1000 Books Before You Die discussion

For discussion of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

This is the funniest Dickens book by far.

I am looking forward to reading this one. Not sure about the length of it though. About 800 pages. Yikes!

The book is written in episodes, so it lends itself to breaks if you want to read something shorter. That is what I did.

Good to know. Thanks Rosemarie.

Rosemarie wrote: "The book is written in episodes, so it lends itself to breaks if you want to read something shorter. That is what I did."
Rosemarie, having read a Christmas Carol, loved it, but given up for now on A Tale Of Two Cities, which Dickens would you recommend?

I studied A Tale of Two Cities and didn't really like it. I reread it a couple of years ago and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I find that as I get older, I am enjoying Dickens more and more. A Tale of Two Cities is dramatic, with a lot of action. Pickwick Papers is a charming episodic novel. Both are good in their own way, depending on what you are in the mood for.

I thought this was quite funny in places, though parts of it irritated me. The worst thing about it was the phonetic spelling, particularly that used for the Wellers, which made some parts almost impossible to understand even though I’m a Londoner! I suspect anyone who has English as their second language would really struggle to make any sense of it. A dictionary won’t help.

This was the book that made me realize the Dickens was totally awesome. My dad must have had a bad experience because he had me convinced that Dickens as filled with endless, boring descriptions. Thankfully, a friend handed me the audiobook of The Pickwick Papers read by Patrick Tull and a true love was born. Who can resist comedy and ghost stories?