Chesterton lovers and lovers of poetry in the classical English forms will enjoy this collection of poems by one of the 20th century's greatest stylists, G.K. Chesterton.

After a section of juvenalia, the poems are arranged by broad subject. My only complaint with the volume is that it is not complete, and that Ignatius Press has not yet released Part 2 of the Collected Poetry.

But you will find many things in this volume in no other collection of Chesterton's poetry, including his poem about Notre Dame football. So if you enjoy Chesterton, or poetry, or both, check out this book.

G. K. Chesterton on Charles Dickens. If you love one, you are probably genetically determined to love both. So why haven't you read this book yet? What are you waiting for, a personal haunting from the ghosts of London humorists past?

Like all Chesterton's bios, this one is not so concerned with dates and influences, and not always even with its nominal subject. But Chesterton delights in Dickens, and does manage to stick to the point most of the time. And watching Chesterton go off on a philosophical tangent can be just as much fun as watching Dickens allow his plot to get hijacked by one of his own characters. He may be fuzzy on mundane facts, but he is always clear-headed and often lucid or even brilliant when it comes to human nature and ultimate truths. In the end, Chesterton finds a way through to a vantage that is worth visiting. Here are a few sample insights from the first chapter: "Dickens had all his life the faults of the little boy who is kept up too late at night." "The bores in his books are brighter than the wits in other books." "'I am a fond father,' he says, 'to every child of my fancy.' He was not only a fond father, he was an overindulgent father. . . they smash the story to pieces like so much furniture." (Chesterton pointing out that another writer gets carried away sometimes! I like that.)

This may be the best of Chesterton's biographies, and one of his best books. I did learn a few "facts" about Dickens, but mostly got to know him a lot better. If you're a newcomer to Chesterton, the talk below about him being a "fuzzy dreamer" for whom a "miss is as good as a hit" may be true in regard to biographical detail. But don't dismiss him as a thinker to be taken seriously, until you've read and thought deeply about Everlasting Man. There is an intellect incisive and sharp as any modern precision instrument.

Author, Jesus and the Religions of Man d.marshall@sun.ac.jp

To begin with, G K Chesterton loved Charles Dickens so much that he wrote several books and numerous essays about him. Both men loved what is most characteristically English. Dickens, on the one hand, created hundreds of characters who remain etched in our memory as being somehow quintessentially English. On the other, GKC was himself like a Dickens character, perhaps Mr. Dick in David Copperfield (who could not get the idea of King Charles I's severed head out of his mind).

Chesterton was probably the inventor of fuzzy logic. What he says usually makes sense, but he is notorious for being too sloppy to check up on the exactness of quotes and facts. If you are a stickler for facts, you will probably not like Chesterton. But if you are a bit of a dreamer who thinks that a near miss is as good as a direct hit, he's the man for you.

Dickens and Chesterton were among the greatest optimists of our time: Dickens because he felt that people who were good and kind were always rewarded, Chesterton because he felt that there was a God who forgave small transgressions.

So when you read the books and essays in this volume, you will not come away with any new-found knowledge about the great Victorian novelist; but you will become party to an agreeable conversation and greatly enjoy the company.

A previously posted review asks: "How can readers accept that a woman's happiness can be achieved either through living to make men happy OR through living according to one's conscience? Surely one of these characters deserves the author's condemnation yet neither clearly receives it." It is sad when a reader is so intent on pigeonholing complex, richly drawn characters into narrow politically correct categories that he or she misses out on joys of a wonderful novel like this. Florence is denied her father's love, blames herself, and strives harder for it. This is a psychologically accurate portrait of what such a child would do, not an example of "living to make men happy" that Dickens should have condemned or praised. Likewise as to Edith's "living according to her conscience," although in fact she fails to live according to her conscience, and hates herself for it. And another previously posted review says that "the ending is wonderful, and Dickens ties up the numerous subplots with the most delightful precision." I found the final 100 pages the only bad part of the book, as Dickens artificially ties up matters that he had no need to tie up; he should have ended the book sooner. But this is my favorite Dickens novel so far.

First and foremost, this is the first story that has been truly able to touch the part of my brain that is concerned with love and affections (functions mistakenly assigned to the heart in former times). The touching and tragically-ended relationship between the young girl Florence and her brother left me sleepless and haunted for many nights. Mr. Dombey's coldness towards his daughter Florence made me pity the little girl and their eventual reconciliation and mutual love made me quite delighted, though I was still haunted by the earlier parts of the book when I reached the end.

