Death and Mr Pickwick: A Novel

by Stephen Jarvis

On 31 March 1836 the publishers Chapman & Hall launched the first issue of a new monthly periodical entitled 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'. Conceived and created by the artist Robert Seymour, it contained four of his illustrations; the words to accompany them were written by a young journalist who used the pen-name Boz.

The story of a sporting-cum-drinking club presided over by fat, lovable Mr Pickwick, assisted by his cockney manservant Sam Weller, 'The Pickwick Papers' soon became a popular sensation, outselling every other book except the Bible and Shakespeare’s plays, and read and discussed by the entire population of the British Isles, from the duke’s drawing-room to the lowliest chophouse. The fame of Mr Pickwick soon spread worldwide – making 'The Pickwick Papers' the greatest literary phenomenon in history.

But one does not need to have read a single word of 'The Pickwick Papers' to be enthralled by the story of how this extraordinary novel came to be. The creation and afterlife of 'The Pickwick Papers' is the subject of Stephen Jarvis’s novel, 'Death and Mr Pickwick'. This vast, intricately constructed, indeed Dickensian work is at once the ultimate homage to a much-loved book, tracing its genesis and subsequent history in fascinating detail, and a damning indictment of how an ambitious young writer expropriated another man’s ideas and then engaged in an elaborate cover-up of 'The Pickwick Papers'’ true origin.

Few novels deserve to be called magnificent. 'Death and Mr Pickwick' is one of them.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Books About Books, Mystery, Historical, British Literature, Victorian

816 pages, Paperback

First published May 21, 2015

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I shall now tell you all about Death and….


Mmmmhmmmm



Mr Pick

Now, pick what… er ah yes


….wick.

So, here is my review. I always do one of those. Absolutely, I'm just going to.....


It is a gigantic novel which for the first 1000 pages seems…..




Uh? Oh sorry… yes, what? It’s all about some … young guys becoming ….. ill….



Ah where was I? ….. illustrators. In the early 19th whatever. I have to be honest here, it just



It’s something to do with Dickens. I think I remember that…

But don’t quote me because




I have to say that it

Didn’t.







Seem. Mmmhmm.


It didn’t seem to have

To have much






Of a

Story to it.


Story to it. Hmmm, mumble mumble.

So I found it quite…………………………………. Hmmm, mumble mumble


I gave up. No, not quite. No. That’s not it.

It gave me up. It said you know, really, I don’t think that you are the right reader for me. I feel I should be with somebody else. Somebody with more patience. You, you just can’t sit still for more than five minutes. You seem to want explosions and sex and jokes. You don’t have any inner peace. So the sun has set on our relationship. I already met someone else. At the library. She’s good and kind. She knits her own breakfast cereal.

Well, I was kind of relieved. There was no bitterness, we just smiled kinda sadly and that was it.

[karen]

finally unpacked from bedbug bags!!!

i feel like i may have lost my momentum with this one, though...

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. This novel is completely compelling, clever, witty, full of imagination and historical insight - and above all, very, very Dickensian. I adored it from start to finish. It's a long novel, but well worthy of its length. If you're a Dickens fan, I highly recommend this.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Pickwick Papers was a Victorian publishing phenomenon. Originally envisioned as a series of sporting tales to accompany Robert Seymour’s engravings in a monthly magazine, the story soon took on a life of its own. Debut novelist Jarvis believes that a conspiracy between Dickens and his publishers covered up two key facts: Pickwick was primarily Seymour’s creation, and Dickens’s brash attempt to take it over was the impetus for Seymour’s suicide in 1836. At 800+ pages, this novel is chock-full of digressions – some amusing, others seemingly irrelevant. Jarvis started the project with the ambition of reading everything ever written about Pickwick. The results are exhaustive...but also a little exhausting.

(Non-subscribers can read an excerpt of my full review at BookBrowse.)

Readalikes:
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
• The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter

[Roger Brunyate · Rating 2 out of 5]

 
There is a novel in here somewhere… but at 800 pages?

