Which ONE Dickens book to read?

[LadyWentworth]

Oh well, just ordered A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. That's my weakness obviously, I can't buy only one book at the time.

Well, I have to admit that I really like your choices. Which one do you think you will read first?

[Nico87]

Probably The Mystery of Edwin Drood as it's the shortest book of the four except A Christmas Carol. Then I think I'll read Bleak House, which I forgot to put in my list, and then Great Expectations. I'll read A Tale of Two Cities somewhere in between or last.

I don't know when I'll read them though. I'm going in the army in january and I already have a list of about 15 books I will bring with me (everything from Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Nabokov, to Franz Kafka and Jane Austen).

[bazarov]

I don't know when I'll read them though. I'm going in the army in january and I already have a list of about 15 books I will bring with me (everything from Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Nabokov, to Franz Kafka and Jane Austen).

Reading in the army? That will be an adventure!

[manolia]

Probably The Mystery of Edwin Drood as it's the shortest book of the four except A Christmas Carol. Then I think I'll read Bleak House, which I forgot to put in my list, and then Great Expectations. I'll read A Tale of Two Cities somewhere in between or last.

I don't know when I'll read them though. I'm going in the army in january and I already have a list of about 15 books I will bring with me (everything from Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Nabokov, to Franz Kafka and Jane Austen).

Good choices
Good luck with the army .

[Nico87]

Hehe yeah, Afghanistan actually. Heard the norwegians are having a boring time there, so will def be time for some reading.

[LadyWentworth]

Probably The Mystery of Edwin Drood as it's the shortest book of the four except A Christmas Carol. Then I think I'll read Bleak House, which I forgot to put in my list, and then Great Expectations. I'll read A Tale of Two Cities somewhere in between or last.

I don't know when I'll read them though. I'm going in the army in january and I already have a list of about 15 books I will bring with me (everything from Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Nabokov, to Franz Kafka and Jane Austen).

Wow! From Dostoevsky to Austen, huh? That really is a variety.

Well, whenever you get along to reading "Edwin Drood" I would be extremely curious to hear your opinion!

Good luck in the army!

[glenn71]

i have only read a handfull of his novels but the pickwick papers really did make me laugh a lot . and great expectations i have since reread as i enjoyed it so much , i couldnt finish little dorrit though .

[Charles Darnay]

Everyone else around here is probably fed up hearing me say this (reading me write this dont sound right) BUT Dickens achieved perfection with Hard Times. It is definitively Dickens - memorable characters, scathing criticism of social happenings, laugh out loud humour & a dark underbelly.

For a person new to Dickens however I would usually recommend David Copperfield, and would definitely steer them away from starting with Bleak House (which while excellent is perhaps the one of his novels I took longest to get fully absorbed in - save it for later)

My top 3 of Dickens:

Hard Times
Great Expectations
Bleak House

I definatly agree with you about "Hard Times", it is an excellent novel (it struggles for close 2nd for with (with Barnaby Rudge - a very under-rated Dickens')...but I would suggest that Hard Times can be appreciated much better by one who has a bit of experience with Dickens and would not recommend it as a starter.

[marakatsu]

I cannot cannot believe no one recommended David Copperfield. The novel touches me deeply more than his other novels.

[Etienne]

I cannot cannot believe no one recommended David Copperfield. The novel touches me deeply more than his other novels.

I would but it's the only Dickens' I've read beside Christmas Carroll in french translation...

[Virgil]

David Copperfield is a good novel, but I think Great Expectatons is the novel I would recommend. It truely ranks with the great ones. I can't understand why Baz was disappointed.

[kiz_paws]

Everyone else around here is probably fed up hearing me say this (reading me write this dont sound right) BUT Dickens achieved perfection with Hard Times. It is definitively Dickens - memorable characters, scathing criticism of social happenings, laugh out loud humour & a dark underbelly.

Here Here! I second this thought. A brilliant work indeed!


Nico87, the books you purchased are good choices, you won't be disappointed.

[ballb]

To be honest I am not a great fan of Dickens. But if pushed to recommend some titles I suggest you start with Tale Of Two Cities and follow up with Pickwick Papers. Good luck in the army. Stay safe mate.

[AARONDISNEY]

I've spent the past year and a half on practically nothing but Dickens.
I only have Our Mutual Friend and Little Dorrit to go through. I got half way through Pickwick and got so lost in the bazillion characters that I gave up.
This is the order I go with

David Copperfield
Bleak House
Nicholas Nickleby
Dombey and Son
Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Barnaby Rudge
A Tale of Two Cities
The Old Curiosity Shop
A Christmas Carol
Mystery of Edwin Drood (I liked it alot but would prefer to have a completion)
Martin Chuzzlewit

[Aprilfool]

It's many years since I read Dickens, but I seem to recall Our Mutual Friend as a standout. Also the one with the Circumlocution Office (which I discovered to be an accurate portrayal of the National Health 35 years ago) - Little Dorritt, I think? Loved Pickwick Papers - especially the part where Pickwick's friends go through the lawyer's bill and decide which parts of it he should pay. Loved all of them, I think - must be time to start rereading . . .