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The Friendly Dickens
The Friendly Dickens helps you turn the pages of a masterpiece like David Copperfield or an "obscure" novel like Nicholas Nickleby as eagerly as you switch channels. Norrie Epstein - whose The Friendly Shakespeare was called "spirited, informative and provocative" by The New York Times - strips away the polite veneer of Victorian society to reveal Dickens's life and times in all their squalor and glory, from his childhood days toiling in a blacking factory while his father languished in debtor's prison, to his first visit to the United States, where he was hailed as the greatest living writer. The Friendly Dickens includes an illuminating guide to all of Dickens's works and lively appreciations of characters both major and minor, interviews with aficionados from Patrick Stewart to biographer Phyllis Rose, eye-catching illustrations, copious quotations, a highly opinionated filmography and informative sidebars on almost every page.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 5, 2018
This is a wonderful and helpful book about all things Charles Dickens. I wish it was available in Nook or Kindle format, but I have a hardcover edition that I continually refer to. Norrie Epstein, who did a similar book on Shakespeare, takes us on a visit to all things Charles Dickens. The life, the characters, the books, the times, and the man. It is a good resource, but it is also an enjoyable and easy read. I would say that Charles Dickens is always "friendly," but a little help along the way with reading him is a great idea. As much as any book I've read, a resource to be kept on Dickens.
March 23, 2019
Norrie Epstein’s The Friendly Dickens fits between the major biographies of Dickens such as the very fine and exhaustively researched Peter Ackroyd and the marginalized searches done on Google or found in Wikipedia. Epstein’s book presents much scholarly insight into Dickens, his books and, most importantly, points out and presents much of the Victorian micro-history that is connected to Dickens and his novels. I really enjoyed the tone, substance, and insights offered by Epstein.
Not every Dickens novel receives equal analytical treatment or commentary. It may be that as a reader you may want a more detailed and thorough analysis of a novel. If so, you will be disappointed. This book is more of a friend and companion than it is an exhaustive analysis. Still, as a friend this book will encourage you to read Dickens’s novels with a freshness and joy. For me, at least, I often want to be informed and enlightened by a friendly tone rather than be burdened by an in depth analysis.
I would suggest that this biography or the venerable two volume Edgar Johnson biography of Dickens as a perfect place to begin moving into the novels and the life and times of Dickens.
Enjoy.
Not every Dickens novel receives equal analytical treatment or commentary. It may be that as a reader you may want a more detailed and thorough analysis of a novel. If so, you will be disappointed. This book is more of a friend and companion than it is an exhaustive analysis. Still, as a friend this book will encourage you to read Dickens’s novels with a freshness and joy. For me, at least, I often want to be informed and enlightened by a friendly tone rather than be burdened by an in depth analysis.
I would suggest that this biography or the venerable two volume Edgar Johnson biography of Dickens as a perfect place to begin moving into the novels and the life and times of Dickens.
Enjoy.
May 21, 2016
I've been looking for some time for an accessible book covering Dickens's books that didn't require me to read a massive biography of Dickens. I am somewhat interested in his life, but really just as it applies to his novels. This looked as if it would do the trick.
I wound up with a love-hate relationship with this book. There is so much interesting information, entertainingly relayed, that it was a pleasure to read.
On the other hand, it clearly shows the modern idée fixe of seeing sex everywhere, whether Dickens intended it or not. Epstein also has a problem with slipping from the speculative to the absolute. For example, she slides from mentioning that some have thought Fagin was a pederast into using that supposition as a fact when she wonders why Fagin was named after a boyhood friend and mentor of Dickens. Anyone who has read Oliver Twist knows there are many possibilities when one considers the fiction and Dickens' friendship, but to spend several long paragraphs delicately sidling up to the idea that Bob Fagin's mentorship might have been something else (ick) is irresponsible. And that's not the only slide she goes down.
It became tiring and annoying to continually have to be alert for Epstein's lapses this way. Not that I had to be too alert because most of them were forced on me at unexpected moments. However, it wasn't enough to make me ignore the rest of the book's value. So I kept reading.