"First catch your hare" begins the apocryphal 18th-century recipe for jugged hare. Author Stephen Jarvis not only shows the catching of the hare, but tells you how to make the jug as well, and set the fire no doubt. There is certainly a novel here in the story of how Charles Dickens supposedly hijacked the ideas of his collaborator, illustrator Robert Seymour, in producing his first great success, The Pickwick Papers. But do we have to hear the travails of the artist's father, and the history of every other cartoonist working at the beginning of the 19th century? Does the mere mention of a street clown have to segue into a 25-page history of the Grimaldi family? And is it helpful to encase all this within a modern-day story in which the novel is commissioned by an eccentric patron known as (sic) Mr. Inbelicate? Yes, Dickens himself wrote at great length, but his genius made his books hang together. Much as I was enlightened by Mr. Jarvis's information and enjoyed his writing style, I soon found myself resenting the sheer amount I had to read to get into his story.

Reading on, I began to understand that much of his method was to demonstrate that the ideas for Pickwick—the concept of preparing a series of illustrations as the framework for text, the idea of centering them around a rambunctious gentlemen's club, the names and nature of many of the characters, even the ideas for individual episodes—were already in Seymour's head before he met Dickens. Those who have read The Pickwick Papers will recognize where many of these apparently random episodes are heading. Without that knowledge, the first half of Jarvis's book will seem scattered and episodic, though often interesting. Dickens' own writing at this stage was much more episodic than in his later works, so you could say that Jarvis is merely prefiguring the manner of his model. There is even a kind of fascination to this abundance; it is a bit like reading a well-written encyclopedia. But an encyclopedia is not a novel; although Jarvis will bring most of it to earth eventually, he buries his story in a blizzard of apparently arbitrary information tossed into the air and waiting to fall.

Charles Dickens is not mentioned by name until page 639. But he appears under his pseudonym of Boz beginning on page 450, and crops up once or twice before that as a youth known simply as Chatham Charlie. As compared to the extensive build-up of the character of Robert Seymour, Dickens sneaks late into the story and simply grabs it. The interactions between the illustrator and author of Pickwick occupy no more than 50 pages of the 800-page book. And the key exchange takes place in a ten-page scene in which Boz (Dickens) treats his collaborator with a high-handed arrogance amounting virtually to professional assassination. Nothing that Jarvis has shown us of Boz so far makes the excesses of this scene credible, nor does his long and detailed portrait of Seymour give much hint of how totally it would destroy him. The ascent of one and demise of the other happen so quickly as to feel like a slap in the face—or stab in the gut—within the leisurely pace of the rest. With this stroke, Jarvis abandons the normal development of the novelist to give us a piece of violent polemic to make his particular point.

There are still 250 pages to go, but they feel like a hugely distended epilogue. We hear of the runaway success of Pickwick, which became the media sensation of its time. We hear of instances where models for one of other of the characters recognize themselves with either fury or pride. We hear of the steps taken by Dickens' publishers and associates to distance him from claims that the inspiration was not his own. And we read of the sad decline of the Seymour family, living under the shadow of theft and imputation of failure. And so the story drags on into the twentieth century, as Dickens writes other books, is honored, and dies, and Pickwick mania eventually runs its course. We even discover the real name of the annoyingly knowing Mr. Inbelicate. Not that it matters.

Had Stephen Jarvis simply entitled his book "Pickwick: a History," it might have been a non-fiction best-seller.* It would have lost the color he brings to his imagined scenes and dialogues, but his vast erudition would all fall properly into place. But as a novel, the book is an unwieldy hybrid that, for me, just doesn't work.

+ + + + + +

*Actually no. Thinking this over, I realize that the case that Jarvis is making can only be advanced in fiction. When other reviewers say they were convinced, what were they convinced by? A series of fictional encounters devised by the author to place Robert Seymour into situations that might seem to prefigure Pickwick—but we have only the author's word that they happened. I see now that the purpose of the modern archivist character, Mr. Inbelicate, is to miraculously come up with "documents" without any compunction to attest to their source; there is not a single footnote in the book itself, nor any endnote that might attempt to separate fact from fancy. There is something fundamentally dishonest about using the trappings of history to argue a real-life case of such importance, but in fact using the meretricious tools of fiction.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fact, fiction, conspiracy theory or simply pure enjoyment? 'Death and Mr Pickwick' has it all.

Yes, Dickens wrote 'The Pickwick Papers' (to give it the short title), that's a fact; undoubtedly Dickens and the original artist Richard Seymour together with publishers Chapman and Hall had many a chat over production and Stephen Jarvis reports many conversations, mostly purely fiction of course; as for conspiracy theory, well, it was always open to debate as to whether when 'Pickwick' (to give it an even shorter title) was conceived it was to be artist-led or writer-led, obviously Seymour thought the former with Dickens writing to his pictures while Charlie thought the latter with Seymour drawing to his writing but Stephen Jarvis puts a whole new complexion on the issue; but whatever else is within the pages (and there are plenty of them) there is very much pure enjoyment particularly if one is a Pickwickian or a Dickensian.

