Pickwick abandoned yet again

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This, the third or fourth attempt I've made to read The Pickwick Papers, got me to page 245, which is about five times further than I've been able to hold on in the past. This is not really a novel but rather a string of silly stories mixed with weak tales embedded in the ludicrous adventures of Pickwick and his friends.

On top of that Dickens adds his usual wearying lament for the debtors and others held in prison. Then there's a little touch of corruption in the courts and the legal profession and a nasty man who steals from everyone he can con, until, of course, he sees the light and reforms entirely.

I'm determined to read in 2012 the Dickens novels that are considered first-rate: David Copperfield and Great Expectations. But I will not waste my time on nonsense like Pickwick, which isn't even amusing. Bleak House is one of my favorite novels, although the sentimentality annoys me (Ester shaking her little basket of keys, Jo's deathbed prayer.) Let's hope DC and GE have at least a few realistic characters and a less than laughable plot.

2012 No 10

Comments

[Karen]

I'm impressed, as I've never made it past Chapter 2!

[ChrisCross53]

Pickwick was his first novel, and whilst I've always quite enjoyed it I think it's more akin to the picaresque novels of an earlier period than it is to Dickens' other novels. My own pet hate is The Old Curiosity Shop... the sentimentality in that is truly awful, the story line is unbelievable, and Nell is an insufferable little prig.

[Mary]

Karen, I had never made it past Chapter 2 before either, but I was starting the new year with a plan to read all of Dickens along with the Tomalin biography. So I really buckled down and the momentum took me a little further this time.

[Mary]

Chris, You're right, Pickwick is picaresque and carries a very thin story. As for the Old Curiosity Shop, I expect I had better not even try. I think David Copperfield is my best bet, Dickenswise.