Your Favorite Charles Dickens book?

My neighbor, a lawyer, told me to listen to Dickens on Audible. He said Dickens was meant to be read out loud because most of England was illiterate in Dickens time and the serials were read aloud.

His favorite is Nicholas Nickelby

No one else likes Dickens?

I read through all of Dickens' novels chronologically by publication date about every twelve years (I'm about due now). The only one that doesn't appeal to me is [italic] Barnaby Rudge [/italic] .

Anything with Christmas!

Nicholas Nickelby by far.

[quote] I did not include A Christmas Carol because it is a novella.

A just exclusion, my liege.

Our Mutual Friend.

I've read most of them. Have Little Dorrit, The Old Curiosity Shop, and Dombey and Son still to go.

I agree that Barnaby Rudge isn't very good. I was surprised at how much I liked Martin Chuzzlewit (and Dickens' take down of American culture).

I chose David Copperfield, but my real favorite is Dombey and Son which wasn't in the poll.

[quote] Sorry if I left off your favorite.

I loved Old Curiosity Shop, and yes, I cried at the death of Little Nell.

Is there man-on-man sex in any of them?

^I always thought David Copperfield & Steerforth's relationship was not platonic

I got the same impression, R12, and even more so when I read the novel again recently.

I like [italic]Hard Times[/italic], which I guess isn’t normal. I enjoy the satire of mercantilism (and it’s mercifully short).

I once took a class on Dickens for my English degree that assigned seven of his more wordy novels to be read within fourteen weeks, at the same time I was taking courses on Victorian essayists, Modernist poets, Middle English poetry, and the history of the English language. Needless to say, I did not read all seven novels, instead pulling the required essays of of my ass!

I'm surprised by the people who say "Nicholas Nickelby" was their favorite. I just finished it and I didn't really care for it at all. Not much of a story and parts (like when he was with the stage troupe) were uninteresting.

[quote] instead pulling the required essays of of my ass!

Yum.

[quote] Great Expectations won because it's the standard high school Dicken read. And the only one most of us have read.

r12 r13 There was a (pretty good) Italian miniseries of it which clearly, if discreetly, presented the relationship as a gay one. The series didn't make a big point of it, but it was obvious what they were trying to get across to the audience.

I liked Hard Times, but story-wise it's my least favorite of the Dickens novels I have read. I will say it was an easy read for a Dickens novel though!

I actually like the Nicholas Nickleby film version with Charlie Hunnam.

I found the first half of [italic]David Copperfield[/italic] incredibly depressing.

But that's what makes the second half so satisfying, R21.