I'm enjoying Oliver Twist. This is my first time reading it, though I remember some of the story from film versions. Dickens was an enormously talented writer. He tells the story vividly. I find it exciting even though I know much of what's coming.
Dickens had a tendency to draw caricatures, though. And his incessant references to "The Jew" Fagin, who is a thoroughly vicious and ignoble character are jarring. It seems from the text that Dickens had an irrational animus against Jews... The truth might be more complicated, though. I gather from the Wikipedia entry that after receiving some criticism on that score he halted printing of the book and removed references to Fagin as Jewish and included a very noble Jewish character in his next novel.
I recall reading an excellent essay about Dickens by Virginia Woolf, but I haven't been able to find it again. When i do I'll post it here.
Dickens had a tendency to draw caricatures, though. And his incessant references to "The Jew" Fagin, who is a thoroughly vicious and ignoble character are jarring. It seems from the text that Dickens had an irrational animus against Jews... The truth might be more complicated, though. I gather from the Wikipedia entry that after receiving some criticism on that score he halted printing of the book and removed references to Fagin as Jewish and included a very noble Jewish character in his next novel.
I recall reading an excellent essay about Dickens by Virginia Woolf, but I haven't been able to find it again. When i do I'll post it here.