Stephen Jarvis has presented us with a vivid panorama of the early literary pre-Victorian and Victorian era followed by a most imaginative view of how 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club' (to give it its full title) was conceived and subsequently written together with some posthumous views of 'Pickwick' and its associates and areas of activity. And in the book being presented in this way, there is something of a dichotomy in that if one was not to know an awful lot about the period being written about in the early stages, much of the splendid writing could be lost on the reader.

There is plenty of detail about author/illustrator relationships, all of which is great for the literary historian (many now little known authors and illustrators strut across the pages) but it might just not be fully appreciated by the more general reader and I could fully understand if abandonment of the novel were to be the outcome before the Pickwick sensation is reached.

This fascinating and brilliantly inventive background continues for over 400 pages before the Dickens/Seymour/Pickwick question is raised in sufficient detail for its implications to be understood. Obviously by then Dickens and Seymour have, independently, made fleeting appearances in the tale so that their characters are known but it is when they come together that the drama really begins.

And drama it certainly is; I was always convinced I knew the background to Pickwick but now I am not so sure what to believe (although I realise that this book is fiction) because the views are so supremely presented one is almost led to believe them. Stephen Jarvis has obviously done much serious research into his work and the results are absolutely startling and it is a compelling read, providing the cavalcade of characters in the early stages is not too overfacing.

It is a real tour de force, even, in a loose sort of way, a literary equivalent of 'War and Peace', but I can appreciate that it may not be to everyone's taste.

[Book Riot Community]

I think any book that you read on the beach qualifies as a beach read, so why not an 800-page Dickensian novel about Dickens? (Wait is that meta?) Based on the story of The Pickwick Papers and the beginning of the career of Charles Dickens, this is a delightful novel, full of history and fun – and it’s now in paperback! It will charm your pants off.


Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/category/all-the-...

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering joys that have passed away…

Reading Stephen Jarvis monumental novel Death and Mr Pickwick was the best of times, it
captured my heart, captured my memory made me to start research on all the places, inns, anecdotes, characters, legends, caricaturists featured within the text. What a great piece of fiction though it is merely based on facts, superbly researched by an author who knows how to do that. Stephen manages with his narrating characters Scripty and Mr Inbelicate (mind the Pickwician pun) to employ range from the pre-history of the Pickwick Papers to todays’ time. The style of his book is written in episodes, within-stories, biographic parts and catchy anecdotes.

Age of Caricaturists

Stephen takes you on a print-shop stroll from Gillray, Rowlandson, Cruikshank to the modern illustrator type like Semour. Though you certainly look up some pictures of that famous illustrators you come to know them on an intimate base by the way the author presents them. Never read biographies of artists in such a condensed and fascinating form.

Crime of the Century - Controversy of the original concept of the Pickwick Club

The framework plot forms the biography of Robert Seymour, his growing up getting a famous illustrator and losing the idea of his life, the original concept of the Pickwickian characters to relatively unknown Charles Dickens (nom de plume Boz) being engaged as writer by publishers Chapman & Hall. Here the motif of non-existing people believed to exist (John Fo(r)ster) also play an important role (concept of Pickwick as thin or fat man)
Suicide, the contrast between moneymakers and artists, hedge lawyers and justice and Charles
Dickens (“Chatham Charlie”) as a new kind of artist who struck a deal with both of them and is always in fear of being covered up and losing his wealth gained by the success of his first runaway bestseller The Pickwick Papers. In my opinion Stephen Jarvis almost pities Charles Dickens and the pressure he was under all his life in one part of the novel. But that’s over when the author writes the biography of Robert Seymour’s son who probably also committed suicide and the difficult financial situation the Seymours’ had (“never earned a penny from Pickwick”) and the repellent behavior shown by Dickens giving them no support and denying Seymour’s role.