Secondly, I have found myself to be quite in love with Florence. Even though she is a fictional character, her innocence and love and affection for everyone who is kind to her has won me over. If only Florence could come to life, travel through time to the twenty-first century, and arrive in my household, I would love her forever as my sister. I am quite jealous of Walter Gay indeed.

Although this novel is 800 pages long, it is so well constructed that you do not notice how long it is. Careful reading of this enables you to see that Dickens had this novel very carefully thought out from the start. Characters such as Paul Dombey, Florence, and little Paul are very well drawn and very convincing. I can not overestimate the grace in which Dickens balances suspense, good and bad omens, comic relief, and powerful images. The reconciliation scene between Florence and her father is a scene of such rare and exquisite beauty. (even to me an English Major) Along with "David Copperfield" (1850), "Bleak House" (1853), and "Hard Times" (1854), this is a phenomenal masterpiece beyond expectations.

Nicholas Nickleby is a marvelous novel. It is the young Dickens at his best. I almost feel guilty for giving it four stars, but giving it five would be unfair, I think, because his later works, such as Great Expectations, are bettter. The novel is written enthusiastically and contains some of Dickens' best humor. I especially found funny the character Mr.Lillyvick, the revered and dignified water clerk. And I will never forget Ralph Nickleby. Mr.Squeers and Arthur Gride were detestable and colorful villains, but they pale before Ralph Nickleby. He is such a cold and heartless character that he steals nearly every scene he is in. He has a certain magnetism that most of Dickens' good characters lack. And his suicide at the novel's end is so perfectly written that I read over it several times before I finished the novel. My only problem with the book was Nicholas's lack of psychology, but let us remember that this was written by a young man, not the mature artist of Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. The novel's strengths easily make up for its weaknesses. Nicholas Nickleby will be enjoyed by fans of Dickens and all other readers for centuries to come.

My first taste of Dickens was the appalingly long David Copperfield as a freshman in high school. I detested it, swore I would never read Dickens again, only to find that my junior year held in store for me what would become one of my favorite novels, Great Expectations, a book heinously bastardized years later by a 'modernized' film adaptation, with Anne Bancroft being the only redeeming feature.

Through the years since high school, I have begun to read Dickens of my own free will, and have greatly enjoyed his works.

Nicholas Nickelby, one of my all time favorites, is a wonderful novel, typical Dickens, chock full of characters, plots, satire, and story. Nicholas and his immediate family are the 'black sheep' of the Nickelby name. Humble, gentle, and common in the eyes of their well-to-do relative, Uncle Ralph Nickelby, who denounces Nicholas as a boy, and man, who will never amount to anything.

In typical Dickens fashion, Nicholas encounters adversity first at a boarding school, then in society, as he forges a name for himself. Along the way he befriends many, enrages some, and invokes the wrath of his Uncle Ralph, determined to prove himself right in bemoaning the shortcomings of his nephew.

One point of interest in this novel for me is the major revelation that comes toward the end involving the character of Smike. Throughout the novel he is loveable, pitiable, and utterly realistic, and his significance to the life of Nicholas, as revealed in the final chapters, is a true plot twist, and a charming, if not bittersweet, realization.

For anyone forced to read Dickens early in life, if you appreciate quality satire and an engaging look at the London society of more than 125 years ago, visit this novel sometime, it is one of Dicken's finest.

"Nicholas Nickleby" is one of the best works of Charles Dickens overall. This novel is about the brave adventures of Nicholas, his sister Kate and their mother. The story begins at about the time Nicholas's father dies and the family has to encounter the struggle of life with no imminent prospects of fortune. At this time they make an appeal to the brother of Nicholas's father, Mr.Ralph Nickleby. From this point on, the parallel developments of the honest Nickleby family and their villanous uncle begin to unfold. With many twists and turns the story is as captivating as any of the author's best books. The tale is characteristically filled with the Dickinsian people such as Mr.Vincent Crummles and his family, in particular the "phenomenon", Arthur Gride, Newman Noggs and others. Overall, this book is a pleasure to read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in good story-telling.

This is Dickens' book (and some would say lecture) on the theme of selfishness. Martin Chuzzlewit is structured around the three variations on this theme: personal selfishness in all its many manisfestations, institutional selfishness by way of an insurance scam, and national selfishness in the form of hypocrisy served up American-style.