Unfortunately I discovered that the desire to continually inject sex into the conversation wasn't the Epstein's only problem. Writing about Bleak House and the revelation of Miss Flite's birds' names at the end, she showed a startling lack of knowledge.
This was when another large portion of credibility went out the door.
Again, the book does have value. But one must read it very carefully. For the time being I will stick with George Gissing's works on the master. I have read and enjoyed G.K. Chesterton's writing about Dickens but, as with other nonfiction studies, one often must know the basics on the topic before one can delve into his commentary.
I wound up with a love-hate relationship with this book. There is so much interesting information, entertainingly relayed, that it was a pleasure to read.
On the other hand, it clearly shows the modern idée fixe of seeing sex everywhere, whether Dickens intended it or not. Epstein also has a problem with slipping from the speculative to the absolute. For example, she slides from mentioning that some have thought Fagin was a pederast into using that supposition as a fact when she wonders why Fagin was named after a boyhood friend and mentor of Dickens. Anyone who has read Oliver Twist knows there are many possibilities when one considers the fiction and Dickens' friendship, but to spend several long paragraphs delicately sidling up to the idea that Bob Fagin's mentorship might have been something else (ick) is irresponsible. And that's not the only slide she goes down.
It became tiring and annoying to continually have to be alert for Epstein's lapses this way. Not that I had to be too alert because most of them were forced on me at unexpected moments. However, it wasn't enough to make me ignore the rest of the book's value. So I kept reading.
Unfortunately I discovered that the desire to continually inject sex into the conversation wasn't the Epstein's only problem. Writing about Bleak House and the revelation of Miss Flite's birds' names at the end, she showed a startling lack of knowledge.
... Sheepskin, Plunder, Precedent, Jargon, Gammon and Spinach.Except that "Gammon and Spinach" is a phrase that I know from reading many books by authors of that time and later. It means nonsense or humbug. I was stunned that the author didn't seem to recognize the phrase at all.
With accumulating intensity, Miss Flite's roll call corresponds to the forces that blight Hope, Joy, Youth, and Beauty—it is a litany of the evils of Chancery itself. The final name "Spinach," is the surprise; its very unexpectedness evokes the absurdity of existence in the Bleak House world.
This was when another large portion of credibility went out the door.
Again, the book does have value. But one must read it very carefully. For the time being I will stick with George Gissing's works on the master. I have read and enjoyed G.K. Chesterton's writing about Dickens but, as with other nonfiction studies, one often must know the basics on the topic before one can delve into his commentary.
October 26, 2026
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times reading this delightful, mixed bag of a book. Yes, the subject is the master of the English novel, and a writer whose work has had a huge impact far beyond its time (and in certain cases, far beyond its worth). Alas, the book here does its best to present the reader with an appreciation of a true genius, ever so humbly.
"The Friendly Dickens," by Norrie Epstein, is very similar to her other great work, "The Friendly Shakespeare." In both, Epstein tries to turn their literary masterpieces into more approachable pieces, and here she mostly succeeds. I think the flaw in the book is that, if you're coming to Dickens with not as much exposure as you might like, Epstein tends to spoil the endings of some of the novels. Not like that would keep me from reading the ones I haven't read yet, but it does make the experience of doing so feel a little less magical.
That being said, "The Friendly Dickens" does a service to those of us who enjoy his work and want to know more about the man, without necessarily diving deep into epic doorstop-length biographies of the man. Charles Dickens became a paragon of Victorian life, but a complicated one; Norrie Epstein appreciates the many facets of the author. "The Friendly Dickens" is a cozy read, full of fellow-feeling and warmth. I just wish it hadn't spoiled the ending of numerous Dickens works.
"The Friendly Dickens," by Norrie Epstein, is very similar to her other great work, "The Friendly Shakespeare." In both, Epstein tries to turn their literary masterpieces into more approachable pieces, and here she mostly succeeds. I think the flaw in the book is that, if you're coming to Dickens with not as much exposure as you might like, Epstein tends to spoil the endings of some of the novels. Not like that would keep me from reading the ones I haven't read yet, but it does make the experience of doing so feel a little less magical.