Two sides of the coin: Look behind the mask of the tragicomic clown

Pickwick Papers becomes a phenomenon of mass culture and popularity but behind the funny adventures Mr Pickwick and his companions, in the real world, there is suicide, death, lunacy, isolation, what-if-scenerarios, fear, greed and fear of failure. Therefore the dying-clown-motif of Joseph Grimaldi becomes so important. Funny outward appearance is accompanied by inward destruction. A sentimental artist (Seymour) is destroyed by cold moneymakers (Dickens, Chapman/Hall), simply spoken. Finally Seymour fails in the modern big city like his father does. But what a masterly crafted narrative by Stephen Jarvis: catchy, realistic, page turning you know while reading the story that it shall soon end up in tragedy.

Death of an Era: Coach vs. Train but Pickwick Papers remain

Regarding the story of the White Hart Inn you see that the time of coaches is over. Modern times rail in by train, Moses Pickwick takes off his wig and finally dies remembering glory days. But the Pickwick Papers remain popular, in the Great War, during the Blitz and even afterwards. Countless editions of the book appear, mugs and all other kind of stuff. Had to laugh on the episode in Death and Mr Pickwick when two gentlemen started discussing how Mr Pickwick died and how old he was.

Conclusion

Yes, it’s Death and Mr Pickwick. The Pickwick -novel remains in its outstanding popularity but behind the novel death takes its toll, sometimes disguised in funny bones episodes sometimes in outright horror and tragedy. Stephen Jarvis is the virtuoso chronicler of past and present. He tells the untold story of Robert Seymour’s genius and his untimely end, brings him back to the public memory. You have never read such a well-researched and breath-taking novel in your life. Truly, a masterpiece.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Earlier this fall, I ended up randomly stumbling across an intriguing-looking new novel at my neighborhood library, called Death and Mr. Pickwick by Stephen Jarvis, which purports to be the "true story" behind the publishing of Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers; but of course to appreciate such a novel to its fullest, I realized that I was going to have to read Dickens' original as well, so I picked that up on the same day and have been spending the last several months slowly making my way through the combined 1,600 pages of material. For those who don't know, The Pickwick Papers was Dickens' first book, after first making a splash in his early twenties with a series of short comical articles in the British penny dreadfuls. See, at the time, a hugely popular form of publishing consisted of stories mainly made up of funny illustrations, of which a writer of light verse would be hired to essentially make up lengthy captions afterwards describing what was going on, the series usually centered around a generalized concept that could be extended for as long as the pieces were popular; and this is exactly how Pickwick started out as well, originally the creation of the then-famous illustrator Robert Seymour, concerning the notes, travels and experiments of a "club" of pompous proto-scientists and wannabe-historians, with the 24-year-old Dickens originally hired simply to write a few lines of humorous prose to explain what exactly was going on in the etches, the main reason people were tuning in to begin with. But Dickens had a different idea in mind, writing lengthier and lengthier stories to go with each illustration, eagerly eaten up by what at the time was a population of rapidly rising literates, a sort of perfect storm of publishing innovations and reform in public schooling that created an insatiable public appetite for the first time for written fiction; and when Seymour ended up killing himself just a few chapters into the series, essentially the process of putting them together got reversed, with Dickens now writing the stories in advance and the hired illustrators now in charge of drawing what he was describing, not the other way around, which most historians consider a hugely positive watershed moment in the history of Victorian literature.

And Jarvis's Death and Mr. Pickwick covers this same ground, only in the opposite direction -- in his equally delightful and equally overstuffed novel, Seymour is the hero, picture-stories are to be commended, while Dickens is portrayed as the evil villain who came along and ruined everything. Although if you're going to pick up Jarvis's contemporary novel, the first thing to know is that it's not just about this subject; in fact it is no less than a sweeping look at what daily life was like in London at the dawn of the Victorian Age, and as such gets into such minute detail about such things as British restaurants and Victorian entertainment options that you will undoubtedly go mad from it all, unless you steel yourself in advance for the idea that this is why the novel even exists, not necessarily to push along a fast-moving (or even normal-moving) plot. As such, then, it's a lot of fun to make your way through as long as you have the right attitude and lots of time; although just like with Dickens' original, if you're not prepared for a regular amount of rambling, off-kilter digressions happening literally every other chapter or so, both of these giant books are going to end up driving you really crazy. It gets a limited recommendation from me today for that reason, a fine read for people who are in the mood for it, but a book you should stay far away from if you're not.