To illustrate the theme of personal selfishness, Dickens' parades his usual circus of colorful characters before us, each representing some aspect of the theme. There is hypocrisy appearing in the persons of Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp, thoughtlessness dressed up as young Martin Chuzzlewit and Mercy Pecksniff, suspiciousness and distrust disguised as old Martin Chuzzlewit, greed and villainy personified by Jonas Chuzzlewit and Tigg Montague (or Montague Tigg), and so on. There are also the usual cast of good characters to set off the bad.

The American interlude takes young Martin and his sidekick, jolly Mark Tapley, to the U-nited States where they meet various members of the American establishment: media moguls, literary luminaries, the American aristocracy, multifarious military men. One and all, they extol the virtues of Democracy and Freedom, American style. Unfortunately, the young travellers' experiences don't quite live up to the advertising. Not to give the story away, but let's just say they find themselves going up a river without the proverbial paddle.

The insurance scam illustrates the idea selfishness when it grows in stature to encompass more than those in one's immediate environs. It's dreamt up by Tigg Montague, but quickly takes on a life of its own and swallows up the likes of Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit.

On the whole, these themes are convincingly illustrated. The problem with the book is not the structure, but the tone of the narrative, or how Dickens tells the tale. When dealing with personal selfishness, Dickens takes a caustic, condemnatory tone, frequently obtruding in the narrative to rain insults on his poor characters. Pecksniff, in particular, is the unhappy recipient of a lot of this authorial abuse. By contrast, when Dickens narrates the American episode, he takes a combative, indignant tone, and far from obtruding, he is happy to hold his pen and let his characters incriminate themselves.

It's this inconsistency in the narrative that mars this book, particularly Dickens' habit of interjecting his moral imprecations. Indeed, the narrative is sometimes so earnestly didactic that it feels like a lecture. A more artistic way to get your points across is to let your characters make them. After all, that's what they're for.

Not a bad book, especially the American episode, but clearly the work of a still maturing Dickens. If you are new to Dickens and are looking for a place to start, look elsewhere. Come back to MC when you've read two or three of his other books.

If nothing else, one can come away with images of use in your daily lives. Read this book to understand the hypocrisy of Pecksniff and Mrs. Prigg's interesting friend, Mrs. Harris. These two things pop up as literary references all over the place. Now I finally understand the "Harris" reference in Murder on the Orient Express!

There are all sorts of deceptions and selfishness going on in this book, but by far, Seth Pecksniff is the most perfect character to be found of all Dickens' comic characters. There is a darkness in the profile of Mr. Pecksniff, but he is made to ridiculed, and Dickens does not let a chance pass to ridicule Pecksniff.

I want to digress a moment, for Dickens did as well -- there is a section where young Martin Chuzzlewit tries his fortune in America. And there is quite a bit of anti-American sentiment to be found in these parts (a fact which caused emnity between Dickens and the American public until he made his 2nd and final tour in 1870 or so). There are two reasons for this: first, Martin Chuzzlewit simply did not have the sales figures of previous novels. Anti-American books seemed to be "the thing" (just like diet books are popular today) in Britain, so he went for that. Secondly, Dickens had just been on a rather contentious tour of the U.S. in which he had been trying to make a case for international copyright. You see, the U.S. was the China of that day -- infamous for pirating works of people from other countries. Publishers in America had been printing their own copies of Dickens novels at cut rates (because they weren't paying Dickens or his British publishers anything!) When Dickens tried to make his plea for intellectual property rights, these same publishers of newspapers did a hatchet job of Mr. Dickens' reputation. So, basically, Dickens had an axe to grind.

In any case, feel free to skip all the Chuzzlewit in America bits. There is a moment of self-realization for young Martin, but it's not essential. All the essential action is going on in England, and Martin will return to finish business. There's also a pyramid scheme-like scam going on as part of a subplot, so now we've got two things involved in this novel that people think are debates of modern origin: intellectual property rights and bad financial info. Just remember, Napster and Internet stock tips are only the latest manifestation of old themes; at the very least, this book will remind you of that.

