Just read

I just finished listening to Oliver Twist. The reader did a good job,
but it's not one of Dickens' best. Long on melodrama, and short on
humor. None of his trademark quirky minor characters, at least not
any who appear enough to entertain. I wasn't all that surprised to see
Fagin and pals are much less sympathetic than in the musical Oliver.

For actual reading I'm bogged down in T. R. Pearson's A Short History
of a Small Place. It's quite funny in places, but can also drag. Nothing
but quirky characters.

Bruce
 >> Stay informed about: Just read 

Bruce McGuffin wrote:
 > I just finished listening to Oliver Twist. The reader did a good job,
 > but it's not one of Dickens' best. Long on melodrama, and short on
 > humor. None of his trademark quirky minor characters, at least not
 > any who appear enough to entertain. I wasn't all that surprised to
see
 > Fagin and pals are much less sympathetic than in the musical Oliver.
 >

What always bothered me about _Oliver Twist_ is that Dickens doesn't
give Oliver the hero's part (putting an end to Sykes' perfidy), but
instead, turns him into a little moralist lecturing the imprisoned
Fagin.

The movie versions, of course, give Oliver full rights as hero. I wish
I knew what made Dickens decide to take the course he did.

Bob Champ<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Just read 

"robertchamp2002@yahoo.com" <robertchamp2002 RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<1100926726.988801.4000 RemoveThis @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>...

 > What always bothered me about _Oliver Twist_ is that Dickens doesn't
 > give Oliver the hero's part (putting an end to Sykes' perfidy), but
 > instead, turns him into a little moralist lecturing the imprisoned
 > Fagin.
 >
 > The movie versions, of course, give Oliver full rights as hero. I wish
 > I knew what made Dickens decide to take the course he did.

Probably just that he was still becoming "Dickens" from the newspaper
sketcher and Pickwicker. I think Oliver begins as a prop for an attack
on the New Poor Laws, and as the story develops, Oliver never grows
into herohood.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Just read