Reviews and Comments

As a reader who likes to wonder if I have just read a little hint (breadcrumb) of things to come and what it could mean, I greatly enjoyed postulating on the meaning I gleaned from the hints that were dropped throughout the book.

This was my first Dickens read, so my ability to parse the language didn't become fully-realized until a few hundred pages, but once done, I started immediately appreciating the humor and wit of the author.

While this does suffer from the black/white characters that seems to be common in writing of this era, it was a little less on the nose compared to The Old Curiosity Shop. Some characters were at least aware of their shortcomings and hoped to improve, which went a long way with me.

The pacing worked well for me as well. I didn't feel that the book stuck too long in any one area, and no characters felt like they stagnated where I preferred them to progress and mature.

I found myself wishing Jaggers would find his way into another novel of his where the protagonist could use a sly, sharp-witted-and-tongued solicitor, but at least I met him here and relished the meeting.

As with other Dickens works, his descriptive powers are on display here, and not just with the physical and mental qualities of the characters, but also of the inanimate surroundings and weather. I enjoyed every reference to Wemmick's mouth as 'the post' and how it conjured up a letter slot in its straight lined-ness and severity.

Favorite characters: Jaggers, Wemmick, The Aged One, Biddy, Joe

This was recommended to me as one of Charles Dickens's two finest works (the other being Bleak House) after I explained that I enjoyed Great Expectations.

I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll read it a second time. Unlike Great Expectations, I didn't feel that the serialized-to-novel format translated very well to a finished product. I didn't find any breadcrumbs that were later found to be important, like GE, and I found the characters to be rather unbelievable. The former issue notwithstanding, and the latter likely being a result of what readers wanted in the 1840's, I won't ding it too terribly.

I had trouble believing in the caricatures that represented the cast of this story. While they were all very well defined and painstakingly described in physical and other terms, evil characters were always evil, and kind characters were always almost angelic and/or idealistic.

I enjoyed the Quilp character, and definitely felt the distaste for him (and frankly, Nell's grandfather) that Dickens intended me to. I also liked the Kit and Swiveller characters, but found myself wondering often why some characters were so accepting of their plight and unwilling or unable to take steps to improve their position or prevent their being taken advantage of. I suspect this isn't only because of my lack of understanding of Victorian London.

Mostly, I found myself wondering why Nell cared so much for her selfish jerk of a grandfather, who--until the very end of the novel--used her as an excuse for his abhorrent behavior.

Also a little strange to me were things like Swiveller's willingness to forego his sweetie for the chance at marrying a girl not-yet-fourteen who 'might' have money some day; though that story line fizzled out and never materialized in any real way past the middle of the book.

What I did enjoy were the many examples of basic human kindness and decency throughout the book. Had they been able to teach Nell how crooked her supposedly doting grandfather was, I would have enjoyed them more, but I still enjoyed them.

I also enjoyed Dickens's descriptive powers (though I was thankful to be reading the e-book version where I could easily highlight new words for contextual definitions), of characters, environments, feelings, sounds and more. I should say that I am reading through many of Dickens's works, and have become accustomed to his style of writing. It's a bit confusing and hard to absorb at first, but when used to it, the humor and wit of the author comes through remarkably well.

Altogether, I know I won't re-read this title, as I detested the ending, even though I can appreciate the artistic choice exercised by it. I read it daily, and enjoyed it all except the final forty pages, which almost felt as though they could have been left off in favor of a fade to black approach.