Charles Dickens Books

[knowabit]

I have finally got round to reading Dickens... is there any particular order I should read them in?/

[Mr Veritas]

Not really,unless you want to see how Dicken's writing styles developed and progressed.

Much better to start with some of the lighter books ~Oliver Twist,Great Expectations,David Copperfield & The Pickwick Papers

and progress to Bleak House, Hard Times,Nicholas Nicklebyy,The Old Curiosity Shop & A Tale of Two Cities.

Then, Dombey & Son,Barnaby Rudge,Our Mutual Friend,Little Dorrit & Martin Chuzzlewit.
The last set are not necessarily heavier books,just longer and with more complicated plots

There is also The Mystery of Edwin Drood,which was left unfinished at Dicken's death.

I am not suggesting that you read ALL of these (I have done,but I am 86).
Just take one or two from each selection and see how you get on.

[knowabit]

Thank you for your reply. I have Great Expectations so will start with that. I watched the TV adaption of Our Mutual Friend and really enjoyed it, althought I know the books are usually always better... I will still read that one too.

[paddywak]

As Mr Veritas says you can read them in any order. I remember doing Great Expectations for my "O" level English Lit back in the sixties and hating it, even though I did get an "A" it wasn't till some years latter when I was incapacitated after an accident that I read it again and since then I have got through most of his books, my favorite being A Tale if Two Cities. The one thing I have found is that though Dickens often seems hard going to start with you will suddenly found he's caught you and you can't let go

[saxy_jag]

Dickens is just about my favourite author of all time. I can agree with all the choices here.

My all time favourite is Great Expectations. I read it at school and didn't think much to it. Then a few years later, I watched a televised version because I was already hopelessly in love with the leading actor. That got me reading it again ... and again ... and again. Doesn't matter how many times you read it, there's always something new in it. I think the same could be said for most of his books.

You might also want to consider reading work by his contemporary and one-time friend, Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White and The Moonstone are very readable indeed.

[knowabit]

Many thanks to you all......

[whifffey]

Please read "A Tale of Two Cities". This was a set book at GCE for me, and at the time it was a drag. It has since become my favourite book (along with Jane Eyre). If you look upon it less as a story of the French Revolution and more as one of the greatest tales of love and sacrifice ever written, then you will see it in a different light.