i enjoy dickens’ style of writing and i’m glad i read it but dear god this took years off my life

Dickens thought Martin Chuzzlewit was some of his best work, “in a hundred points immeasurably the best of my stories”… I hate to say this about Dickens, but it just isn’t quite! I enjoy so many of his other works more.

The first half has some hilarious moments, along with one of my favorite Dickens villains. But the America chapters in the middle are cringe-worthy. But the last half of the book is worth your time—some of Dickens’ sweetest and also most chilling writing.

Because of poor sales of the serialized Chuzzlewit book, Dickens paused his writing to crank out a little story you may have heard of: A Christmas Carol.

It’s the deepest lows that push us to reach the greatest highs. I stick it out through the America chapters since I know they resulted in one of my favorite books of all time.

The only reason this didn't get one star is because I finished it. The only reason I finished it is because I challenged myself to read all of Dickens' major works. Finishing this book was like chewing gristle. An aimless, meandering story populated by unlikable and uninteresting characters, interrupted only by Dickens' petulant commentary on mid-19th century America.

On the bright side, Oliver Twist is no longer the worst Dickens book I've read.