This is Dickens' tale (and some would say lecture) about selfishness. Dickens' presents characters that embody different aspects of this vice, from the hypocrisy of Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp, to the thoughtlessness of young Martin Chuzzlewit and Mercy Pecksniff, the suspiciousness of old Martin Chuzzlewit, to the vengefulness of Charity Pecksniff, from the villainy of Jonas Chuzzlewit, to the duplicity of Tigg Montague. But Dickens doesn't stop here: the book also explores this theme on the larger institutional and national scales, as well. The American detour can be seen as a condemnation of the hypocrisy of the U-nited States of the early 1800's. And the Life Assurance Co scam is clearly an indictment of selfishness when its ambitions grow to encompass those beyond one's immediate circle. To his credit, Dickens doesn't lay these latter evils at the abstract feet of 'countries' and 'companies', but shows that even in these suprapersonal entities, the original sin lies with individuals.

Almost as good as Bleak House. Two shortcomings, though. One, the poetry of the language never reaches the same heights. Dickens just doesn't seem as inspired here, and there are moments when he even seems tired and to be suffering from the same disappointment his characters complain of. Two, the mystery theme is pushed to the background and is lame in comparison. Otherwise, the structure is excellent, weaving the themes of the Circumlocution Office and self-imprisonment relatively seamlessly through the story.

One reviewer here has commented that "Little Dorrit" is not without Dickens' trademark humor, and, with one qualification, I would agree. Mr F's Aunt, Mrs Plornish, and Edmund Sparkler in particular are all quite funny. Characters like William Dorrit and Flora Finching, however, who would have been funny in earlier books (eg, Wilkins Micawber and Dora Spenlow in "David Copperfield" it can be argued, are younger - and more romantic - versions of Dorrit and Flora) are only pathetic in this one. It is a sign of the change in Dickens that he can no longer see the lighter side of these characters.

BTW, there is another little joke for those versed in Victorian Lit. The comedic couple Edmond Sparkler and Fanny Dorrit are a play on an earlier couple, Edmond Bertram and Fanny Price in Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park". The joke is that Dickens has taken the names and inverted the characters. Fanny Dorrit couldn't be more different than Fanny Price, and likewise Edmond Sparkler and Edmond Bertram. I'm sure this is not an accident. Dickens had a thing for the name Fanny, using it for two of his less appealing "temptresses", Fanny Squeers (in "Nicholas Nickleby") and of course Fanny Dorrit. Funny stuff.

And speaking of Fanny Dorrit, I have one last comment. It is often said of Dickens that he couldn't create good female characters. This puts me in mind of Chesterton who related a similar complaint made by Dickens' male contemporaries that he couldn't describe a gentleman. As Chesterton deftly pointed out, however, what these gentlemen really meant was that Dickens couldn't (or wouldn't) describe gentlemen as they wished themselves to be described. Rather, Dickens described gentlemen as they actually appeared. I might say the same thing about the women who complain about Dickens' female characters. It's not so much that Dickens couldn't (or wouldn't) describe good female characters. Rather, it's that the kinds of characters he did describe aren't the ones the complanaints wish to see. Women praise the Elizabeth Bennetts of the book-world not because the real world is full of Liz Bennetts (it's not), but because that's the way they themselves wish to be seen. Truth is, however, there are far more Fanny Dorrits and Flora Finchings and Dora Spenlows than there are Liz Bennetts. The women who complain of these characters, though, would rather ignore this unflattering little fact. Whatever. The truth will out, and there's far too much truth in Dickens characters to be so lightly dismissed.

4 1/2 stars

Dickens' last novels (with the exception of the unfinished EDWIN DROOD) really form a group all to themselves: exceptionally concerned with the excesses of social institutions and the cruelties of high society, they in some ways read more like Trollope and Thackeray than they do Dickens' own earlier works, although they retain Dickens's fine gift for character and bite. LITTLE DORRIT is proabbly my favorite of the later works: its multiple stories are extremely gripping, and his satire at its sharpest and most necessary. Many people say these later novels are not as funny as his earlier works, but DORRIT is to me an exception: there are few funnier (or more dear) characters in Dickens' repertoire than the breathless, kindhearted Flora Finching, and I find myself almost helpless with laughter whenever Flora's senile and hostile charge, Mr F's Aunt, makes her perfectly doled-out appearances in these pages. (Arguably the funniest scene Dickens ever wrote is the scene with this "most excellent woman" and Arthur Clennam and the crust of bread). This is a great Dickens novel even for people who tend not to like Dickens (and yes, there are some of them, as hard as that may be for the rest of us to believe).

