Happy birthday you old fool! In the past decade I’ve read half a dozen of Dickens’ books and I’ve had a mixed reaction to most of his work. I liked the first two I read, A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. Then I read Oliver Twist and was not a fan at all.
The next time I read Dickens I was a little nervous. What if I hated it and it put me off of his work entirely? So I read Great Expectations in 2010 with some high expectations of my own and I officially fell in love. The book was just wonderful! With unforgettable characters like Miss Havisham and a wonderfully twisty plot I was in heaven. A book that lovely would be hard to top, but the very next one I read, David Copperfield, quickly became my favorite.
Now I haven’t loved everything Dickens wrote, but I’ve learned to appreciate his unique style and expect certain things. He will inevitably shove the book full of quirky characters. He’s got a serious problem with debtors’ prison because his own father ended up there. He will drone on unnecessarily about certain things and you just have to go with it. But despite or perhaps because of all that, his books are unlike any others.
It's incredible that some of his characters, stories and opening lines have become so ingrained in our culture that we don't even think of their origin anymore. Think of, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." or Oliver Twist asking for more gruel or Scrooge's redemption! For an author to have one book that is that well known is a great feat; to have a dozen is truly something.
So in the end I fall firmly in the fan section of Dickens’ work. Like most authors, some of his books are stronger than others, some resonate more with me personally, but overall his talent is undeniable. I will continue to pick a new Dickens novel every single year to curl up with. When I run out of new ones I’ll just have to go back and re-read my favorites.
In honor of Dickens' birthday this month I'm reading Dombey and Son. Fanda is hosting a Celebrating Dickens event and you can get the details here. If you have any Dickens books or movies you've been meaning to get to I hope you'll join in!
A few thoughts on his books...
