Sunday, March 29, 2009

Dickens

Have you read much of his work? I have read some but seem to have missed quite a few. I realized this while checking out the listings on PBS Masterpiece Classics tonight. Little Dorrit was the movie tonight and I was amazed that I had never heard of it, let alone not read it. 

How did I miss this one? 

So, I am watching it right now. Couldn't not watch it. It is hard to pass up these BBC adaptations of the classics. Also, Matthew MacFadyen is in it. :)

As for the books I have read by Dickens, they are:

Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities
A Christmas Carol

That's it! I think I may have to add some Dickens to my Classics Challenge list.

What would you recommend?


6 comments:

  1. I've read all those, and I think that's it...actually part of Oliver Twist. I Really liked Great Expectations.

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  2. Oliver Twist. Definitely. It's a brilliant book with a really good story.(see http://blacksheepbooks.blogspot.com/2008/12/oliver-twist.html for the rest of my opinion)

    Little Dorrit is one of my lesser favourites, but that might have been because the narrator was rather too good for his own good. He really made the ennui of the father come to life. (http://blacksheepbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/little-dorrit.html)

    Nicholas Nickleby is also really good. (http://blacksheepbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Nicholas%20Nickelby)

    Barnaby Rudge was quite good as well. I just realized I never blogged about that one. Oops. I think as a first read, I'd recommend Oliver Twist. It's one of the most action pact and less wordy ones. Bleak House is also really good, but very, very wordy and dull in places. You kind of have to perservere to get through to the good stuff.

    I've got several more on my list which I'll be doing for the Classics Challenge. I basically would like to get through all of his works if I can.

    Oh, and if you're having trouble getting through the written versions, audio format is a good way to go. The readers really help bring his works to life. They are long though, so try and get a listen to the readers before you borrow or buy. There's nothing worse than 47 hours of dull reader!

    Sorry this got so long, but you did ask :P

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  3. I've read Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, and David Copperfield. Great is my fave, David next. I'm really wanting to read Bleak House, so that might be what I would recommend to you even if I haven't read it yet. :D

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  4. HARD TIMES! It's hard to get into, but worth it.

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  5. Thank you all! It is a toss up between Oliver Twist and Bleak House, I think.

    Lenore- I will have to look up what Hard Times is about. This is another, like Little Dorrit, that I have not heard of.

    Of the ones I have read, A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite.

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  6. The ones that you have read are the ones that my son is telling me I MUST read. I have the complete works of Dickens but I have read NOTHING.... Sad huh?

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! :)