Product Description

The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens’s tale of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a London peopled by vivid and memorable characters – the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, in Oliver Twist Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16453 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

About the Author
Charles Dickens was born at Portsmouth on 7 February 1812. He received little formal education, but taught himself shorthand and became a reporter of parliamentary debates for the <I>Morning Chronicle</I>. He began to publish sketches in various periodicals, which were subsequently republished as Sketches by Boz. <I>The Pickwick Papers</I> were published in 1836–7 and after a slow start became a publishing phenomenon and Dickens's characters the centre of a popular cult. He began <I>Oliver Twist</I> in 1837, followed by <I>Nicholas Nickleby</I> (1838) and <I>The Old Curiosity Shop</I> (1840–41).After finishing <I>Barnaby Rudge</I> (1841) Dickens set off for America; he went full of enthusiasm for the young republic but, in spite of a triumphant reception, he returned disillusioned. His experiences are recorded in <I>American Notes</I> (1842). <I>Martin Chuzzlewit</I> (1843–4) did not repeat its predecessors' success but this was quickly redressed by the huge popularity of the Christmas Books, of which the first, <I>A Christmas Carol</I>, appeared in 1843. During 1844–6 Dickens travelled abroad and he began <I>Dombey and Son</I> while in Switzerland. This and <I>David Copperfield</I> (1849–50) were more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early novels. In later works, such as <I>Bleak House</I> (1853) and <I>Little Dorrit</I> (1857), Dickens's social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870.

Customer Reviews

One of Dickens' best
Having read quite a lot of Dickens novels, I came quite late to Oliver Twist. I had read a children's version of it and since I knew the story, I thought I might not find it very interesting. How wrong I was!. The first chapters, although they are a very good critic of the poor workhouse conditions, were a bit dragging. But once Oliver goes to London and meets Fagin's gang, it was a pleasure to read. As in most of Dickens' works, the villains are the ones who make the story interesting. The dingy places that they live, the squalor and filth is so well described as the evil turn of their minds that the "good" people in the story, including Oliver, are quite dull compared to them. It seems Oliver is just an accessory that the plot evolves around but the bad people are the ones that draw us into it. Especially the murder, the haunting conscience and the death at the end are one of the best that I have ever read.

Little Orphan Oliver
Oliver Twist is one of Dickens' early novels - he worked on The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby simultaneously - and one of his best loved. It has what you would expect from him: memorable characters, evocative descriptions, melodrama, pathos (more often bathos) and a plot that relies on completely incredible coincidences. These latter are sometimes explained away by the characters themselves as being ordained by Fate, benign or otherwise, and must have been more acceptable to a Victorian readership than to one of the present day, who are likely to groan at each 'who should it be but' revelation.

The crossovers with Pickwick and Nickleby are noticeable. For example, The Artful's court appearance is clearly intended to be as funny as Sam Weller's, although it pales by comparison.

The most famous character is of course Fagin, and Dickens' casual anti-Semitism in his treatment of him is another thing that might discomfit the modern reader. He references him as The Jew, always in a derogatory manner. That this is a reflection of contemporary attitudes can be seen from Scott's Ivanhoe, in which Jewish characters are treated with similar hostility and contempt. But it is not the main characters that are most successful - and especially not the title character himself, who is innocent and bland beyond belief - but the supporting cast; Mr. Bumble and his lady, the servants in the house that gets burgled, the old bachelor who keeps threatening to eat his own head, and many others. They make the book a delight.

As always, Dickens is the master of descriptive narrative and he conjures a grim and compelling view of Victorian London's underside.

If you have not yet read any Dickens, this is not a bad book with which to start, although for younger readers (teens) I would recommend Hard Times as their first. Either book will probably leave you, like Oliver, wanting more.

Timeless storytelling
An immensely enjoyable read but newcomers to Dickens are not advised to start here. Despite it's famous name which has developed over the last 30/40 years thanks to the stage play and film Oliver Twist is not Dickens' best novel but it can be seen as a blueprint for later masterworks such as 'Great Expectations' and 'David Copperfield'.
Some of the coincidences in the storyline are a bit far fetched and the ending is a little bit too "neat" but it is easy to put these to one side and revel in the beauty of its telling and character development over 500 plus pages. As usual with Dickens the story is very sad and you can't help but feel very emotional by the final page.