That being said, "The Friendly Dickens" does a service to those of us who enjoy his work and want to know more about the man, without necessarily diving deep into epic doorstop-length biographies of the man. Charles Dickens became a paragon of Victorian life, but a complicated one; Norrie Epstein appreciates the many facets of the author. "The Friendly Dickens" is a cozy read, full of fellow-feeling and warmth. I just wish it hadn't spoiled the ending of numerous Dickens works.
October 14, 2007
This really is a solid overview of Charles Dickens's life, career and cultural impact.
As someone who finds Dickens an unusually daunting author I can say that this book finally gave me a sense of what Dickens achieved. Norrie Epstein virtually holds the reader's hand as she guides us through the ups and downs of the life of this rather peevish literary titan.
This book is very engaging. If Dickens himself is a less than delightful human being, this treatment of him gently reminds us that our picture of 19th-century London is almost entirely due to Dickens's journalistic abilities. This book also makes it clear that what we take to be Dickens's sentimentality is rooted in his sense of outrage at his mother's betrayal of him. When Dickens's father was put into debtor's prison, Dickens was put into a workhouse. When he left the workhouse his mother tried to get him put back in. It seems as if a relative prevented this. The template for many Dickens novels was thus created.
We see Dickens, the young reporter, learning his craft by writing brief, pithy articles about trials and lawyers and criminals. He knew the court-system. He gradually changed from a reporter to a humorist and then into a comic novelist. Finally, he became the conscience of Britain.
That he was capable of abandoning his wife and children at the height of his career seems shocking, but, then again, he was INDEED at the height of his career and could, indeed, support them. The man who wrote about injustice from the point of view of the victim was, on a personal level, something of a cur. But so were James Joyce and John Lennon. They were artists. They left us their art, not themselves.
The only thing I've read by Dickens is A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which I read years before reading THE FRIENDLY DICKENS. But I am pleased to have read THE FRIENDLY DICKENS. I learned about a British writer whose life parallels that of Mark Twain in many ways. (Both went on tours, reading aloud from their books, which greatly enhanced the value of those books to the people who attended the readings; both became fantastically well-loved and both remain national icons of their respective countries.) Maybe if Dickens were around I'd go hear him read from GREAT EXPECTATIONS. If he were still around I could, possibly, bring myself to read it.
As someone who finds Dickens an unusually daunting author I can say that this book finally gave me a sense of what Dickens achieved. Norrie Epstein virtually holds the reader's hand as she guides us through the ups and downs of the life of this rather peevish literary titan.
This book is very engaging. If Dickens himself is a less than delightful human being, this treatment of him gently reminds us that our picture of 19th-century London is almost entirely due to Dickens's journalistic abilities. This book also makes it clear that what we take to be Dickens's sentimentality is rooted in his sense of outrage at his mother's betrayal of him. When Dickens's father was put into debtor's prison, Dickens was put into a workhouse. When he left the workhouse his mother tried to get him put back in. It seems as if a relative prevented this. The template for many Dickens novels was thus created.
We see Dickens, the young reporter, learning his craft by writing brief, pithy articles about trials and lawyers and criminals. He knew the court-system. He gradually changed from a reporter to a humorist and then into a comic novelist. Finally, he became the conscience of Britain.
That he was capable of abandoning his wife and children at the height of his career seems shocking, but, then again, he was INDEED at the height of his career and could, indeed, support them. The man who wrote about injustice from the point of view of the victim was, on a personal level, something of a cur. But so were James Joyce and John Lennon. They were artists. They left us their art, not themselves.
The only thing I've read by Dickens is A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which I read years before reading THE FRIENDLY DICKENS. But I am pleased to have read THE FRIENDLY DICKENS. I learned about a British writer whose life parallels that of Mark Twain in many ways. (Both went on tours, reading aloud from their books, which greatly enhanced the value of those books to the people who attended the readings; both became fantastically well-loved and both remain national icons of their respective countries.) Maybe if Dickens were around I'd go hear him read from GREAT EXPECTATIONS. If he were still around I could, possibly, bring myself to read it.
