My perspective on Great Expectations is different than yours. I really enjoyed reading it and found it hysterical. I prefer the original ending (included in the Penguin paperback edition) in which Pip and Estella remain estranged.
Nice, that's some good explanations to Dickens' work. Like the author, I'm also British, and while you did go into a lot of his stories, however, you missed a few. One good example that you missed from Dickens' collection is called "A Christmas Carol". This is short a ghost story where about three or four ghosts have been given exactly three hours to try to convince an old wealthy miser called Ebeneezer Scrouge to change his ways and be generous to all the people he is taxing and shunning out of his life, especially his employee Bob Crachet whose son, Tiny Tim, will soon die of an unspecified illness without his help. While it's a very short novel, the Victorian audience that Dickens wrote this for loved it so much that they used his descriptions of celebrating Christmas to help them find a better way of celebrating together with their families; anyone who refused to celebrate Christmas in this way was immediately nicknamed a Scrouge, a tradition which is still going strong in my country to this day. I hope that you find this description helpful and are able to one day add this to your collection.
I love “A Christmas Carol”! I’ve read it several times and will be reading it again for book club next month. I didn’t include it in this list because it’s more often considered a short story than a novel, and it’s very different in layout than most of his work. It’s great though!
Great Expectations is often cited as the novel to start Dickens because it is written with a first person narrative, it is relatively short and has some great characters like Miss Havisham, Pip, Magwitch, Estella and Joe. My favorite Dickens is David Copperfield, again first person narrative and great characters but it is a lengthy tome.
Interesting ranking! One of his novels I rarely hear anybody talk about are his "American Notes." You can probably guess that's what I'm currently hunkered down with. 😉 It wasn't at all popular when he published it, and it's easy to see why! But reading it 100+ years later, and having visited (or lived in) the majority of places where he and his wife stopped, makes the book far more appealing. I live very near Niagara Falls so read that portion of the book sitting by the Falls, and seeing them through his eyes 182 years after he viewed them was actually fascinating. He also put into words the majesty of the Falls far better than I ever could (no duh!) ... what I'm trying to say is the emotion I feel when I'm there, Dickens expressed beautifully and perfectly. For readers today, if you enjoy history and seeing what things "looked" like back then, 👀 how people looked and acted, and get a feel for the way things were done, this would be a good read for you. For starters, we all know that traveling was far more difficult for people back in the 19th Century. This gave me a far better glimpse into the uncomfortable, cramped, days-on-end modes of transportation those people endured and suffered (yes ... suffered!) through. I really like your bun, btw. 🙆♀
Thanks! I should definitely read that one at some point, I’m much more drawn to novels than nonfiction, but novelists often end up writing the best nonfiction. 😊
_American Notes_ is very interesting. It contrasts with _Martin Chuzzlewit_ very well, given it is non-fiction and the other obviously fiction. I will be doing a short review of _American Notes_ at some point in the near future.
Her ranking (of the ten she's read): 1) Bleak House 2) Tale of Two Cities 3) Our Mutual Friend 4) David Copperfield 5) Great Expectations 6) Pickwick Papers 7) Nicholas Nickleby 8) The Old Curiosity Shop 9) Oliver Twist 10) Hard Times
I suspect more people have read Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities (and this is purely anecdotal), not because they chose to, but because those books were chosen FOR them, in the form of school reading assignments--at least, at the schools I went to.
I’m surprised that you mentioned Great Expectations due to its length. Most Americans of my generation would be exposed to the shorter works because of fitting it/them into the time allotted. A Christmas Carol, a longer short story, and A Tale of Two Cities were used in middle school for that reason. Hard Times was used in my university British Lit survey class for the same reason.
A refreshing take on Dickens novels ranked! I appreciate your thoughts. I never thought about a 'name' title, but i think I'm the opposite, 🙃 I'm more drawn to them in order to find out more about the person! I'm just starting out reading his novels after several decades! So I"m trying to decide where to start and after this, I think I won't start with Great Expectations ..as i had expected to 😊 Still haven't decided. I got a few from used bookshop including edward drood.. but didn't know that he never finished it.. so that will prob be the last one i read. Thanks for your thoughts!