Out of 10: 8.0, or 9.0 for fans of Victorian literature

[Joy Stephenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very long and meandering book without any cohesive plot. Once I had accepted that it was going to be a series of unconnected short stories / character studies, I began to enjoy it, reading them intermittently with other books. The characters were convincing and I became absorbed in each sketch and sorry not to be following them for longer. In fact I would give the first 300 or so pages 3 stars.
Then there was a more unified section dealing with Robert Seymour’s creation of Mr Pickwick, Dickens’ takeover and Seymour’s demise and I found this part compelling and worth 4 stars.
But then the last 200 or so pages - oh, they were tedious! I felt as though I were being harangued in an attempt to convince me of Dickens’ false treatment of Seymour. I skipped and scanned much of this and when I finally reached the end I felt sheer relief that it was over.

[Lee Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pickwick Papers is my favourite novel but I came to it as a young lad only after enjoying the 1952 movie version directed by Noel Langley which appeared on CBC television at Christmas in the early 1960s. Mr. Pickwick was played by James Hayter who Americans, at least those watching PBS, will remember as Mr. Tebbs in the popular British sitcom Are You Being Served. While my classmates were reading the Hardy Boys I was immersed in the adventures of the four chums on their romp by coach through the English countryside. You can imagine my delight when I read a review of the novel by Stephen Jarvis and was reassured that it was not a sequel in which the old age and decrepitude of our hero would be imagined. There is death in this novel; in fact there are many deaths but Mr. Pickwick himself remains unscathed and immortal. The collaboration between artist and writer has always interested me and I have a particular interest in the work of Gillray and Rowlandson of the Regency period so entertainingly described in City of Laughter: Sex and Satire in Eighteenth-Century London. Now thanks to Mr. Jarvis I have been introduced to the genius of Robert Seymour, Buss and Phiz and the world of early 19th century book illustration and publishing. Several reviewers have described this novel as Dickensian in scope and I have to agree; there are hundreds of characters vividly brought to life who cover the entire spectrum of the human condition and who represent both the good and the bad impulses of human beings. I read the Kindle edition and many times I wished that I could click on a section and display one of Seymour's inspired caricatures. Fortunately Mr. Jarvis has exploited the strengths of social media to provide illustrative material on a web page, Twitter and Facebook. His account of rescuing Robert Seymour's gravestone, which had been relegated to the crypt of a church in Islington, is fascinating. The popularity of this novel may inspire someone to publish a well illustrated biography of Mr. Seymour. Now it's time to reread Pickwick Papers.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having just finished one excellent faux (Jane Harris's OBSERVATIONS) and 2 real Victorian novels I found Jarvis's attempt to undermine Dickens's reputation while writing a Dickensian novel overlong, not as good as the above, and in the end a bit tedious. He wrote some wonderful episodes and included fascinating trivia about PICKWICK PAPERS, but the constant return to a thesis (sans footnotes) that Robert Seymour created the original ideas and characters seemed petty and mean spirited. In the end I didn't care and could only wish I had been reading Dickens instead.

[Marilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving it 4 stars for effort and cleverness… but I can't say I found it particularly engaging. It follows it's the general form of it's inspiration… The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, in that it's a series of vignettes and stories as if in a journal. But the jumping around left me uninvolved and often uninterested at times. I lay it aside many times… it took me two months to read.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

a miraculous novel that was enthralling as well as educational..lots of real history here. If you liked books like DROOD or CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE, or if you love the books of Charles Divkens, you'll estvthus up.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm finished. 816 pages. Huge but ultimately a good read. Especially if you're a Dickens fan.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars
CW: suicide, spousal abuse, animal abuse, child abuse... (Basically, anything bad a man in power can do to those beneath him (children, women, animals) he's gonna do it.)

Despite having just read this novel, I am probably the least qualified person to review it. So, take everything I say with a nice chunk of salt - like, one of those big slabs for cooking on.
To begin with, I know next to nothing about Robert Seymour and I hate Charles Dickens. I loathe Dickens.
If you're wondering why I read this novel, my answer is that I've been driven mad with being quarantined in my house with my parents for too long, but I have no good excuse. I could have stopped at any time, but... I didn't. I almost felt like I was being held hostage by this book, which seems unflattering, I know. The writing was strangely addictive, even if I comprehended little and cared less.
Most of the ideas in the plot went over my head for a couple of reasons. The first one is my fault, for not interacting more with Dickens, but the second one is there was just so much writing. The story was super dense and I found it difficult to parse through. I found every time I wanted to think, "Oh, this book just needs some cleaning up and paring down," I also wondered if he was emulating Dickens, and then I didn't know what to think of the writing. (Because, as we've already established, I hate Dickens and think his works should have been slashed to 2/3 or less their length. But that's just my highly unpopular opinion.)
Overall, though, despite the stylistic choices that I really don't like, the writing is excellent. Which sounds weird, I know, but in the times when Jarvis wrote more clearly or used a different voice, his talent really shone through.