Little Dorritt is not light reading. While it is in many ways a very entertaining work, it is not for those seeking pure entertainment. It is a very rich work, full of social commentary [church bells ringing, "They won't come."; the Circumlocution Office], humor [can anyone resist laughing out loud and Flora Finching?], several memorable characters, and a very powerful statement on personal salvation.

Yes, the novel does drag from halfway to the three quarters mark; but what 900 page Dickens novel doesn't? When you read Dickens, you should expect that. It is during that time that he typically starts to resolve many of the issues raised in the first half and also sets up his exciting finale. While the finale of Little Dorritt is not exciting in the Hollywood sense, it is very fulfilling.

The major theme that spans the entire work, something I haven't seen others discuss, is that of Old Testament vs. New Testament thinking. It is the Old Testament thinking of Arthur's mother that keeps her in her wheelchair. It is only when she gets a dose of New Testament thinking from Amy Dorritt that Arthur's mother walks. Dickens was a Unitarian who had a strong belief in the redemptive power of Christ. While he often ridiculed both the Church ("They won't come.") and religious hypocrites (Borriohoola-Gha in Bleak House), it is through Little Dorritt that he presents this redemptive power. Entertainment becomes a treatise on right living.

Almost everyone would agree that Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a holiday favorite. The book is a big seller during the holiday season and the movie versions practically equal the number of times It's a Wonderful Life is shown each year. But how did Dickens come to write this classic Christmas tale?

In her first novel, A Midnight Carol: A Novel of How Charles Dickens Saved Christmas, Patricia K. Davis gives readers a "who, what, where, when, how" scenario on the creation of this classic tale. In Davis' rendering, the well-known author has been experiencing a bit of a slump in his book sales and a smidgen of writer's block. He and his wife, Catherine, and their four children are about to be evicted from their stately home at the fashionable address: One Devonshire Terrace. And only to add to his troubles, Catherine announces that child number five is on its way.

The food becomes scarcer, the servants haven't been paid in weeks, and holidays are fast approaching. Dickens has a dream about the long-dead Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, and the man who took the "merry" out of "merry ol' England." Coincide the dream with the meeting of a very poor boy with a limp and a crutch, and voile! The Tale begins to perk in the writer's head.

Davis recounts an excellent tale with an old-fashioned 19th century feel to it that would make Dickens proud. It's even published in with a time-era feel. But Davis never really gets into the writing of the piece. All the reader gets to see is a glimpse of what is going around Dickens and then, suddenly, the manuscript is at the printer, destined to become one of the greatest books of all time. But wait! Dickens' rather unscrupulous publisher, Ledbook and Squid, try to deter the selling of the novel so that Dickens will be forced to turn over all rights to the story to them.

A Midnight Carol will never achieve classic status, but it is a fun holiday read, a charming feel-good tale that is sure to put the reader into the holiday spirit.

Patricia Davis' novel about Charles Dickens and the circumstances surrounding his writing of "A Christmas Carol" is wonderfully entertaining and highly educational. She does an outstanding job of bringing to light this most compelling true story, using beautiful language that is very appropriate for Victorian England and yet quite easy for the modern reader to understand. Her characters are poignant and fascinating, and her descriptions of the newly-industrialized London bring The City to life. It's hard to believe she isn't English! This book is a perfect stocking-stuffer for any lover of historical fiction from age 12 to 120.

Imagine blending "It's a Wonderful Life" with "A Christmas Carol" and you have Patricia K. Davis's novel, "A Midnight Carol, or How Charles Dickens saved Christmas". This charming tale finds our hero, Charles Dickens, broke, his wife pregnant with her fifth child and his books failing to sell and generate royalties, and Dickens desperate and at the end of his rope. He knows that he must write something to keep the roof over his head and food on the table for his family, when circumstances suddenly converge and inspire him to write the timeless classic, "A Christmas Carol". He decides to get it published, own the rights to it himself and have it selling before Christmas. When his publisher finds out about the idea, they realise that Dickens has struck gold, and conspire to find a way to keep the book for themselves and reap the profits from it. In the meantime, Dickens is haunted by the ghost of Oliver Cromwell, who he believes stole Christmas, and finds an unlikely ally in a street urchin who will eventually reveal the plot against Dickens to steal his story. It all adds up to a marvelous book that perfectly captures the flavour of Dickensian England and reveals how the timeless story "A Christmas Carol" came to be. In the end, the plot to steal the story is foiled, Christmas is saved and Dickens receives a new lease on life. This is a book that can be read in an evening over a nice hot mug of mulled wine or cider, and should be read as a companion volume to Dickens' classic story. A highly imaginative and recommended read for the Holiday Season!