Great Expectations is one of Dickens' best novels, hence people read it more often than his lesser novels. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit, Bleak House, and David Copperfield are his best in my opinion, and they all follow the theme of poor child going through hard times, makes good in the end. Which is what Dickens himself went through as a child. I am currently plodding my way through Hard Times, which is a slow and somewhat dull read, after reading his other, more-exciting novels, mentioned above.
I also have not read all of Dickens books yet, having started in chronological order. It is interesting to find _Martin Chuzzlewit_ and _Dombey & Son_ missing from the list in this video. The latter is important from a female perspective. I have a review of _David Copperfield_ that I posted recently and which I think is the better of the ones I have read so far or perhaps more enjoyable - especially the second half. But _Nicholas Nickleby_ is the best story, surely?
At the beginning of the video I listed the titles I hadn’t read yet. I have now read Dombey and Son, which I also have a review on, and Martin Chuzzlewit will be a read for the coming year probably. 😊 I love Nicholas Nickleby, but it’s not my favorite. Dickens is always over the top, but I think even more than usual in that one. Bleak House is my favorite for a lot of reasons, including story. But everyone has their favorites based on different personal connections. 😊
@@RelishBooks I am amazed at your reckoning with _Nicholas Nickleby._ I appreciate it is not your favourite, and that we have our own reactions. But as to personal connections just because I think more highly of it does not mean I have more personal connections to it than the next person, or the other. The context is very different to when I went to school as a boy. And the kinds of things that might need a certain courage that would threaten my own life or rather livelihood, in todays world, are also very different. Nicholas' situation and morally courageous decision is a timeless feature of society surely?
I tried reading David Copperfield but was bored out of my mind. Quit after around 50-75 pages. Didn't touch another Dickens book for a long while. Then thought hey, maybe I just started out on one of his weaker books. So I googled Best Charles Dickens novel. Guess what was #1? David Copperfield. 😴 I tried A Tale of Two Cities a few years ago, and only lasted about 50 pages before being lost and bored. Haven't given him another try since then.
His style isn't for everybody, no shame in that. I find Dickens very entertaining, but even then it's a big commitment and some of his books have taken me a LONG time to finish. David Copperfield sucked me in and I spent an entire day reading it through, but Bleak House took me months, though I now rank it as my favorite. I believe his stories are rewarding, but I do wish he had trimmed them down some, there are passages that have to be slogged through in even his best work.
Maybe Dickens isn't for you, David Copperfield is my favorite, I love the characters like David, Uriah Heap, Steerforth, Mr Micawber and Peggoty. We all have different reading tastes.
Perhaps some readers today are so.used to fast paced books and movies they just can't appreciate the writings of one of the greatest writers of old classics. I would encourage anyone wanting to read Dickens to check out Tristan in the classics as he really talks about Dickens. He is awesome.
People start with "Great Expectations" because it's one of his four relatively short novels. The other three (Oliver Twist, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities) are not nearly as highly regarded.
That makes sense. Some of the longer ones can be intimidating, even though they're extremely rewarding. I do think 'A Tale of Two Cities' is also highly regarded though.
@@Tolstoy111 I am not a Dickens scholar. I'm just someone who loves to read his work. And in that group, 'A Tale of Two Cities' will always be highly regarded.
My perspective on Great Expectations is different than yours. I really enjoyed reading it and found it hysterical. I prefer the original ending (included in the Penguin paperback edition) in which Pip and Estella remain estranged.
Nice, that's some good explanations to Dickens' work. Like the author, I'm also British, and while you did go into a lot of his stories, however, you missed a few. One good example that you missed from Dickens' collection is called "A Christmas Carol". This is short a ghost story where about three or four ghosts have been given exactly three hours to try to convince an old wealthy miser called Ebeneezer Scrouge to change his ways and be generous to all the people he is taxing and shunning out of his life, especially his employee Bob Crachet whose son, Tiny Tim, will soon die of an unspecified illness without his help. While it's a very short novel, the Victorian audience that Dickens wrote this for loved it so much that they used his descriptions of celebrating Christmas to help them find a better way of celebrating together with their families; anyone who refused to celebrate Christmas in this way was immediately nicknamed a Scrouge, a tradition which is still going strong in my country to this day. I hope that you find this description helpful and are able to one day add this to your collection.
