Title: The Pickwick Papers      

Author: Charles Dickens    

Genre: Classics

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics    

Format: Paperback

Pages: 701

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

‘Rising rage & extreme bewilderment had swelled the noble breast of Mr Pickwick, almost to the bursting of his waistcoat’

Few first novels have created as much popular excitement as The Pickwick Papers–-a comic masterpiece that catapulted its 24-year-old author to immediate fame. Readers were captivated by the adventures of the poet Snodgrass, the lover Tupman, the sportsman Winkle &, above all, by that quintessentially English Quixote, Mr Pickwick, & his cockney Sancho Panza, Sam Weller. From the hallowed turf of Dingley Dell Cricket Club to the unholy fracas of the Eatanswill election, via the Fleet debtor’s prison, characters & incidents sprang to life from Dickens’s pen, to form an enduringly popular work of ebullient humour & literary invention.

Review:

So I’m sad to say that this is my least favourite Dickens novel that I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot). I’m not sure if it was the characters, the plot, or the fact that this is his first novel so his writing style was still developing. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. I enjoyed the book, but didn’t love it.

The book follows the adventures of Pickwick and Company, which is Mr Pickwick and his three friends. They were interesting and funny characters, so that aspect of Dickens was still there, and his assistant, Sam, was a loveable character. But I just felt like I was reading silly ramblings or older men and there was no meaning behind the story. If you’re looking at getting into Dickens I would not recommend starting with this book! Do yourself a favour and choose one of his more famous works, like a Tale of Two cities or Oliver Twist!

Happy reading!