So... I would say, if you like Dickens and find his feud/disagreement with Seymour interesting, maybe try this one. It's long but well written (if you like long, Dickensian-style books) and it brings up some interesting points.
If, like me, you don't care about or hate Dickens, don't read this. I mean, I don't know why you would read this if you fall into that category, but look at me, apparently!

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was SUCH a slog at times. It took me way longer to read than the actual Pickwick Papers. I can see why you need some of the background and lead-up, etc. and it does hearken pretty well to the meandering tangents in Pickwick Papers, but Jarvis is no Dickens and for most of the first third of the book my eyes were just glazing over.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MASTERWORK OF A NOVEL

Stephen Jarvis has in Death and Mr. Pickwick created an 800+ page masterwork of a novel incorporating an astronomical amount of research and history into an incredibly readable, thought provoking, touching, funny and exciting (yes exciting) piece of literature.

Multiple vignettes, each a gorgeous little fully fleshed nugget of story, are tied together so flawlessly to the main narrative of illustrator William Seymour, writer Charles Dickens and the origin, creating, publishing and reception of The Pickwick Papers, making an incredible reading experience.

I won't go into the plot of the book, I'm sure many people leaving reviews will do this. And I'm sure there will be some controversy regarding the theories within, especially from die hard Dickens fans. Some may say it's too long, or overwritten... IT'S NOT! Don't let any of this steer you away from this amazing piece of work.

Thank you Mr. Jarvis for two weeks (I'm a slow reader) of Seymour, “Boz” and of course Pickwick and the rest of the Club! I hope you have a VERY long and prolific career.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't quite finish this on the anniversary of Dickens' death but very close. Not surprising as its 800 pages. It is a very clever debut by this writer and deserves to to be read widely though the length will no doubt put people off. It claims that you don't have to have read Pickwick - well I beg to differ. Without knowing your way round that particular book you'd soon be lost. The cast of characters is huge (fittingly) and all in stong Dickensian mode. The structure is as baggy as Pickwick and it contains embedded stories, digressions, a frame narrative and all manner of CD trickery. Also lots of subtle references to other CD books. Shouldn't be surprised if this writer doesn't win a Booker eventually - once he's learned to edit himself a bit!

[David Scrimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book captivated me.

I feel like I understand the world and other people a little better now having read it.

If any of this applies to you, I recommend you read this book:

- You've enjoyed a book by Charles Dickens
- You're interested in what life was like around 1800 to 1850
- You're interested in the use of images with writing
- You're curious about how something becomes popular culture or goes "viral"
- You like good writing

Did you know that the Pickwick Papers was the most popular work of English fiction for about a hundred years? I didn't. And it turns out that there are fascinating stories behind it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Dickens and really wanted to like this book but the writing was too dry and (sometimes) boring. Took me forever to finish and I can't even think of one good plot point. Meh.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most historical fiction consists of a fictitious story set in a real place and time with or without a few historical figures thrown in to advance the plot.

This unusual "novel" reads like an anecdotal history with most of the characters and events "Google-able" with the exception of the key plot points, which involve Charles Dickens and one of his early illustrators, Robert Seymour.

I loved the first 500 pages of this 800 page opus. Here I was afforded a feel for life in Victorian England, especially among the publishing and artistic trade. Here was Robert Seymour growing into an artist and dealing with his sexual identity. Here were Londoners staring at printshop windows, amazed by the products of the newest mass printing devices. Here are people eating and drinking and rubbing shoulders and going to debtor's prison and discussing the latest affair of Prime Minister Melbourne. The author seems to have thrown a lifetime of accumulated encyclopedic knowledge into an excellent portrait of that time and place.

Then the book went somewhat off the rails for me. Its focus and obsession became the question of whether Dickens came up with the entire plot of "The Pickwick Papers" or just 10% or 20%. The question is never who wrote it (for Seymour comes across as virtually illiterate), but who came up with the ideas for the characters and their adventures. This would be interesting reading if the discussion was supported by footnoted facts, but instead the argument is advanced through imaginary meetings and dialogues.