I love “A Christmas Carol”! I’ve read it several times and will be reading it again for book club next month. I didn’t include it in this list because it’s more often considered a short story than a novel, and it’s very different in layout than most of his work. It’s great though!
Great Expectations is often cited as the novel to start Dickens because it is written with a first person narrative, it is relatively short and has some great characters like Miss Havisham, Pip, Magwitch, Estella and Joe. My favorite Dickens is David Copperfield, again first person narrative and great characters but it is a lengthy tome.
I love David Copperfield too 😊
Interesting ranking! One of his novels I rarely hear anybody talk about are his "American Notes." You can probably guess that's what I'm currently hunkered down with. 😉 It wasn't at all popular when he published it, and it's easy to see why! But reading it 100+ years later, and having visited (or lived in) the majority of places where he and his wife stopped, makes the book far more appealing. I live very near Niagara Falls so read that portion of the book sitting by the Falls, and seeing them through his eyes 182 years after he viewed them was actually fascinating. He also put into words the majesty of the Falls far better than I ever could (no duh!) ... what I'm trying to say is the emotion I feel when I'm there, Dickens expressed beautifully and perfectly. For readers today, if you enjoy history and seeing what things "looked" like back then, 👀 how people looked and acted, and get a feel for the way things were done, this would be a good read for you. For starters, we all know that traveling was far more difficult for people back in the 19th Century. This gave me a far better glimpse into the uncomfortable, cramped, days-on-end modes of transportation those people endured and suffered (yes ... suffered!) through.
I really like your bun, btw. 🙆♀
Thanks! I should definitely read that one at some point, I’m much more drawn to novels than nonfiction, but novelists often end up writing the best nonfiction. 😊
Also, love Bucky cat 😉
@@RelishBooks 😻
_American Notes_ is very interesting. It contrasts with _Martin Chuzzlewit_ very well, given it is non-fiction and the other obviously fiction. I will be doing a short review of _American Notes_ at some point in the near future.
Her ranking (of the ten she's read):
1) Bleak House
2) Tale of Two Cities
3) Our Mutual Friend
4) David Copperfield
5) Great Expectations
6) Pickwick Papers
7) Nicholas Nickleby
8) The Old Curiosity Shop
9) Oliver Twist
10) Hard Times
I suspect more people have read Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities (and this is purely anecdotal), not because they chose to, but because those books were chosen FOR them, in the form of school reading assignments--at least, at the schools I went to.
Yes, I think that’s true, but I wonder why it’s favored as an assignment above some of his others. Other than being a little shorter than some.
I’m surprised that you mentioned Great Expectations due to its length. Most Americans of my generation would be exposed to the shorter works because of fitting it/them into the time allotted. A Christmas Carol, a longer short story, and A Tale of Two Cities were used in middle school for that reason. Hard Times was used in my university British Lit survey class for the same reason.
@@johnsilver8059 I was talking only of his novels. A Christmas Carol is certainly most people's first experience of Dickens.
Hi :) You forgot 'The Chimes, a goblin story.' I have two 2nd editions :) P. S. Great review!! Bye, for now, Alex :) Subscriber number 350.
Thanks! I was just ranking what I’ve read so far, I still definitely have a few to go! 😊
A refreshing take on Dickens novels ranked! I appreciate your thoughts. I never thought about a 'name' title, but i think I'm the opposite, 🙃 I'm more drawn to them in order to find out more about the person!
I'm just starting out reading his novels after several decades! So I"m trying to decide where to start and after this, I think I won't start with Great Expectations ..as i had expected to 😊
Still haven't decided. I got a few from used bookshop including edward drood.. but didn't know that he never finished it.. so that will prob be the last one i read. Thanks for your thoughts!
Good luck! I hope you like them!
