[Viridiana]

Originally Posted by Welsh-lad

I tried that last year and couldn't stop getting distracted by thinking of Pip Bin in Bleak Expectations!

LOL.

[Ashford Steve]

Originally Posted by GiraffeGirl

I do! My reasons for disliking his work are:
- long-winded - both in terms of plot and sentence structure.
- convenient coincidences which just make me roll my eyes. I often find from the outset that it's best to assume all characters are vaguely related to save time later on.
- characters are mainly characatures rather than anything believable and I find that a bit tiresome
- I find the humour laboured and forced.

Sometimes I feel bad for disliking somebody who is so lauded. Then I remember if he was alive now he'd be writing Eastenders and that puts it all into perspective for me!

Tbf I've only read Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol, none of them through choice.

The problem with Dickens, of course, is that he was originally writing for serialization. He had contracts to fill, and had to pad things out for a given length of time, so much of his work contains filler. I recently read Oliver Twist and had to plough through both the episode involving Mr Brownlow and the Maylies, very similar though they were. And yes, it does turn out that almost eveyone is either connected or related in some way. Monks isn't Monks, he's related to Oliver, Miss Maylie is also related to Oliver ande everyone's father is - you guessed it - a close friend of Mr Brownlow. I got the feeling that, nowadays, you'd only get away with plotlines like that in daytime American Soap Opera.

[Welsh-lad]

Originally Posted by GiraffeGirl

I do! My reasons for disliking his work are:
- long-winded - both in terms of plot and sentence structure.
- convenient coincidences which just make me roll my eyes. I often find from the outset that it's best to assume all characters are vaguely related to save time later on.
- characters are mainly characatures rather than anything believable and I find that a bit tiresome
- I find the humour laboured and forced.

Sometimes I feel bad for disliking somebody who is so lauded. Then I remember if he was alive now he'd be writing Eastenders and that puts it all into perspective for me!

Tbf I've only read Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol, none of them through choice.

Originally Posted by Ashford Steve

The problem with Dickens, of course, is that he was originally writing for serialization. He had contracts to fill, and had to pad things out for a given length of time, so much of his work contains filler. I recently read Oliver Twist and had to plough through both the episode involving Mr Brownlow and the Maylies, very similar though they were. And yes, it does turn out that almost eveyone is either connected or related in some way. Monks isn't Monks, he's related to Oliver, Miss Maylie is also related to Oliver ande everyone's father is - you guessed it - a close friend of Mr Brownlow. I got the feeling that, nowadays, you'd only get away with plotlines like that in daytime American Soap Opera.

You both say exactly what I think.
Why anyone thinks he is a great writer I really don't know.

[the_lostprophet]

Originally Posted by Welsh-lad

Why anyone thinks he is a great writer I really don't know.

Well then I suggest you read what people including myself have said in the thread. If you don't like him then fine; not everyone can like the same writers. However there are many sound reasons to enjoy Dickens's work and he has many fans from around the world as can be seen from various Facebook pages devoted to him. He wouldn't have stood the test of time for over 150 years if he was as bad as you claim.

[GiraffeGirl]

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet

Well then I suggest you read what people including myself have said in the thread. If you don't like him then fine; not everyone can like the same writers. However there are many sound reasons to enjoy Dickens's work and he has many fans from around the world as can be seen from various Facebook pages devoted to him. He wouldn't have stood the test of time for over 150 years if he was as bad as you claim.

Give him his due, Miss Havisham is a cracking character.

[Welsh-lad]

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet

Well then I suggest you read what people including myself have said in the thread. If you don't like him then fine; not everyone can like the same writers. However there are many sound reasons to enjoy Dickens's work and he has many fans from around the world as can be seen from various Facebook pages devoted to him. He wouldn't have stood the test of time for over 150 years if he was as bad as you claim.

Yes but Mills and Boon and Barbara Cartland have fans as well!
I'm not saying Dickens is that bad, it's just I can't find much redeeming qualities in his work when compared to, say, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters or George Eliot.

[MissMusique]

I would like to read more Dickens but to be honest there's so much stuff I'm more keen to read at the moment that Dickens somehow always gets postponed....