If the purpose of the book was to raise questions about Dickens' character, well, it was published a few decades too late. It is now well accepted that Dickens was a polygamist, a philanderer, and a horrible husband and father who had children out of wedlock and chased after teenage girls. He drank too much and was something of a misogynist. ( To be fair, he also raised a lot of money for charities, advanced progressive causes, and founded a hospital and a home for wayward prostitutes). It would come as no surprise that after the death of his partner he might try to take credit for the a larger percentage of the ideas behind the work that kicked off his amazing and prolific career than he was entitled to. Unfortunately, this book is not written in a way that is convincing and I am not sure too many people really care about who came up with which idea in "Pickwick".

So 5 stars for the first 500 pages, 3 stars for the next 100, and I wish the book had ended at that point.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like the absence of chapter headers. Sections were separated by an *. And not even that, at times. I did like reading about all the different characters in Dickens' time. However, we were jumping around so much that it would have been helpful to have a reminder of who was who. Also there were so many sections that were from the fictional characters story, it was hard to know who was real and who was fiction. And finally, the majority of the book was about Robert Seymour who was the original artist of the Pickwick Papers and then killed himself before the second edition was published. That drama was not satisfactorily settled. It was presented that Dickens and the publishers fraudulently withheld remuneration from the family of Seymour. So, mostly disappointing but interesting exploration of the middle 1800s. Also, I didn't understand the ending.

[Scott]

Brilliant foray through time and tussle, into the canny sketches by one Robert Seymour, who with Boz, invented the inimitable character “Pickwick.” A fascinating and multi-faceted read!

[John Stiles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, (816 plus pages , Guv) especially the insights into the Pickwick characters and nineteenth century Holborn landmarks, the side stories and all round Pickwickmania of 1836, London. The sad tale of Charles Whitehead, afforded an early chance to pen Pickwick, who dies penniless in Melbourne Australia, is compelling and the tale of Dickens' favourite clown Grimaldi and even sadder death of Grimaldi's drunken son is a key theme in the book.
Drink, wasted talent, poverty, petty squabbles, opportunism and death haunt the book and each episode of backalley dealings and literary and sporting obsessions ring true and while I admire the story greatly and respect how the tale is woven through so many characters, the book at times lacks the whimsical esprit and comic potency of Dickens' writing and also does not quite have you side with cast off artist Robert Seymour, in the way that you might perhaps side with Nancy, Little Nell, Oliver Twist and certainly Samuel Pickwick himself. Whom may have come up with the original idea for Pickwick is the overriding theme and the book goes to great lengths to prove that cartoonist Robert Seymour came up with the character for Pickwick, the sports theme and brilliant sketches such as 'the sagacious dog'. This may well be the case but as has been proven by so many memorable characters written in intervening years, characters such as the 'young un', Smike, Sikes, Fagin, Pegotty, Ralph Nickleby, Mrs Faversham, Pip, Madame Lefarge, Uriah Heep, Dickens had it in him to write for his time and to write characters that walked off the page and into our very mind's eye.
This is a special book in a different way. What Death and Mr Pickwick does is show in very telling detail how authors and writers come up with ideas and mold them into a format which will be appealing to the general public. In the same way that Sketches by Boz attracted considerable interest, Death and Mr Pickwick is a very promising piece of historical fiction. It is no Pickwick Papers but does a fine job of bringing attention to the genius of the parties involved in the creation of the work and also brings to light several fantastic stories about the period. The story of the George and Vulture is one that Dickens would have kicked himself for not thinking to write. What will Mr Jarvis come up with next? As a Dickens fan, later in life, I thank Mr Jarvis for this and eagerly await his next book. ***1/2

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! I was quite blown away by Stephen Jarvis's investigative novel about the creation and legacy of Dickens's Pickwick Papers. Admittedly if you are a Dickens fan (like me) then you might want to approach it with some caution, as he does not come across terribly well, and portrays some traits that are only too recognisable in some of his own less morally worthy characters. Having said that, he was only human after all, and if the deception that Jarvis writes about is to be taken as fact masquerading as fiction, then it could all be seen as a mistake that got out of hand. The consequences however are quite disastrous for other characters.

I seem to have gotten a bit ahead of myself. I don't think I am giving too much away when I say that the novel attempts to discover who was exactly responsible for the idea of Mr Pickwick - Dickens or the first illustrator associated with the book, Robert Seymour. I remember when I read Pickwick being slightly confused as to why the first four illustrations were by a different illustrator than the one normally associated with Dickens's novels, namely Phiz. This answers that question, but throws up a whole load more.

