MORE, MORE, MORE (Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens)

Member Name: Ann J Sec

Product:	Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Date:	19/02/01 (238 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong storyline colourful characters

Disadvantages: Olde world writing style if you don't like that sor t of thing

Who can forget the immortal words "Please Sir, I want some more"..........

I wonder if there is anybody who wouldn't be able to give the name of the poor urchin who uttered those words. Oliver Twist and the author, Charles Dickens are known to lovers of classics worldwide and the story has been portrayed in countless films and television series over at least the past 50 years or so.

I think I am correct in saying that Oliver Twist was written as a series in a newspaper for which Dickens worked and certainly it is easy to envisage it beginning life in this way as Oliver's life progresses from one heartrendering scene to another. We see him borne to a gentile but unfortunate mother who dies at birth, we follow him through the orphanage and workhouse where he encounters the huge Mr.Bumble who he enrages with his request for more food. We feel for him as he trudges behind the coffins as an undertaker's assistant until he is forced to run away after fighting with a colleague who derides his mother and then we meet The Artful Doger who, along with other lost boys, lives with and steals for Fagin from rich businessmen in the heart of London.

Each chapter contains more adventures in much the same way as the serialisation of a story would today. We read of Oliver's corruption by Fagin and his attempts at pick-pocketing egged on by Doger and the other boys, until the day he is caught but happily saved by an elderly rich and gentle man who eventually turns out to be his grandfather, and we hold our breath as Bill Sykes the violent rogue of the story, attempts to steal Oliver back in order to hold him to ransom.

Throughout the tale Dickens introduces the reader to vividly described and aptly named characters. There's Fagin, the ragged evil corruptor, appearing kind but with sinister undertones. Then there's Bill Sykes, violent and frightening and his lover Nancy, lowly bred but gentle and pretty - she
takes Oliver under her wing but ultimately dies horrifically because of her compassion towards him.

We are taken through the streets of London at the time with its cobbled streets and crowded markets, we are taken into the grand houses with the gleaming carriages outside and we meet the people who live there,be it the street policemen who capture Oliver after his attempts at pickpocketing or the elderly rich gentleman and his friend who is cynical that a petty thief will ever change his ways.

The story of Oliver Twist is well known, even to those who haven't read the book and I do not intend to go through every detail of the plot from beginning to end here in this opinion. The films and television series are, of course, magical and can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, but nothing can ultimately compare with Dickens' writing. There is a beauty in his writing that authors today could never recapture. His every sentence takes the reader back to an era of gentile civility, although he is equally able to portray the tramps, rogues and orphins who abound at that time.

Dickens has put colour and life into every page and it is little wonder that readers during his lifetime waited with bated breath for each edition of his stories. He can never at that time have imagined that so many years later his stories would still be bringing pleasure to people all over the world.

If, by any chance, you are one of the very very few people who doesn't know the story of Oliver Twist I would strongly recommend that you go along to your local library and get a copy. It may take a few minutes to get into the style of writing, but once you do you will be taken on a journey back in time from which you will be reluctant to return.

Given the beauty of his work, it is little wonder that readers of the time said "Please sir, we want some more".

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