I studied Hard Times at school which was the first and only Dickens book I've read and I have to say it just was the wrong book to be introduced to Dickens to. I found it so dull and depressing and normally I loved all the books I studied at school. I just couldn't get into it at all...

I've got A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and David Copperfield on my bookshelf but something else always appeals... My uncle keeps badgering me to read ATOTC and I find that the more I'm strongly encouraged to do something, the less I want to do it! Childish I know but I'll get to the books eventually. I think a lot of his books are slow burners from what I've gathered and at the moment I just don't have the patience to invest or the time. I want a good, gripping story and I want it now!!

[CABLEDUDE]

Originally Posted by MissMusique

I would like to read more Dickens but to be honest there's so much stuff I'm more keen to read at the moment that Dickens somehow always gets postponed....

I studied Hard Times at school which was the first and only Dickens book I've read and I have to say it just was the wrong book to be introduced to Dickens to. I found it so dull and depressing and normally I loved all the books I studied at school. I just couldn't get into it at all...

I've got A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and David Copperfield on my bookshelf but something else always appeals... My uncle keeps badgering me to read ATOTC and I find that the more I'm strongly encouraged to do something, the less I want to do it! Childish I know but I'll get to the books eventually. I think a lot of his books are slow burners from what I've gathered and at the moment I just don't have the patience to invest or the time. I want a good, gripping story and I want it now!!

I'm terrible with slow-burners hence why I've left A Tale of Two Cities for a bit, currently reading a John Banville book

[Bowker's Cat]

I don't find Dickens a drag, I do find it irritating that he has effectively over shadowed other important Victorian writers such as Gissing and Morrison to the point of obscurity. Both in my opinion were much better social commentators.

[vintage_girl]

Originally Posted by Teddybleads

A Tale Of Two Cities was the first Dickens I read and I absolutely could not put it down but I know a lot of people who like Dickens who didn't like this one but for me it was a labour of love. Madame Defarge is one of my favourite literary villans of all time.

I think i was lucky that I wasn't forced to read them when i was younger. I didn't really start doing any serious reading until my mid 20s and I think that's made all the difference.

I'm the same, at school we only did a couple of short stories by Dickens. I'm 23 now and I've started to read a lot more. I'm in the final chapters of David Copperfield, first Dicken's novel for me, and I absolutely love it. Planning to read Great Expectations next. To be honest I wouldn't have appreciated Dickens at all in my teens.

[Moshe]

Dickens could be longwinded, and in some ways he was not a good writer.
But then again he has written some of the most succesful stories of all time. Oliver Twist, Great Expectations & so on. Just think the amount of hugely succesful movies made Charles Dickens' novels.
I think "Great Expectations" was his best book. Less fluffy than many of his books, less waffle. Good charechterization and a gripping plot

[My Sweet Life]

I'm not a big fan either - and glad I'm not the only one. Though I recently read Great Expectations and thought it wasn't that bad, I may try his other stuff again.

[MrsWatermelon]

I'm not a Dickens fan either. I usually love the language in Victorian novels but I don't like Dickens' writing at all, and I find it a real struggle to get through any of his books. I have also tried audiobooks to see if it would help, but even my ears tuned out! I kept having to rewind again and again because I realised I hadn't been listening for the last five minutes. I still haven't managed to listen to it... it's A Christmas Carol I downloaded.

[Viridiana]

There is a massive difference between not particularly enjoying an author like Dicken's and questioning the quality of his work. We do not live in cultural vacuum. There is absolutely no question Dickens was a great writer, his writing was not flawless, but his imagination created such a richness of characters and and situations that they became imprinted as part of our culture background. The general idea we have of the Victorians and the Victorian age, is a Dicken's vision. That makes him a extraordinary writer.

Almost 90% of the books I read are XIX century books, and i can't say i particularly enjoy Dickens, like I already said, Great Expectations for is a masterpiece but i'm not really a fan of any of his other books. But I cannot deny his place in literature, my personal tastes are one thing another quite different is denying the man his rightful place as one of the greats.