# Charles Dickens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927 "2005-08-06T23:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/1 "2005-08-06T23:21:17Z")
I’m reading _Oliver Twist_ and enjoy it. I’ve read _A Christmas Carol_ and also love it. However, I have a hard time (pun intentional) reading _Great Expectations_ or _A Tale of Two Cities._ What makes Dickens inaccessible in these novels? What other works are easier to read? I thought I might try _The Pickwick Papers_ or \*Nicholas Nickleby \*next. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/2 "2005-08-06T23:33:06Z")
I didn’t find _Great Expectations_ or _A Tale of Two Cities_ to be inaccessible, so I’m not sure what you’re looking for. Have you looked at _David Copperfield_? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/3 "2005-08-07T01:59:39Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’m reading _Oliver Twist_ and enjoy it. I’ve read _A Christmas Carol_ and also love it. However, I have a hard time (pun intentional) reading _Great Expectations_ or _A Tale of Two Cities._ > > What makes Dickens inaccessible in these novels? What other works are easier to read? I thought I might try _The Pickwick Papers_ or \*Nicholas Nickleby \*next. Read Bleak House. It took me a month to read the first chapter. Never did finish it. 😛😛😛 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/4 "2005-08-07T02:09:37Z")
You might want to take a look at this thread: [Dickens - Recommend where I should start](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297879) (even though you’ve already started). ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/5 "2005-08-07T03:15:43Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’m reading _Oliver Twist_ and enjoy it. I’ve read _A Christmas Carol_ and also love it. However, I have a hard time (pun intentional) reading _Great Expectations_ or _A Tale of Two Cities._ > > What makes Dickens inaccessible in these novels? What other works are easier to read? I thought I might try _The Pickwick Papers_ or \*Nicholas Nickleby \*next. I thought _Great Expectations_ was okay and I enjoyed it well enough but I loved _A Tale of Two Cities._ The insight into the French Revolution and the Zeitgeist of the time was moving. No trouble getting through that one for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/6 "2005-08-07T04:45:13Z")
I have a degree in English literature, specializing in 19th century novels, so I have spent a lot of time discussing Dickens with people who are committed to reading him in his entirety–and over and over again, I run into people who have a strong preference either for his early novels or for his late novels, and can hardly tolerate the other end of the timeline. I myself prefer the late ones, and the later the better–I loathed Oliver Twist, and Our Mutual Friend is my very favorite. The dividing line seems to fall between Dombey And Son, and David Copperfield. So, I suggest you try The Pickwick Papers or The Old Curiosity Shop–they might be more up your alley. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/7 "2005-08-07T05:54:54Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Read Bleak House. It took me a month to read the first chapter. Never did finish it. 😛😛😛 My dad has an ancient edition of this book, and I find that it is literally impossible to sit down with the objective of reading it from start to finish. It is written so beautifully, though, that once I pick it up I like to flick through and read a ‘scene’ or two from it (like the death of the Law-writer for instance). Otherwise I highly recommend _The Pickwick Papers_ - you never get bored with it as it isn’t a novel so much as a series of set-pieces - and it’s very funny (I particularly liked Bob Sawyer the debauched medical student). I really liked _Dombey & Son_ as well, but that’s the last Dickens I’ve managed to finish. I’m still meaning to read _Our Mutual Friend_ but I never get round to it. :o ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/8 "2005-08-07T06:01:31Z")
> [@Sarah Woodruff](#): > > My dad has an ancient edition of this book, and I find that it is literally impossible to sit down with the objective of reading it from start to finish. It is written so beautifully, though, that once I pick it up I like to flick through and read a ‘scene’ or two from it (like the death of the Law-writer for instance). I read \*Bleak House \* while I was doing the equity subject for my LLB degree last year. I found it a bit hard going to start with, especially keeping track of the different characters as they were introduced. But once the characters all started to become intertwined it was much easier and the pace began to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/9 "2005-08-07T16:03:10Z")
