Oliver Twist

For my February "good novel" I chose to read Oliver Twist, a classic which is more often quoted than read.  I learned just now that it was Dickens's second novel. I have also read Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities, and it's clear that Dickens wasn't at the height of his craft with Oliver Twist.  I found it slow going in parts, and was occasionally annoyed by the young Dickens's tendency towards melodrama.  Still, the characters were memorable (if not multi-faceted) and there were moments of brilliance, particularly his descriptions of London and one chapter close to the end, entitled "The Flight of Sikes."

I chose to read Oliver Twist largely because I thought it would help me with two of my own writing projects, a romance set in roughly the same time period and a fantasy novel which features a cadre of young thieves.  It certainly helped me see areas in which those stories need work, but for the most part I'm just glad to have finally gotten my teeth into another classic.

For my next bit of self-improving reading, Mike insists that I read Watchmen before the film comes out on Friday.   

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