I read David Copperfield as a teen and it made my top five favorite books. I read Bleak House as a young mother and couldn't put it down. I read Nicholas Nickleby in my early thirties and found a gem. Some time or other, in school, I read A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations once or twice. Plus The Old Curiosity Shop and a Christmas Carol. That's it. In my fifties a thought occurred to me: What excuse do I have by this time for not having all of Charles Dickens firmly under my belt? None whatsoever.
So I set about making it a priority to read one Dickens per year. The goal has proved delightfully doable. Beginning in 2010, I picked off my shelf a tiny, ancient, fally-apart edition of The Pickwick Papers my husband had brought to me used from the amazing Sam Weller's Book Store in downtown Salt Lake City many years back (how totally appropriate--you'll have to read it to know why), took my sweet time, and enjoyed it immensely. That book had always been such a mystery to me, but no more. In 2011 I devoured Hard Times. Could it be my favorite? Next came Our Mutual Friend in 2012 (his masterpiece?). Then Oliver Twist in 2013---yes I finally read this one, and what a great tale with a great twist. (I think the
movie that came out when I was young, which I loved, somehow kept me
from picking up the book. Too bad.) This past year I digested Martin Chuzzlewit (that Mark Tapley and the rest---best characters ever). And voila! Five previously unread Dickenses completed, and it's been a veritable feast. Plus it's always fun to watch some film version when I've got the book read. There are so many good ones. Now I have only three Dickens novels left to read. I haven't decided what's next. Maybe Dombey and Son. And when I have them all read, it'll be time to start over. Can't wait.
There's a newish movie called About Time. We found it at Redbox. Bill Nighy is a charming adorable father who--well, I don't want to give it all away--I'll just say his study in his England seaside house is piled with books and he has unlimited time and Dickens is his time-spending choice. "He's so good with the jokes, I mean the actual gags!" he exclaims. It's true!
For your convenience here is a list of Dickens's 15 novels in the order he wrote them:
The Pickwick Papers
Oliver Twist
Nicholas Nickleby
The Old Curiosity Shop
Barnaby Rudge
Martin Chuzzlewit
Dombey and Son
David Copperfield
Bleak House
Little Dorrit
Hard Times
A Tale of Two Cities
Great Expectations
Our Mutual Friend
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (unfinished)
Happy Christmas and God bless us, every one!(That's from A Christmas Carol, not listed because it's a novelette.)
