Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8280 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Synopsis
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, 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.

About the Author
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. In 1824, his father was imprisoned for debt, so Charles was sent to work in a shoe-dye factory. He later became a clerk in a law firm, a shorthand reporter in the courts, and a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. In 1833, Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals, heralding the start of a glittering and prolific literary career. He married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, with whom he had nine surviving children before they separated in 1858. Dickens died suddenly at home on June 9, 1870, leaving behind an internationally acclaimed canon of work, including Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1838), David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Little Dorrit (1855-57), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-61) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Michael Slater is Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College in the University of London. He was editor of The Dickensian (1968-77) and President of the International Dickens Fellowship (1988-90). He has published many books and articles on Dickens.

Customer Reviews

A powerfully moving critique of Victorian society,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this accessible novel. Not only does Dickens take great effort to build up a nuanced plot structure and characterisations, he also uses this novel as an opportunity to launch a full scale critique against the disparities of Victorian society. By describing so persuasively the plight of Twist's character, and the decay of Victorian London, the author gains the full acceptance of the reader, and develops a sense of hope within the plot. This is a polemic study of society at its worst, and looks to the very characters in 'Oliver Twist' for some glimmer of hope. A much recommended read.

Dickens's own Macbeth!
'O, full of scorpions is my mind...'
( Macbeth)

If each man kills the thing he loves, then Macbeth's murder of King Duncan propels him into terminal nightmare. The haunting of the Macbeth is one of the best things in literature and Dickens knew the value of a good nightmare being a life long insomniac and city walker.

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!

Powerful book
Having not read this when younger, I bought it now to see how the 1968 musical "Oliver" (recently bought on DVD for 7 year old daughter) compares to the original story.

This was the original text as published in the original instalments. I couldn't put the book down. The story is typical detailed Dickens with richly painted characters and a strong storyline. There is also much social comment, with notes at the back giving additional helpful explanations.

The answer to my starting question is that the musical follows the book very closely to start with, and certainly gets the mood of criminal London very well, but the last half to two-thirds of the book are only summarised and approximated by the film.

Worth reading. Powerful book.