7. Oliver Twist

And then came Oliver Twist that actually I read by the same time I was reading Clara dos Anjos. I even wrote a composition comparing the two works. I know the things I’m about to write here might be my condemnation–who am I to point my finger at the work of such a universally known author such as Charles Dickens?–, but the truth is that it has not been an interesting experience. I just read it through because I have this feeling of “once you take a task, do it till the end”, but honestly it was almost a waste of time (bar the fact that I had a chance of improving my English).

The personages are described as evils or angels. There are no middle terms, except for a girl (no surprise the most interesting character) who ends up killed... Besides, it seems to me that Dickens plays a game he’s not prepared to. His efforts towards using a picaresque language seems pathetic, nothing compared to the mastering of Dumas or Voltaire. No delicacy here. It has been the first Dickens I’ve read but I don’t feel like reading none of his books again. I may do if it comes into my hands and I have nothing else to do, but it’s not in my lists…