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Original poster

Charles Dickens. If you love him, which one should I read next?

26 replies

Stitchintime1 · 18/07/2015 22:36

I've read:
David Copperfield
Little Dorrit
Great Expectations
Bleak House
Hard Times
Half of Nicholas Nickleby

What next? I'm toying with Our Mutual Friend or Curiosity Shop.

OP posts:
PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 18/07/2015 22:37

I'm half way through Dombey and Son. I'm enjoying it, this is the first Dickens I've read since the first couple of chapters of great expectations at school.

AbbeyRoadCrossing · 18/07/2015 22:41

I loved Oliver Twist, have you read that one?

Original poster
Stitchintime1 · 18/07/2015 22:42

Oliver Twist - not read that one no.

OP posts:
inabeautifulplace · 18/07/2015 22:49

A Tale of Two Cities would be my choice if you want to be immersed in the story. The Pickwick Papers is less gripping but very amusing.

Original poster
Stitchintime1 · 18/07/2015 22:51

Hmm. I want to be immersed but not heartbroken. So, sentimentality at a minimum (I know it will still be there) but big bold characters.

OP posts:
mrsschatzepage · 18/07/2015 23:01

My favourite out of the two is the Curiosity Shop as it has some great characters in it and a good story line I find our Mutual Friend quite heavy going and complex. Dombey is a very good read too.

mrsschatzepage · 18/07/2015 23:02

Sorry cross posted. The curiosity shop is very sentimental

Original poster
Stitchintime1 · 18/07/2015 23:05

I think I'll go for Dombey though Oliver Twist appeals too. Decisions.

OP posts:
Original poster
Stitchintime1 · 18/07/2015 23:48

Downloaded. Thanks all.

OP posts:
highlandcoo · 19/07/2015 08:05

Our Mutual Friend is my favourite Dickens

Original poster
Stitchintime1 · 19/07/2015 08:58

Not too late. I haven't started it yet. I read the plot outline. It sounds a bit crazy but in a good way.

OP posts:
Preminstreltension · 19/07/2015 09:07

The only ones I haven't got on with so far are Hard Times and Martin Chuzzlewitt.

Of the sort of second order Dickens, I did enjoy Dombey &Son.

Might try Our Mutual Friend next on the evidence of this thread

HappydaysArehere · 19/07/2015 09:37

I also enjoyed Dombey and Son. Then there is A Tale of Two Cities! Nothing beats Great Expectations!

LocalEditorMerton · 27/07/2015 21:20

Our Mutual Friend - read it for A Level and to this day I cannot walk along the Thames without thinking about Lizzie and 'Gaffer' Hexham, the Veneerings, Boffins, Jenny Wren and hero of teenage years, Eugene Wrayburn...

It's as long as Bleak House but every bit as good!

teenagersmum56 · 29/07/2015 00:11

Tale of two cities and keep going lovely books enjoy x

Duckdeamon · 02/08/2015 22:07

Christmas carol!

hackmum · 03/08/2015 08:37

Is it bad to say I can't remember which ones I've read and which ones I haven't? I know there are ones I've definitely read, and ones I definitely haven't, but there's a grey area in the middle of ones I might have read, but can't remember.

Of the ones not on your list, I think Our Mutual Friend is the best. Great book.

lizzieM58 · 03/08/2015 22:27

A Tale of Two Cities is one of my absolute favourite books. Great Dickensian characters particularly Jerry Cruncher and Pross and a brilliant ending. Hope you try it.

lizzieM58 · 03/08/2015 22:30

I absolutely love A Tale of Two Cities. Brilliant Dickensian characters, particularly Jerry Cruncher and Pross. And a brilliant ending!

LassUnparalleled · 04/08/2015 01:18

A Tale of Two Cities would be my choice if you want to be immersed in the story. The Pickwick Papers is less gripping but very amusing

I've always thought of A Tale of Two Cities as being Dickens' Northants Abbey- the one book that Dickens' haters like because it's not Dickensian (I can't stand Jane Austen but did enjoy NA)

So far as The Old Curiosity Shop, definitely worth a read. The death of Little Bell is not as mawkish as it's made out to be. Nell's grandfather is believably useless and their flight through industrial hinterlands is quite frightening. Quilp and the Brass siblings are scary too. It also has the best love story of all his books in the charming side story of Dick Swiveller and The Marchioness.

Having said that Eugene Rayburn and Lizzie Hexham run a close second.

You have to read Oliver Twist. I wouldn't bother with Pickwick.

LassUnparalleled · 04/08/2015 01:21

Northanger obviously.

iisme · 05/08/2015 20:31

Another vote for Our Mutual Friend - one of my favourite books, definitely my favourite Dickens. But ... I thought this was quite an unusual and interesting choice. Now it turns out to be everyone's favourite Dickens! Huh. Also like Little Dorrit.

MsAmerica · 08/08/2015 21:06

I'm crazy about Dombey and Son - wildly melodramatic.

NiceBitOfCheese · 09/08/2015 20:03

I'm not an expert on Dickens, and have not read the two you suggested as your next one. However, I cannot recommend A Tale of Two Cities highly enough. It's a book that has really stayed with me since I read it about 20 years ago.

twoandahalftimesthree · 16/08/2015 20:39

I read Great Expectations in my teens and enjoyed it but never read any more Dickens until it occurred to me last week. So, I have just finished Little Dorritt and gone straight into David Copperfield. I really enjoyed Little Dorrit all the way through but after such a detailed story the ending was abrupt, lacking in detail and I found it a real let down. I hope David Copperfield won't be the same! I will put Our Mutual Friend on the list for the next one.