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Oliver Twist: A Look at London
Date of Review: Jan 7, 2001
Oliver Twist is among the best known books by Charles Dickens. This tale of an orphans progress through 19th century London is an emotional roller coaster guaranteed and an engaging one at that. It is an adventure as well, and a murder mystery, and a tale of wrong and retribution. Dickens style wrenches every last sensation from his readers, and he is at his best when describing the setting in which the action takes place.
Perhaps the best thing about Dickens work is that cinematic quality of description. It enables readers to see, in the minds eye, the conditions in the city at the time that Dickens was writing. This is not accidental.
Charles Dickens was widely known in his own era as a social critic, especially as regarded the treatment of children and women of the poor. This is also not surprising, when one considers Dickens own background; he spent part of his childhood in a debtors prison, to which his father had been consigned. Reading Oliver Twist is much more rewarding, and more memorable, than reading a social reformists tract, however, and makes the author's point with greater resonance.
The reader is given a good description of London itself, or at least of the poorer sections, as well. It is possible, again, to mentally picture Fagin's loft, the crowded streets, and the rooftops where Bill Sykes perched for a time. There is one difference here, however. When describing the haunts of the poor, Dickens gives a true picture of the want, meanness, and dirt of their districts. Conversely, the description of the middle class dwelling of Mr. Brownlow is a fantasy, almost an Eden. While one might guess that it is possible that this difference is the effect that the scene had on Oliver's eyes and mind, it would be at the peril of ignoring similar difference of scene in other Dickens works.
This is one of Dickens most read-able books. It is suitable for most audiences, except perhaps those people below 10. Other books like this one are David Copperfield, also by Dickens, and Jane Eyre by Bronte. Also, any other books by Dickens are very good, especially A Christmas Carol, and
A Tale of Two Cities.
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