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What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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Original poster

Which Dickens?

16 replies

ChaosWalking · 14/08/2013 18:24

Having never read any Charles Dickens novels I want to try one this summer. Which would you recommend I start with?

OP posts:

ninjanurse · 14/08/2013 18:43

I read Oliver Twist and found it quite easy to read and not too long.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 14/08/2013 20:00

Great Expectations is also not too long, it's as good as Oliver Twist imo.

David Copperfield is also a good read, as is The Old Curiosity Shop.

Lucky you, discovering Dickens for the first time, he's a great author.

englishteacher78 · 14/08/2013 20:04

My favourite is Bleak House - but it is long.
I have a rule with 19th century literature no giving up until after Chapter 10. They can be slow to get going compared to more contemporary fiction.

killedanotherthread · 14/08/2013 20:46

It took a Tale of Two Cities to get me into Dickens; Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby were read out of a sense of duty, but T2C I actually enjoyed. My favourite is Our Mutual Friend, I think it's his most "modern" in outlook.

bangersmashandbeans · 14/08/2013 20:48

Definitely NOT Hard Times! Hard Times it truly is...

englishteacher78 · 14/08/2013 21:32

Our Mutual Friend is my second favourite - my lecturer at Uni wrote the intro to the penguin classics

Original poster

ChaosWalking · 14/08/2013 23:41

Thanks everyone! Will take a look at A Tale of two cities and Our Mutual friend, I think. Have read lots of french classics from the same period so understand the need for patience when getting started, Englishteacher!

OP posts:

sparkle9 · 14/08/2013 23:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IHeartKingThistle · 14/08/2013 23:55

I love Great Expectations. Fabulous characters.

I love Tale of Two Cities but I wouldn't start with it personally - it took me a while to get into it (but my word it was worth it in the end!).

Original poster

ChaosWalking · 15/08/2013 13:06

Thanks for the suggestions. I picked up A Tale of Two Cities from the library this morning ( along with Wuthering Heights, which I had also made a promise to read this summer.)

OP posts:

englishteacher78 · 15/08/2013 19:26

Love WH. I have a huge crush on Heatchcliff.

nkf · 15/08/2013 19:29

A Christmas Carol is short. Great Expectations is great. Bleak House is marvellous.

ithaka · 15/08/2013 19:34

My favourites are Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House & Great Expectations, all fantastic & bear re reading as well.

I agree with Englishteacher - you have to give the classics more time, but the rewards can be great.

DangoDays · 15/08/2013 19:40

Definitely tale of two cities. Great expectations next. Struggling with our mutual friend even though 2nd time round...tell me to keep going!

Original poster

ChaosWalking · 15/08/2013 21:53

I love classic fiction and have read a fair bit, just no Dickens as yet. My favourite book ever is The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. Have read it every couple of years since I was eighteen and I get something new from it every single time.

OP posts:

Louise1956 · 16/08/2013 13:49

Great Expectations is my favourite, it has very good characters and the heroine is not as insipid as in most of his novels. pickwick Papers is the funniest, there are many hilarious incidents.

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