Great Expectations is one of Dickens' best novels, hence people read it more often than his lesser novels. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit, Bleak House, and David Copperfield are his best in my opinion, and they all follow the theme of poor child going through hard times, makes good in the end. Which is what Dickens himself went through as a child. I am currently plodding my way through Hard Times, which is a slow and somewhat dull read, after reading his other, more-exciting novels, mentioned above.
About halfway through Bleak House, haven't read it since grad school, trying to finish but its tough
It has rough patches, but I promise it’s worth it!
I also have not read all of Dickens books yet, having started in chronological order. It is interesting to find _Martin Chuzzlewit_ and _Dombey & Son_ missing from the list in this video. The latter is important from a female perspective. I have a review of _David Copperfield_ that I posted recently and which I think is the better of the ones I have read so far or perhaps more enjoyable - especially the second half. But _Nicholas Nickleby_ is the best story, surely?
At the beginning of the video I listed the titles I hadn’t read yet. I have now read Dombey and Son, which I also have a review on, and Martin Chuzzlewit will be a read for the coming year probably. 😊
I love Nicholas Nickleby, but it’s not my favorite. Dickens is always over the top, but I think even more than usual in that one. Bleak House is my favorite for a lot of reasons, including story. But everyone has their favorites based on different personal connections. 😊
@@RelishBooks I am amazed at your reckoning with _Nicholas Nickleby._ I appreciate it is not your favourite, and that we have our own reactions. But as to personal connections just because I think more highly of it does not mean I have more personal connections to it than the next person, or the other. The context is very different to when I went to school as a boy. And the kinds of things that might need a certain courage that would threaten my own life or rather livelihood, in todays world, are also very different. Nicholas' situation and morally courageous decision is a timeless feature of society surely?
I tried reading David Copperfield but was bored out of my mind. Quit after around 50-75 pages. Didn't touch another Dickens book for a long while. Then thought hey, maybe I just started out on one of his weaker books. So I googled Best Charles Dickens novel. Guess what was #1? David Copperfield. 😴
I tried A Tale of Two Cities a few years ago, and only lasted about 50 pages before being lost and bored. Haven't given him another try since then.
His style isn't for everybody, no shame in that. I find Dickens very entertaining, but even then it's a big commitment and some of his books have taken me a LONG time to finish. David Copperfield sucked me in and I spent an entire day reading it through, but Bleak House took me months, though I now rank it as my favorite. I believe his stories are rewarding, but I do wish he had trimmed them down some, there are passages that have to be slogged through in even his best work.
Maybe Dickens isn't for you, David Copperfield is my favorite, I love the characters like David, Uriah Heap, Steerforth, Mr Micawber and Peggoty. We all have different reading tastes.
Perhaps some readers today are so.used to fast paced books and movies they just can't appreciate the writings of one of the greatest writers of old classics. I would encourage anyone wanting to read Dickens to check out Tristan in the classics as he really talks about Dickens. He is awesome.
I have the same quirk with name titles for novels, they never intrigue me, and I don't read them unless they are highly esteemed.
BH is my number one as well - first time I hear someone else with the same view. And ATOTC is my no 2! Haven’t read neither OMF nor LD.
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People start with "Great Expectations" because it's one of his four relatively short novels. The other three (Oliver Twist, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities) are not nearly as highly regarded.
That makes sense. Some of the longer ones can be intimidating, even though they're extremely rewarding. I do think 'A Tale of Two Cities' is also highly regarded though.
Not among Dickens scholars. I've heard it reffered to as "ersatz Dickens" The critic Clifton Fadiman called it one of his worst novels.@@RelishBooks
@@Tolstoy111 I am not a Dickens scholar. I'm just someone who loves to read his work. And in that group, 'A Tale of Two Cities' will always be highly regarded.
Nothing wrong with that. @@RelishBooks
@@Tolstoy111 wow I have never heard of anyone say before that a tale of two cities is not highly regarded.
Saying that you didn't like ir appreciate Great Expectations was enough for me no to want to continue listening. Best wishes.
I do like and appreciate Great Expectations. It isn’t at the top of my list, but it is a good book.