One warning about _Pickwick Papers_: in my opinion, which is shared by others, the beginning is kind of weak, and it doesn’t really start to get good until one or two hundred pages in when Sam Weller first appears. This was Dickens’s first novel, published serially, and when he started out he was still kind of feeling his way; he had a few characters but wasn’t quite sure where he was going with them. But once the book gets going, it contains some of Dickens’s funniest stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/10 "2005-08-08T01:42:06Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > One warning about _Pickwick Papers_: in my opinion, which is shared by others, the beginning is kind of weak, and it doesn’t really start to get good until one or two hundred pages in when Sam Weller first appears. This was Dickens’s first novel, published serially, and when he started out he was still kind of feeling his way; he had a few characters but wasn’t quite sure where he was going with them. But once the book gets going, it contains some of Dickens’s funniest stuff. Thanks for that insight. I have started _Pickwick Papers_ twice and was bored with it to the point of putting down. Apparently I didn’t get far enough into the book. I’ll try to go back to it. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/11 "2005-08-08T03:02:20Z")
It was when Carton climbed into the apache helicopter that I lost all respect for Dickens. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/12 "2005-08-08T08:22:04Z")
Although it’s a kicker of an end line: “'Tis a far better butt-kicking than ever I have butt-kicked!” ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/13 "2005-08-08T08:27:17Z")
_Pickwick Papers_ and _Our Mutual Friend_ are among my favorite books. I consider them both rewards for learning to read. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/14 "2005-08-08T13:23:33Z")
To the OP- sometimes Dickens falls into an excruciating obsession with physical detail that I find maddening. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/15 "2005-08-08T14:44:26Z")
I found **A ale of Two Cities** pretty easy going myself. I’ve read it three times already (once for a high school course, twice on my own). The Dickens _I_ find impossible going is **Hard Times** , which I had to force my way through for a course. I also can’t stand **The Pickwick Papers**. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/16 "2005-08-08T16:46:57Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > One warning about _Pickwick Papers_: in my opinion, which is shared by others, the beginning is kind of weak, and it doesn’t really start to get good until one or two hundred pages in when Sam Weller first appears. This was Dickens’s first novel, published serially, and when he started out he was still kind of feeling his way; he had a few characters but wasn’t quite sure where he was going with them. But once the book gets going, it contains some of Dickens’s funniest stuff. I certainly agree with that last statement. I’m not a “laugh-out-loud” kind of person, but whenever I read about Sam Weller, his dad, Mrs. Weller and the parson in the prison bar having glasses of “wanity warm”, I shriek with laughter. I also giggle over Alfred Jingle’s antics with the older ladies who find him so fascinating. _Pickwick Papers_ and _Nicholas Nickleby_, are, I think, my two favorite Dickens novels. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/17 "2008-09-28T01:52:02Z")
I’m bumping my own zombie thread. I’ve finished Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations. Should I read Nicholas Nickleby or David Copperfield next? I’d like to read whichever one has interesting characters like Oliver Twist, which has been my favorite Dickens novel. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/18 "2008-09-28T02:11:42Z")
_Copperfield. Copperfield_ is very good. And _The Old Curiosity Shop_ is damn near irresistible, once you get as far as Daniel Quilp. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/19 "2008-09-28T03:13:38Z")
I think the difference is _Oliver Twist_ and \*A Christmas Carol \*, use the same language type as _Great Expectations_, but _Great Expectations_ is BORING. If something is really interesting you can cope with the language being a bit different, but when something is boring you lose interest trying to translate the meaning to comtemporary English ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927/20 "2008-09-28T03:36:42Z")
Dickens is the single most entertaining writer in the history of, well, writing. But I can’t finish _The Pickwick Papers_. I’ve read Bleak House at least three times; Little Dorrit twice; Our Mutual Friend twice; Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities at least 4 times each. But I’ll never try Pickwick again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-dickens/315927.md?page=2)