The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1838)
Charles Dickens (Duckworth, 2005)

446 pp. First reading.
Posted 25 October 2006.

After my good experience with David Copperfield a few months ago, I decided to return to the beginning of Dickens' career, or nearly so. His very first novel was The Pickwick Papers, which I have read, so I picked up Oliver Twist, the next in line. It's an enjoyable book, though not at the level of either of the two I have just mentioned. Oliver, the child protagonist, is rather poorly drawn, in my opinion, for only so much can be said about a character who alternates between tearful suffering of injustice and bland professions of joy and goodwill. Lacking the initiative of David Copperfield, his role in the plot is mainly to be a prop of the other characters. He serves as a focal point for the story, but never really comes into focus himself.

Oliver's career has him bouncing in and out of two very different worlds: the seedy London underworld, into which he is recruited as a pickpocket, and the generous, warm homes of those by whom he is from time to time rescued. Of these, the criminals are the more memorable: Fagin, the cruel, manipulative ring-leader; Sikes, a brutish, violent chap; Monks, who turns out to have an unexpected relationship to Oliver; the Artful Dodger, Fagin's finest child pickpocket; and Nancy, the novel's most complex and sympathetic character, who risks her life to help Oliver escape the life into which he has fallen. On the bright side, we have Rose Maylie, a tender-hearted young woman who tends to Oliver; Mr. Brownlow, who helps Oliver to escape the underworld; and his friend Mr. Grimwig, who once again demonstrates Dickens' genius for creating memorable characters with just a few light touches. If Mr. Grimwig is not the finest comic character I've met in a long while, I'll eat my head.

The last few chapters have rather too many coincidences and unanticipated revelations for my liking, but I suppose sometimes one must take desperate measures to secure a happy ending.

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