The novel is written as an investigation by two modern characters, casting light on certain occurances and guiding the reader through the myriad characters that populate the novel. As with The Pickwick Papers itself, there are many side stories and tales, all are relevant to the enquiry and told with a typical Pickwickian sense of humour. And with reference to the title there are many deaths in the book, some quite shocking, and none that would be amiss in anything by Dickens.

I don't usually take a lot of notice of book prize shortlists (apart from in a work capacity), but I am genuinely shocked that this seems to have been so overlooked by the major UK prizes. Is it a plot? Is it in fear that Stephen Jarvis will reveal more secrets from the literary world if he is encouraged? Read 'Death and Mr Pickwick' and you might start to think the same...

[Katie Kwon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, that was 800 pages in defense of an idea that is, to my mind, meaningless. I don't care how much inspiration Dickens got from the original illustrator of Pickwick. It's his language that makes the book so wonderful. Jarvis inadvertently proves this in his long dull doorstop of a book, which only begins to be interesting when Boz shows up. And the die hard Pickwick scholars? They're quoting Wellerisms and writing concordances, not going over every particle of an engraving. It's all gammon, gammon and spinach!

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricky one, this. On the one hand it is no rich and detailed. So overindulgent on even the smallest matters, that I loved it. But on the other hand, there are chunks that simply wind away too far, threads dropped only to be picked up again seemingly centuries later that it is difficult to really enjoy throughout. One thing is for sure, the author needs to be admired and applauded for the sheer amount of work that has gone into this book. (Also, I am now very curious to find out more about Seymoure & his engravings)

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always bitter-sweet for me to finish a novel that I have really enjoyed. I was able to take my time with this one and I found it extremely interesting. The amount of research alone that went into this work is very impressive. The pace and flow kept me turning pages in eager anticipation. I am ready to read the Pickwick Papers again with a new eye to it's history and background. I have become a follower of the author, Stephen Jarvis, on FB where he posts a host of Pickwickian fare and does not mind answering a question or two. I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Eric Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5-Star rating is something I try not to give too often. However, in the case of this book, I'm going to have to do just that; mostly because of the time and effort the author must have put into the writing of this tome. The content, of course, is also an important aspect of my rating.

A funny little story about this book...

Quite a few years ago, a group of friends were having an ongoing discussion about Dickens and his books/stories. We had a specific thread going just for The Pickwick Papers, formerly known as The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, written in series fashion by Charles Dickens starting in March of 1836. The first two monthly serials were illustrated by Robert Seymour.

A fellow (the author - Stephen Jarvis) contacted me after seeing our Pickwick discussion. He introduced himself and explained to me that he was in the process of writing a book that would be following the history of Seymour's involvement along with Dickens' input in the publication of this serial. He asked me to take a look at his forthcoming book once it was published. He may have even reminded me of this when the book actually did come out in the stores. I don't remember.

Anyway, I always remembered this fellow and the conversation we had back and forth a couple times regarding Dickens, Seymour, and this fellow's upcoming book. When the book finally did come out back in 2015, I think, I jotted a note to give it a go, but Life, as it often does, butted in. I had forgotten this book until scrolling through my ebook library on my Nook and remembered acquiring the book a few years previous to now.

Well, I've read this book... and am thoroughly impressed, and slightly awed by what I know must have been a MAJOR research and writing effort for Mr. Jarvis. I'm also quite sure this was a long, long time labor of love for him; possibly a bit of an obsession. That's a good thing because regardless of his motivation, the book was completed and published so that we could read and enjoy it.

The story is a fictionalized (or is it?) very detailed accounting of the history of the initial idea and development of the Pickwick characters and themes. For those of you who don't know about this, there has been a long running debate on who/when/how Pickwick got its start. Did the illustrator Seymour come up with the idea first or did Dickens? Personally, from my own bits of research over the years, I've always leaned toward Seymour. What Mr. Jarvis does in this book, is create a story (or is it just a story?) to explain this longstanding debate.

Any of you out there interested in Dickens, Pickwick, early 19th century England and its literary and other histories will very much enjoy reading this book. It's an intriguing, detailed, and somewhat sad story. Pick up a copy and give it a go. You may enjoy it as much as I did.