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/lit/ - Literature

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10237616 No.10237616 [Reply] [Original]

Is Dickens only a children's writer?

I remember liking Oliver Twist and a Christmas Carol as a kid and I recently picked up a copy of Great expectations for $1.50 at a used book shop.

Is it worth my time to read it at the age of 22?

>> No.10237626

>>10237616
>Is Dickens only a children's writer?
No?

>> No.10237628

>>10237616
His topics and themes are as universal as it gets, faggot.

>> No.10237651

Christmas Carol is without a doubt his best work. Not unnecessarily bloated like the others. Besides, it's not like children's lit can't be great literature, see Alice in Wonderland

>> No.10237659
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10237659

>>10237616
Yes

>> No.10237661

His work is so ingrained in Western lit/media that no one can doubt his influence. Still, he was just a pop writer pandering serials to the masses.

>> No.10237668

>>10237616
No, he's too universal (and too mature in his best works) to be pigeon-holed that way. Even Oliver Twist and the Christmas stories have something to say to people of all ages.

>> No.10237691

>>10237661
Don't call Dickens "just a pop writer"

>> No.10237702

All British people are children, so yes in a sense.

>> No.10237814

>>10237691
>Don't call Dickens "just a pop writer"
That is actually a really good point. I mean, for example, Crime an Punishment was also serialize for the masses but could anyone in all honesty ever call Dostoyevsky "just a pop writer"

>> No.10237857

He seems so bad

>> No.10237966

>>10237857
There's just a huge disparity in the quality of his best and worst works

>> No.10237982

>>10237966
Would you mind further elaborating on that?
>>10237857
And Why do you say that?

>> No.10238186

>>10237616
I could land a helicopter on that forehead.

>> No.10238219

>>10237982
>Would you mind further elaborating on that?
His best works (A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, David Copperfield, etc.) are absolute masterpieces. His worst (The Old Curiosity Shop, etc.) are absolute trash.

>> No.10238251

>>10237616
>Is it worth my time to read it at the age of 22?
Depends more on how precious you time is than your age. It’s good but also pretty fucking bloated.

>> No.10239972

>>10238251
>pretty fucking bloated.
But isn't Great Expectations only like 500 pages?

>> No.10239992

>>10237616
before mystery novels or bodice-rippers or science-fiction, there was dickens.

>> No.10240010

>>10239972
Bloated doesn't necessarily mean long.

>> No.10240026

>>10239972
>>10240010
anything over 350 pages is long. Anything over 500 pages is really long. Anything over 1,000 pages is stupidly long.

>> No.10240057
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10240057

I read Hard Times and it didn't really rouse me, but then again nothing much does for me so I don't have a perspective for it. Was it one of his "good" works?

>> No.10240064

>>10237616

I re-read it recently only because I didn't finish reading it while studying GCSE's ten years ago since we only studied certain chapters. Pretty solid book but I couldn't stand Pip at points, he's just such a boring main character but the atmosphere does wonders to draw you in and thank God everyone else is more interesting.

>> No.10240136

>>10240057
hard times and a tale of two cities are two of my favourite books alog with Dianetics: the modern science of mental health by L Ron Hubbard

>> No.10240681

>>10237616
I just got Great Expectations and David Copperfield for $1 each at a book sale. What am I in for?

Read the first 3 pages of Copperfield on the train ride home, seems pretty comfy.

>> No.10240687

>>10237616
know how i know /lit/ is retarded?

>> No.10240691

>>10240681
those first three pages are tippity-top tier god-level comfy unironically

>> No.10240755

>>10237661
>this is what anglos believe

>> No.10240764

>>10237651
But Alice in Wonderland sucks

>> No.10240794

You must have a very high tolerance for sentimentality to appreciate Dickens. He is incredibly melodramatic and romantic, but that's of course part of his genius. The full spectrum of human emotion is recognized and exaggerated in his books

>> No.10241842

>>10238251
>bloated
Its like he was paid by the word.