remember, that Dickens himself had to provide for a lot of hungry family members as soon as he became a successful writer.

I can't say I approve of Mr Pickwick ordering him servant, Sam Weller, to abduct his friend Mr Winkle. I know Mr Pickwick thought he was doing it for his good, but Mr Winkle is over age. What right has Mr Pickwick to have him kidnapped or falsely imprisoned?

Many of the themes in Pickwick Papers were re-visited in Bleak House, but the debtors; prison theme was re-visited in Little Dorrit. I have read Great Expectations, Hard Times, Oliver Twiist, Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend, Little Dorrit and David Copperfield. Dickens; disdain for lawyers appears in David Copperfield; otherwise, apart from Bleak House and Little Dorrit, I have not read very much that was re-visited in other books.

Pickwick Papers was a early novel, so it was natural enough that Dickens experimented with several themes he would take up later and expand in other books. One has most of the typical elements of Dickens' fictional world in this first novel: many of his typical themes which you mentioned above, his overflowing fantasy, his humor but also a glimpse into human tragedies, his dramatics and above all the so typical Dickensian atmosphere.

Finished. To celebrate I ordered a bottle of pineapple rum, Plantation Pineapple Stiggin's Fancy. Mr Stiggins was the non-conformist lay preacher who liked to help himself to Mrs Weller's pineapple rum in her pub. I was a little disappointed Dobson & Fogg did not get their just desserts, although I thought it was clever the way Mr Pickwick got out of debtors' prison.