October 24, 2011
I've owned Norrie Epstein's The Friendly Shakespeare for some years, and was delighted to discover she's done the same for Charles Dickens, that is, written a guide to Dickens' life and works that is thoroughly accessible, interesting and fun. It includes background to the novels, guides to the films made from the novel, and interviews with actors, scholars and other articulate people. You can read this through, or dip into it as you like. If you are fond of Dickens, or even if you are rather put off by him -- particularly if you are one of those unfortunate people who haven't read A Christmas Carol because it's "too long", you should probably get this book out of the library. I did (get it out of the library, I mean), and now plan to purchase it.
November 11, 2020
This is a fine little book for folks who don't know a lot about Dickens or his work. There's a little of everything--a synopsis of each novel, quotes from other writers, pictures, stories behind the works, etc. If you're looking for an in depth study, this isn't it. It's just what the title says, a friendly (simple) look at the life of Dickens and his work.
"People who read usually love Dickens simply because the magic of reading him captures all the old pleasures of childhood reading. For one thing, he gives us a story--all too rare today, and for anyone who loves words, his books are a linguistic banquet." -Garry Wills
"People who read usually love Dickens simply because the magic of reading him captures all the old pleasures of childhood reading. For one thing, he gives us a story--all too rare today, and for anyone who loves words, his books are a linguistic banquet." -Garry Wills
July 14, 2022
WOW!!! So much I didn't know about Charles Dickens!!! The author did make a number of assumptions, though, with which I don't necessarily agree. This book makes me want to read ALL of his books--some for the first time and some to read again.
November 14, 2019
Norrie Epstein is definitely on my fantasy dinner party list. The Friendly Dickens is informative, scurrilous, witty and engaging. My new favourite Dickens reference.
October 26, 2020
Victoriana. Reference. Biographical. Novel summaries. His pet crow was the inspiration for Poe’s Raven poem.
March 5, 2011
This is another installation of a series that includes The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard and The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense and Sensibility and is as engaging and entertaining as the others. This book is very breezy and conversational. Broken into short chapters either dealing with his biography, his works, or certain themes that were important to him, there is a lot of variety for whatever sort of Dickens fan you are. I have only one major problem with a certain section which featured some idiotic Dickens academic who claimed that the sexiest moment in any Dickens work was when David is beaten by Mr. Murdstone. I have a problem with a person calling child abuse "sexy". If you find that arousing, I think you should probably have the decency to not admit it outside of a therapy session where you work through that problem. It shouldn't be included in a book about Charles Dickens.
Since there are some books that I have not read, I have not read all the chapters in the book, not wanted anything to be spoiled. This book is a must and a joy to fans of Dickens.
Since there are some books that I have not read, I have not read all the chapters in the book, not wanted anything to be spoiled. This book is a must and a joy to fans of Dickens.
April 8, 2016
Read selected chapters to prepare for book club discussion: “The First Time: Memories of Dickens,” “Bleak House,” “Dickens’s London,” “Power Walking.” Very friendly, informative, full of blurbs and quotes. Will go back and refer to it as I return to other Dickens. Tempted to check out Friendly Shakespeare by the same author.
December 31, 2007
I didn't like this one QUITE as much as Shakespeare--mostly because I don't find Dickens that inaccessible. But it still is interesting, and Epstien has a gift for making writers accessible. If only she'd make more of these!
January 8, 2010
Gossipy, anecdotal, insightful and highly opinionated, this was an enormously fun overview of Charles Dickens’ life and work. Epstein neither deifies nor demonizes ‘The Inimitable,’ but, instead tries to impart to the reader her tremendous enthusiasm and love for his oeuvre.
August 11, 2011
Great insight to the Victorians and how they reacted to Dickens's works. It's very fun to read.
September 13, 2011
Very good overview of Dickens' life, work, and cultural impact.
Want to Read
December 17, 2011823.8 EPS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2008
Good, light overview of his life and all his novels. not dry in the slightest.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews