“Please, sir, I want some more.”



Oliver Twist is one of those novels in which you can definitely tell, while reading it, that at the time it was published it was a hit. Charles Dickens was giving people what they wanted, back in 1837. You can also tell, by the way it is structured, that it was published in "episodes". There are some classics which, when you read them, feel like they are timeless, that any era can be their era; they feel modern, always - regardless of the time of publication. Oliver Twist is not one of them. This novel is over-dramatic, sensationalist, tear-jerking, and - let's face it - racist. Nevertheless, people still read it. Why? There must be something, in the story of this poor, helpless, pure boy, that keeps people glued to the pages - even after almost two centuries.



I think that the main reason why this book can still hit you right in the feels is the fact that Charles Dickens wrote from personal experience: his life hadn't been much different from poor Oliver's; he grew up in a workhouse and I am pretty sure he got his fair share of abuse in there too. There is something inside us human beings, some sort of morbid curiosity, which brings us to read books like this one in which horrible things happen to innocent people - maybe we look for redemption, we hope for a happy ending in which all wrongs will be righted and the bad guy will be punished and everyone will live happily ever after. There is something comforting in knowing that an older novel like this is going to have a happy ending because in our novels of the same kind (*cough* A Little Life *cough*) there is no redemption, no righting of the wrongs, no escape from the pain and sadness; good people don't end up having good lives just because they are good; and bad things happen to righteous people too. Reading a novel like this, feels like reading a fairy tale: it gives us hope in a better future in which maybe our wrongs will be made right too.



Oliver was born surrounded by pain; grew up surrounded by pain. He was abused and exploited by every single person who put his/her hands on him. But did this turn him into a bad person, into an abuser himself? No. Old Fagin tried all his life to break Oliver's pure heart, to make him a criminal just like the other boys in the company; but Oliver stayed pure and innocent, and in the end his goodness was rewarded, and the bad guy punished. Is it realistic? Maybe not. But does it feel wholesome and gives you hope that miracles maybe after all do exist? Yes. And that is what fairy tales do. I wish there were more wholesome - and somewhat naive - books like this one today too. Sometimes the cynicism and disillusion of our society is crashing. Escaping is okay, hoping in a happy ending is okay! We don't have to be extra-critical with this type of attitude towards life.

On a side note; Charles Dickens was a genius writer. I mean, look at that prose! One of my favourite classics growing up, and definitely stood the test of time.

I have in my 37 years of life avoided reading Charles Dickens. My reason: after having suffered through trying to read the so-called English literature of his era--think Thomas Harding, Emile Bronte and Mary Shelly--I figured Dickens would be no better. For some reason I can’t now recollect, I decided to give Dickens a try. I chose Oliver Twist. And was immediately hooked. Far from the boring narrative one finds the works of the other English writers I've already mentioned, Dickens has a very personable, simple, attractive writing style.

As its title suggests, the book itself is about Oliver Twist. He's an orphan who, constantly abused, finally runs away and goes to London for there he figures he'll never be found. During his trip to that city, he meets a youth of perhaps thirteen years who calls himself the Artful Dodger. He's a pick pocket, and he brings poor Oliver into a den of thieves, one headed by a fence named Fagin. Here is a character of very bad reputation. Alas, he also demonstrates Dickens’ obvious anti-Semitism. Fagin represents a caricature of all “bad” Jews. Despite this flaw, Dickens nonetheless makes him a compelling villain. His other primary rogue, Bill Sikes the housebreaker, is even more dangerous and more terrifying.

Poor Oliver is soon used as a decoy while the Artful Dodger and his fellow pickpocket, Charley Bates, steal from a gentleman looking at books at a bookstand. Oliver is caught, taken to the magistrate, then befriended by the very man who thought Oliver had picked his pocket: Mr. Brownlow. From here Oliver’s adventures for the most part recall the terrible things that happen to the poor boy: he’s kidnapped, compelled to be a house breaker, and has a variety of other problems. Along the way he learns that not all the adults in the world are as compassionless as those who ran the Parish orphanage from whence he came.

This book is more than a compelling tale: it is biting social commentary, attacking the terrible conditions that the English masses had to endure in the first half of the 19th century; it is especially critical of the unfair Poor Law. England at that time was in essence what the free market advocates want in America to be today: they want no government interference in business nor the government to manage anyone’s lives’ let the market to take care of it! Thus an orphanage isn’t a place where you keep children until they can be adopted or come of age, it’s a place where you work the them to turn a profit. Oddly, this tale rings very true to our society today, but even if you have no interest whatsoever in society in general and politics and economics in particular, it’s nonetheless a wonderful tale well worth reading.

This is one of his more sever criticisms of 19c London society, but also a rags-to-not-exactly-riches story for the eponymous protagonist. Entertaining and highly descriptive, as to be expected in Dickens, it remains in the upper end of the English lit canon for good reason.

What disturbed me, however, was the rather explicit anti-Semitism. The primary villain Fagin is referred to constantly as “the Jew” as was one of his “employees” in the 3 Cripples establishment. I realize that societal mores have evolved, but given his relatively liberal reading of society, I was disappointed to see Dickens stooping to stereotypes and outright judgement of people based on their appearance (big nose, dark countenance, frizzy hair) and religion.

That put aside, the story of Oliver is a rough one particularly the abuse he takes as a child, the working house, and of course in Fagin’s employ. The murder of Nancy by Sykes is extremely brutal (but thankfully does not go unpunished), which is a break from the other Dickens I have read. I think the denouement was a little confusing - it seems to me that Dickens was trying to hard to tie up a whole herd of loose ends - and for that reason plus the aforementioned anti-Semitism, this one rates four stars for me.

Nel 1837, pubblicandolo dapprima a puntate su una rivista e successivamente stampandolo in volume, con Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens [1812-1870] consolida finalmente il successo che aveva inseguito fino allora: grazie ad una trama avvincente piena di avventure e imprevisti nello scenario di una Londra caliginosa, opprimente e brulicante di vita, Oliver giovanissimo protagonista invece di buttare via la sua vita nei bassifondi della grande città, prova con ostinata perseveranza a tenersi lontano dalla malvagità e di trovare il suo posto nella vita e nella società onesta a dispetto di tanti nemici che vorrebbero approfittare della sua giovane età e ingenuità. Lo scrittore apre così la strada ai suoi successivi trionfi letterari che lo renderanno immortale: molti i coprotagonisti “cattivi” tra cui emergono, abilmente tratteggiate, la laida figura dell’ebreo Fagin e del suo socio, il violento, irriducibile Sikes, quella dell’enigmatico e apparentemente misterioso Monk, dei sordidi coniugi Bubbles mentre tra i “buoni” si distinguono la dolcissima Rose, il signor Brownlow, anziano paladino del giovane protagonista, senza dimenticare la romantica figura di Nancy pronta al sacrificio personale nel tentativo di aiutare Oliver. Un grande romanzo dunque, ricco di umanità e buoni sentimenti che a fatica ma con perseveranza la spunteranno sul male.

n  “It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.”n

Welcome to the 19th century! The Industrial Revolution is in full flow. Money is being made, the population is thriving. The working-class is suffering and the Poor Law is in operation. Oliver Twist is born under testing circumstances as his unmarried mother dies in childbirth and his father is nowhere to be found. The Poor Law stated: "..... poor-law authorities should no longer attempt to identify the fathers of illegitimate children and recover the costs of child support from them." Hence, Oliver is now an illegitimate orphan. The book details on Oliver's struggles as a child, the mistreatment he receives from a society of scoundrels in a dog-eat-dog world.

Oliver Twist is well known for its portrayal of English workhouse conditions. The infamous scene where the hungry children draw lots and the loser must ask for a second portion of gruel. Upon being asked, the well-fed, hypocritical workhouse owners brand him a troublemaker and offer to send him away to anyone willing, showing another cruel aspect of the Poor Law and the mistreatment of orphans at the time.

n  n    n    n      "Please, sir, I want some more."n    n  n

The story showcases Oliver's pure soul in a world of misery and poverty. The novel also illustrates a horrific image of 19th century London slums, riddled with disease and poverty with shady crime circles. We see a world where even children are not spared their innocence.

n  n    n   
n    n      "Oliver meets the Artful Dodger."n    n  n

Despite the grim contents of the book, the story, however, eventually proves that kindness does lurk in murky corners as well. Oliver finds himself the recipient of love more than once in the novel and his story eventually finds a respectable conclusion. A personal favorite of mine, Oliver Twist to me is the definitive illustration of Dickensian literature. A representation of 19th century poverty and crime, the novel is a classic tale of a child's survival in a world marked by cruelty.

Review to come!

Rereading classics that I've adored previously or like with this one, grew up with the storyline is quite interesting. While I still find a lot of the things I like by a story I also read the things in the story that isn't so great. Classics in general can have quite dusty ideas about people so it's far from a perfect book Yet it's a story I come back to time and time again.
---

I grew up with Oliver twist retellings and adaptations so I got nostalgic feeling for him. The story is deeply moving and so extreme, I just wanna reach down my book and pick him up into safety. Even tough this might not be Charles Dickens best work, I can see that, but it's still is one of those books that means the most for me I given it 5 stars.

welcome to...OCTOBER TWIST.

this is project long classics, in which i read intimidating books over a whole month and my little treat is i get to come up with a title + time-based pun as i do so.

charles dickens books are some of the scariest of all, so only a truly irresistible (read: terrible) pun could convince me.

this has 53 chapters (ugh, it's almost like dickens didn't think about a 26 year old annoying person centuries in the future trying to divide evenly), so i'll read 2-ish per day.


CHAPTER 1: TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTH
why does this chapter title seem like dickens was immediately worried about hitting word count.

in this we establish that oliver twist's circumstances have been miserable from birth, other than the fact that his mom was hot.


CHAPTER 2: TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST'S GROWTH, EDUCATION, AND BOARD
there are little to no treats involved in either of these chapters, in case you were wondering. mostly just a lot of sarcastic comments about social issues in england.

please sir i want some more alert!


CHAPTER 3: REVEALS HOW OLIVER TWIST WAS VERY NEAR GETTING A PLACE, WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SINECURE
sometimes if you really, really don't want to do something, such as homework or being indentured to a chimney sweep, you can just cry a lot and hope to be too annoying to deal with.


CHAPTER 4: OLIVER, BEING OFFERED ANOTHER PLACE, MAKES HIS FIRST ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE
would you rather be a coffin-maker or a chimney sweep? vibes are worse for a coffin-maker but i feel like the day-to-day is probably more chill than trying to dislodge ash or whatever.


CHAPTER 5: OLIVER MINGLES WITH NEW ASSOCIATES. GOING TO A FUNERAL FOR THE FIRST TIME, HE FORMS AN UNFAVORABLE NOTION OF HIS MASTER'S BUSINESS
how much do you want to bet the titular new associates are, like, rats or spiders or something to display just how miserable oliver's life is.

ah, no. it was just a mean guy i think.


CHAPTER 6: OLIVER, BEING GOADED BY THE TAUNTS OF NOAH, ROUSES INTO ACTION AND RATHER ASTONISHES HIM
this chapter is only a few pages long and basically covers what the title does (and just slightly more verbosely).


CHAPTER 7: OLIVER CONTINUES REFRACTORY
i feel like if i was a kid and i said to my friend "ok pal see you later, hope you're doing good" and they responded like "surely i won't do well by any means until the good lord sees it fit to call me back...for this world is cruel and punishing, and my suffering seems to abound..." i'd need to end that friendship.


CHAPTER 8: OLIVER WALKS TO LONDON. HE ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD A STRANGE SORT OF YOUNG GENTLEMAN
i love a good walk as much as the next person but 65 miles in the winter with only a crust of bread seems a bit much.


CHAPTER 9: CONTAINING FURTHER PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE PLEASANT OLD GENTLEMAN AND HIS HOPEFUL PUPILS
i just know adjectives hate to see charles dickens coming. anyway it appears oliver is on the cusp of joining london's old timey bling ring.


CHAPTER 10: OLIVER BECOMES BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH THE CHARACTERS OF HIS NEW ASSOCIATES; AND PURCHASES EXPERIENCE AT A HIGH PRICE. BEING A SHORT BUT VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER IN THIS HISTORY
you're kidding me with this. now we're vouching for the quality of the chapters in their titles? this isn't even the shortest chapter so far. what are we doing here.

oliver just got bashed in the head (normal) and arrested for robbery (exceptional). you didn't have to tell me that the first entry on his felony record was "very important," chuck.


CHAPTER 11: TREATS OF MR. FANG, THE POLICE MAGISTRATE; AND FURNISHES A SLIGHT SPECIMEN OF HIS MODE OF ADMINISTERING JUSTICE
insane to name a bad guy "mr fang." i'm going to write a work of classic literature and name the villain "sir things-that-are-bad."


CHAPTER 12: IN WHICH OLIVER IS TAKEN BETTER CARE OF THAN HE EVER WAS BEFORE. AND IN WHICH THE NARRATIVE REVERTS TO THE MERRY OLD GENTLEMAN AND HIS YOUTHFUL FRIENDS
now oliver has been rescued by the man his colleagues robbed and spends his days laying bed and hanging out in the company of nice old ladies. otherwise known as the american dream.


CHAPTER 13: SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES ARE INTRODUCED TO THE INTELLIGENT READER; CONNECTED WITH WHOM VARIOUS PLEASANT MATTERS ARE RELATED APPERTAINING TO THIS HISTORY
maybe i wouldn't complain so much about these chapter titles if all of them contained nice little compliments to me.

ok it appears this one was meant to be sarcastic. so never mind.


CHAPTER 14: COMPRISING FURTHER PARTICULARS OF OLIVER'S STAY AT MR BROWNLOW'S, WITH THE REMARKABLE PREDICTION WHICH ONE MR GRIMWIG OFFERED CONCERNING HIM WHEN HE WENT OUT ON AN ERRAND
okay. i get that oliver's life has been really hard. and far be it from me to be unsympathetic to a literary character (something i dabble in approximately every day of my life)...but this kid cries too damn much.


CHAPTER 15: SHOWING HOW VERY FOND OF OLIVER TWIST THE MERRY OLD JEW AND MISS NANCY WERE
slang used to be so much more fun and less coherent. ah yes, of course, "jerk the tinkler" meaning "ring the bell." why didn't you say so.


CHAPTER 16: RELATES WHAT BECAME OF OLIVER TWIST, AFTER HE HAD BEEN CLAIMED BY NANCY
clearly i am not the sweetest kindest largest-hearted reader in the world, but i'll get this on the record anyway: a book being as sad / tortuous as possible does not equal a plot to me.


CHAPTER 17: OLIVER'S DESTINY, CONTINUING UNPROPITIOUS, BRINGS A GREAT MAN TO LONDON TO INJURE HIS REPUTATION
seems like dickens didn't heed my last-chapter warning. this is just all religious children begging for god to grant them mercy in the form of a swift death and innocent children being anecdotally convicted of social crimes.


CHAPTER 18: HOW OLIVER PASSED HIS TIME IN THE IMPROVING SOCIETY OF HIS REPUTABLE FRIENDS
nothing scarier to charles dickens than a noun without a nearby adjective. anyway nothing happens in this chapter.


CHAPTER 19: IN WHICH A NOTABLE PLAN IS DISCUSSED AND DETERMINED ON
it basically goes without saying (check out some of these chapter titles!), but on top of this book being very boring and emotionally one-note so far, it's also wildly anti-semitic.


CHAPTER 20: WHEREIN OLIVER IS DELIVERED OVER TO MR. WILLIAM SIKES
oliver is getting re-kidnapped in the dead of night to another criminal circuit's house and then they're arriving only to eat supper? i guess they dine at midnight like the spanish. how elegant.


CHAPTER 21: THE EXPEDITION
whoa. this one is so...normal. concise, even.

i mean, not the chapter itself, which is an 8-page rendition of what amounts to a commute, but its title.


CHAPTER 22: THE BURGLARY
wow. a whole day of just typing out the titles without having to check against the page 11 times to make sure i'm correct. charles, you spoil me.


CHAPTER 23: WHICH CONTAINS THE SUBSTANCE OF A PLEASANT CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR BUMBLE AND A LADY; AND SHOWS THAT EVEN A BEADLE MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE ON SOME POINTS
uh huh, yes, very clever, people being cartoonishly evil about poor people again. i get you. (i hate this book right now.)


CHAPTER 24: TREATS OF A VERY POOR SUBJECT. BUT IS A SHORT ONE; AND MAY BE FOUND OF SOME IMPORTANCE IN THIS HISTORY
in this chapter, an old lady on her deathbed confesses that she stole gold from oliver's mother as she died and that if she hadn't stolen it the mom would have lived and/or oliver would have at least been treated more kindly.

i thought the point of this book was that poverty is unjust and poor people are people too, but it seems like i may have been giving charles too much credit. it's more about one (1) unlucky kid.


CHAPTER 25: WHEREIN THIS HISTORY REFERS TO MR. FAGIN AND COMPANY
i have to tell you, i began this book feeling a little bit daunted but overall neutral and every day since i have grown to dislike it more and more. can't wait to see what new evil surprises today has in store.


CHAPTER 26: IN WHICH A MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER APPEARS UPON THE SCENE; AND MANY THINGS, INSEPARABLE FROM THIS HISTORY, ARE DONE AND PERFORMED
it's pissing me off so much that every chapter is charles dickens being like "and by the way, this is relevant to the story." THIS IS THE STORY. THE WAY WE SPEND OUR DAYS IS THE WAY WE SPEND OUR LIVES, CHARLES.


CHAPTER 27: ATONES FOR THE UNPOLITENESS OF A FORMER CHAPTER; WHICH DESERTED A LADY MOST UNCEREMONIOUSLY
two of the people who hate poor people are getting married and another two of the people who hate poor people have been hooking up. we're more than halfway through now and this is as close to a plot as we've gotten.


CHAPTER 28: LOOKS AFTER OLIVER, AND PROCEEDS WITH HIS ADVENTURES
we last saw the fellow, i'm pretty sure, as a broken body in a ditch after a robbery gone wrong, which i didn't mention because i'm so annoyed at the whole thing and i guess held out hope oliver had been put out of his misery and so too had we and the 300 remaining pages were just footnotes or something.


CHAPTER 29: HAS AN INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNT OF THE INMATES OF THE HOUSE TO WHICH OLIVER RESORTED
i was in such a good mood today, just vibing along with my other painful long classics project and my four non-project current reads, and remembering i hadn't done my daily chapters of oliver twist hit me like a cannonball. no one could be more miserable than me right now. and i'm counting oliver.


CHAPTER 30: RELATES WHAT OLIVER'S NEW VISITORS THOUGHT OF HIM
anyways, temporary reprieve from my bemoaning my fate to get back to the plot, such as it is: oliver is roommates now with the people he tried to rob.


CHAPTER 31: INVOLVES A CRITICAL POSITION
much like the one i'm taking on this book. buh dum ch.


CHAPTER 32: OF THE HAPPY LIFE OLIVER BEGAN TO LEAD WITH HIS KIND FRIENDS
i bet this one will last a while. surely no tragedy related to poverty and/or crime will befall oliver this time.


CHAPTER 33: WHEREIN THE HAPPINESS OF OLIVER AND HIS FRIENDS EXPERIENCES A SUDDEN CHECK
can't make this stuff up. the happiness in question lasted exactly one (1) chapter. what are we doing here.


CHAPTER 34: CONTAINS SOME INTRODUCTORY PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO A YOUNG GENTLEMAN WHO NOW ARRIVES UPON THE SCENE; AND A NEW ADVENTURE WHICH HAPPENED TO OLIVER
ok so oliver is actually still roommates with the people he tried to rob, but it seems like that is coming to a swift end? i don't know. the bummer of the last chapter was a girl got sick and almost died but didn't, which is actually paradise compared to the other plot points here so who knows.


CHAPTER 35: CONTAINING THE UNSATISFACTORY RESULT OF OLIVER'S ADVENTURE; AND A CONVERSATION OF SOME IMPORTANCE BETWEEN HARRY MAYLIE AND ROSE
well, it appears we're most likely about 1-2 chapters and a handful of slurs away from oliver getting re-kidnapped. shock of the century. but i guess i'm supposed to care that oliver's sick roommate is turning down a proposal from some guy who just showed up?


CHAPTER 36: IS A VERY SHORT ONE, AND MAY APPEAR OF NO GREAT IMPORTANCE IN ITS PLACE. BUT IT SHOULD BE READ, NOTWITHSTANDING, AS A SEQUEL TO THE LAST, AND A KEY TO ONE THAT WILL FOLLOW WHEN ITS TIME ARRIVES
does charles dickens think i'm reading these chapters in whatever order occurs to me? just throwing a bunch of pages in the air and reading whatever words i catch as they fall back down? good lord. so unnecessary.


CHAPTER 37: IN WHICH THE READER MAY PERCEIVE A CONTRAST, NOT UNCOMMON IN MATRIMONIAL CASES
we've spent 13 pages on the unhappy marriage between the two aforementioned poor-haters and 2 on a mysterious figure who will surely be of actual relevance to the plot. perfect.


CHAPTER 38: CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASSED BETWEEN MR AND MRS BUMBLE, AND MONKS, AT THEIR NOCTURNAL INTERVIEW
20 pages to retell a story we've heard before (oliver's dead mom's stolen locket) and throw it in the river.


CHAPTER 39: INTRODUCES SOME RESPECTABLE CHARACTERS WITH WHOM THE READER IS ALREADY ACQUAINTED, AND SHOWS HOW MONKS AND THE JEW LAID THEIR WORTHY HEADS TOGETHER
this shouldn't even be called "oliver twist." RANDOM GROUPS OF PEOPLE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING INTERESTING would be a way more apt title.


CHAPTER 40: A STRANGE INTERVIEW, WHICH IS A SEQUEL TO THE LAST CHAPTER
please do not even get me started with "a sequel to the last chapter."

now nancy (oliver's girl roommate with the bad guys) and rose (oliver's girl roommate with the good guys) are talking about monks (the mysterious and plot-critical guy who we ignored completely in favor of irrelevant marital strife earlier) and his scheme to hide oliver's true identity (because he actually isn't poor, rendering any theme or point this book accidentally stumbled upon moot). also making a plan to be future roommates.


CHAPTER 41: CONTAINING FRESH DISCOVERIES, AND SHOWING THAT SURPRISES, LIKE MISFORTUNES, SELDOM COME ALONE
why does oliver know how to read and write? did i miss a good will hunting-style prodigy sequence somewhere between the various kidnappings?

anyway. he's been reunited with a prior set of roommates, one of whom (elderly) kissed the good girl roommate for (truly) (no exaggeration) no reason (and then was like, you're not allowed to be upset, i'm old).


CHAPTER 42: AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE OF OLIVER'S, EXHIBITING DECIDED MARKS OF GENIUS, BECOMES A PUBLIC CHARACTER IN THE METROPOLIS
so, to recap: oliver was born in a midwife's house, and then sent to a poorhouse, and then sent to a workhouse, and then sent to be a chimney sweep, and then walked to london where he ended up at the thieves' house, and then went to good guys' house #1, and was then kidnapped back to the thieves, and then was kidnapped to different thieves, and then was made to rob good guys' house #2 where he ended up living.

i mean good lord.


CHAPTER 43: WHEREIN IS SHOWN HOW THE ARTFUL DODGER GOT INTO TROUBLE
trouble? but how! his name is the artful dodger! surely he could've nimbly avoided it at the last moment!

we can only hope he escapes from prison, both because then he'd regain his reputation and because we'd be able to finish this book saying something happened.


CHAPTER 44: THE TIME ARRIVES FOR ROSE MAYLIE TO REDEEM HER PLEDGE TO NANCY. SHE FAILS
this is rose maylie libel. she's not even present in this chapter. her only crime remains being boring.


CHAPTER 45: NOAH CLAYPOLE IS EMPLOYED BY FAGIN ON A SECRET MISSION
nothing much actually happens in this chapter, other than making me crave buttered toast.


CHAPTER 46: THE APPOINTMENT KEPT
no one has ever been destined to die like nancy. dark bad past, wants to redeem herself, unloved in the world, keeps talking about bad omens. charles dickens is going to kill her off in a misguided redemption arc / attempt at emotional investment and neither will work on me.


CHAPTER 47: FATAL CONSEQUENCES
it actually feels so good to be proven right immediately. to make a prediction in one chapter that comes true the next...pure bliss.


CHAPTER 48: THE FLIGHT OF SIKES
enough bragging about how amazing i am at trope-filled centuries-old books. i'll catch you up. basically, sikes, who has some sort of romantic but evil but paternal role in nancy's life preventing her from Becoming Good, just heard from fagin who heard from noah claypole that nancy snitched and, for lack of a better term, murdered the sh*t out of her.


CHAPTER 49: MONKS AND MR BROWNLOW AT LENGTH MEET. THEIR CONVERSATION, AND THE INTELLIGENCE THAT INTERRUPTS IT
how many characters referred to exclusively by a last name that literally no actual human has ever had can i genuinely be expected to keep track of?

this chapter is like the inverse of a villain's monologue explaining his evil vision at the end of a movie: a good guy is info-dumping various scraps of backstory that vaguely connect all of these people. this, i assume, is what this book has instead of a "plot."


CHAPTER 50: THE PURSUIT AND ESCAPE
the titular escape is a reference to an accidental hanging. like, a guy randomly puts a noose around his neck, which just so happens to be tied to a chimney, and then without intention falls off a roof. i've said it before and i'll say it again: what are we doing here.


CHAPTER 51: AFFORDING AN EXPLANATION OF MORE MYSTERIES THAN ONE, AND COMPREHENDING A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE, WITH NO WORD OF SETTLEMENT OR PIN MONEY
this whole sequence has been spent introducing and tying up a series of loose ends for no comprehensible reason other than story extension to make me miserable, specifically. oliver had his happily ever after 19 chapters ago, and in spite of my sarcastic predictions, that has not been messed with at all. nothing has changed since then. but oh, great, rose and oliver are rich siblings instead of poor orphans.

this book is driving me insane.


CHAPTER 52: THE JEW'S LAST NIGHT ALIVE
oh, great. we get to spend our penultimate day enacting charles dickens's blood justice fantasies. at least i got an excuse to say penultimate. great word.


CHAPTER 53: AND LAST
rose and harry got married (i never even told you who harry is — that's how little he matters); rose's mother figure moves in with them (sure); monks takes his half of his fortune, moves to america, and dies in prison (what a happily ever after); oliver gets adopted by one of his groups of roommates (and i'm not joking: it's not the one he's spent the last 21 chapters with); noah claypole (heretofore only referenced as a hater of the poor) becomes a professional snitch; the married poor haters become poor; two people i don't remember keep doing what they were doing; and one of the child thieves becomes a good guy.

extending this book by even 5 pages to give me these updates is adding insult to injury.


OVERALL
i've said to many people this month that i hate this book and i can't wait to give it one star. that's a little bit of an exaggeration. i disliked it extremely and am giving it 2.

this is only my third dickens, but it's less funny, less coherent, less thematically consistent, and less emotionally impactful than the other two. but catch me right back here reading through all his others.
rating: 2

' I hope so,' replied the child.' After I am dead, but not before. I know the doctor must be right, Oliver, because I dream so much of heaven, and Angles, and kind faces that I never see when I am awake. Kiss me,' said the child, climbing up the low gate, and flinging his little arms round Oliver's neck. Good- b'ye, dear! God bless You!"



Whenever I think about Oliver Twist, I don't know why? the only thing, the first thing and the last thing that always involuntarily hit me right there in my hippocampus is this...

'I am a little, freaky child, playing in the snow in winter. My woolen hat (which we used to call a topi there) is stuck on top of my head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every moment, and I, giving my head an abrupt twitch every now and then, bringing my hat back to its proper place on my head. Seeing this, my friend, who is another freaky child playing snow-snow with me is running after me trying to snatch my hat from my head and me running away from him clutching my hat with both hands.'

Those were such happy days.. You know! I spent my early childhood in the frequently occurring picturesque snow-capped ambiance in a hill station in the lapel of Himalaya.

I MISS THOSE DAYS!

And Hey!
The Merriam Webster defines the word 'hippocampus' something like this---
a curved elongated ridge that extends over the floor of the descending horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain, that consists of a gray matter covered on the ventricular surface with white matter, and that is involved in forming, storing, and processing memory.

As long as this novel is concerned, I read it only after joining GR somewhere in 2016. I never read it in my school. The journey and hardship of this orphan boy and the gruesome conditions of an impoverished London and that poverty leading to those criminal activities. This all with that penmanship of Dickens had proved to be a painful yet charming affair for me. Dickens himself had faced those hardships as a child worker I know and the way he has portrayed it here in this book, has shown an apparent profundity of his experience.

Image courtesy:outsideonline.com

Dickens' famous story of a young orphan's struggle to survive on the streets of London is rightly one of his most remembered.

Two outstanding characters have been contributed to literature - Fagin and Jack Dawkins the Artful Dodger.

Dickens writes Fagin as a puppet master, controlling the orphaned children as pickpockets and the adults like Bill Sikes as thieves. His subterfuge of a penniless pauper with a kindly approach are at odds with the moments he steals gazing at his hidden stash of jewels and his barking moments of brutality. Though his name is Fagin, Dickens refers to him more often than not as "the Jew", a label quite jarring in today's culture. Fagin is sinister though and many see him as a devil like character. His many schemes, plans, and selfishness all contribute to the image.

The Artful Dodger is a whirling dervish of charisma and charm, teaching Oliver the tricks of the trade and leading the cohorts of youngsters as the ultimate example they should all be aspiring to. Dickens chooses to have the Dodger answer for his crimes as he is finally caught and sent to jail. Tantalisingly, Dickens implies that the Dodger will be deported to Australia though we never see Dodger again after he is led away back to jail. Maybe he was thinking of writing a sequel with him as a grown up character?

Oliver is by no means a great character but a likeable one. His tribulations put us on his side early on and his base survival has us enthralled and rooting for him throughout. Bill Sikes isn't also that great a character. A one dimensional thug and bully, his character is indeed menacing and ugly but unfortunately never goes further.

Nancy meanwhile is another triumph of characterisation. Dickens shows her kind side, her deceitful side, her desperate life, and ultimately her sacrifice. She longs to stay with her boyfriend Bill Sikes despite his brutality and maintains a cheerful and optimistic disposition throughout the miserable drama. Her life and desires are complex and is one of Dickens' most enduring creations.
When Sikes kills Nancy in Oliver Twist the sordid criminal demi-monde of early Victorian London rises up and allies itself with self-righteousness and denunciation. I doubt that Dickens wrote anything more compelling or arresting than Bill Sikes's terror strewn 'flight' from Victorian propriety and retribution. But it is not the 'mob' who capture his soul and dash its brains out - Dickens was far too knowing for that. Bill Sikes flees from his final crime against Nancy and finds that he is fleeing himself and that there can be no escape only nightmarish visions without respite.

'He went on doggedly; but as he left the town behind him, and plunged into the solitude and darkness of the road, he felt a dread and awe creeeping upon him which shook him to the core. Every object before him, substance or shadow, still or or moving. took the semblance of some fearful thing; but these fears were nothing compared to the sense that haunted him of that morning's ghastly figure following at his heels. '

Vengeance is mine and I shall repay!
Sikes's conscience renders him all too human, almost makes him a lost pilgrim, and like Sikes we find ourselves looking over our shoulder, aware only of the relentless ghost of Nancy's Banquo ...

Sikes's suffering reveals his victimhood as abjectly as his slaughter of his lover Nancy. And once again Dickens's shows us the humanity lurking in even the most monstruous corners of the human soul;

'he wandered on again, irresolute and undecided, and oppressed with the fear of another solitary night.
Suddenly, he took the desperate resolution of going back to London.
'There's somebody to speak to there, at all events...'

Sikes chooses sociality over possible freedom, recognising that any freedom enjoyed beyond communality is illusory.
So he turns back to the city and dies for the sake of any residue of conversation, for a 'last syllable of recorded time'..his soul's desperate and only choice.

Wonderful!

“Midnight had come upon the crowded city. The palace, the night-cellar, the jail, the madhouse: the chambers of birth and death, of health and sickness, the rigid face of the corpse the calm sleep of the child: midnight was upon them all.”

Charles Dickens was only 25 when he began what would become Oliver Twist, intended as a serial in Bentley’s Miscellany which he was just beginning to edit, and had his hand in a number of other projects at the same time. So he was young, distracted, over-worked, and inexperienced, and yet still, he pulled this off. Amazing. You watch Dickens turn into a novelist as he wrote this, a journey I found particularly fascinating.

The story is a unique combination of gritty realism, sensational melodrama, and thoughtful social commentary. Oliver is born a parish boy, an orphan raised on a “baby farm” to go straight to the work house. He’s used and abused by those within the law and outside of it, and Dickens builds an intricate web of story around him, involving all sorts of characters. Thieves and prostitutes and exploiters are the real grist of this story, a world he knew from his own insecure childhood. But he didn’t make them caricatures. Regardless of their acts, they’re rounded and mostly sympathetic. I love this about Dickens.

And his villainous characters are not the real villains here. The real villains are those in power who do not stop to look and see what is happening in the lives of those they control. So he draws the picture to help show us the reality we’re missing. This makes him more than an entertainer, more than a novelist. He’s a humanitarian of the first order and though we still have so far to go, his work has truly made a difference in this world.

I came to this knowing little about the story. I’d never read it, never seen the play or even a film all the way through. So I feel like I got the full effect, and thanks to the Dickensians! group and our slow read, I got it in a similar way to his original readers. I cannot thank Bionic Jean enough for teasing out and generously sharing the massive amount of detail and background to this story, giving it so much depth and making it another very memorable experience.

My admiration for Dickens continues to grow with every book, and I have many more ahead of me, a fact that fills me with delightful anticipation!

n  n    Reviewn  n
I only read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens once, back in 6th grade when I was about 12 years old. It was one of the classic books I'd received as a Christmas present, and I loved Dickens other children's stories, so I had to read this one. It's much more harsh tho, and might be a little difficult for a 12 year old to take in without having a better picture of the world. It's one of those books nagging at the back of my mind... "Please re-read me. I bet you'll like me a whole lot more." And it's probably true... so perhaps I can find some time to squeeze this one in for the year. I read a lot of older books, but I should throw in a "classic" or "pre-19th century" book every ten books or so... just to keep me ed-u-ma-ca-ted.



Several key things about the book to help you decide if you want to read it:

1. The catch phrase: can I have so more, may I have another please...

2. Commentary about life being poor

3. Written in 1838... almost 200 years old!

4. A happy ending



Not a spoiler: I'm just saying... we all die sometime, right?

5. Adventure for a young adult / kid

6. Truly understanding what an orphan meant -- they have scissors for hands, right?



n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

[polldaddy poll=9729544]t

[polldaddy poll=9719251]