A simple story that continues the Dickens classic. I have to disagree with the previous reviewer who stated it was unimaginative- quite the contrary! This is an ingenius plan to take the Christmas Carol lessons and move them forward to now.
Politically correct? Well, if that's what you want to call it. I call it being sensitive.
Dale Powell is not Dickens but he is obviously a great storyteller with a big heart. I saw him perform both his and Dickens story's in Seattle in 2000, and he was wonderful. This book is a classic waiting to be recognized.

Is this Charles Dickens? No. Is this a great book? YES!

This is an excellent story! It is both moral and uplifting. It's a little rough in spots and the author should probably seek another editor, but it is the best sequel that I have EVER read!

(...)BR>The author (Dale Powell) is a middle school teacher, and this book is written for kids- it is full of history that is craftily woven into the tale. That is part of its brilliance.
Also Powell acknowledges in the preface that he is in no way a Dickens and fully acknowledges his "shortcomings to the master" as he puts it.
I am also a teacher and the author has nothing for which to apologize. He created a great moral tale that my students and I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of my students thought it was better than the original, which is NOT timeless, but laced with antiquity.

Great Expectations was perhaps one of the worst book ever written. I'm no Dickens' expert, but I do know a little about literature- I don't know how this even passed through the editing stage. It is slow-paced, boring, pointless, and an all-out waste of time to read. I have read challenging books with strong points like this before, and have sometimes enjoyed them, but never have I read a book this pointless and difficult to read, with such a stupid ending. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND VALUABLE TIME ON IT!!!!!!!

Charles Dickens makes characters come alive and stay alive. There is always a character to relate to, despise, pity and love. Great Expectations is one of my all-time favorites. It has depth and meaning and just enough humor to ice the cake. A Christmas Carol is, of course, a classic that can be read and enjoyed by young and old alike. A great way to break into the classics. The reason I give this book 4 out of 5...A Tale of Two Cities. A muttled mess of ideas that never really reach an enjoyable plateau until somewhere in the last 50 pages. By book's end you only wish that the beginning mirrored the end. On the up side, it was a great bedside tome that made it possible to get an early night sleep. Overall though, this book is a must have. Read it, Enjoy it, Share it.

I would like to encourage any one to read "A Christmas Carol". Whether you are not old enough to read yet, have someone read you this joyous story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his moments on Christmas. For any adults, young or old, I would recommend you to read this to your children and to any other relative. I think that it is one of the most interesting Christmas story that I have ever read. Once you have read the book, take some time and watch the movie to follow the staves throughout the book. Another thing, is that you should go buy "A Christmas Carol" at your local book store or right here at amazon.com . Thank you very much and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Few works of adult literature are so well known that they become embedded in our cultural fabric the way that Oliver Twist has. Perhaps it is because the title character is a loveable, sympathetic, young boy that the story, over time, has come to be mistaken by some for a children's tale. And perhaps it is because I feel like I have known the story all my life that I only recently realized that I had never, in fact, read the novel. So as I sat down to (finally) read this book, it was with a sense that I was simply revisiting a cherished story from my youth. But as I quickly realized after a very few pages, this is adult literature in all respects - in its sophisticated, intelligent prose, its rich plot, its elaborate cast of characters, and, yes, the occasional depiction of gruesome violence.

Surely even those who have never read this Charles Dickens' classic could recite the basic elements of its plot. Who among us is unfamiliar with the story of the young orphan who musters up the courage to ask, "Please, sir, I want some more." And yet this novel is so much more than a mere rags-to-riches story. It is also the heartwarming story of the triumph of good versus evil and of the human spirit's ability to face down adversity. Dickens pits an innocent child against the dangers of an uncaring world, and the story's happy ending is at once a celebration of Oliver's innocence and an affirmation of all that is right and just in society.

Though the prose can be tedious at times, Dickens' mastery of the English language is difficult not to appreciate. And while some may find the plot cliché, there is sufficient tension throughout the novel to maintain the reader's interest. For myself, I was continually surprised, as the chapters unfolded, to realize how much more there was to this classic than simply a story about an orphan who falls in with a gang of unruly pickpockets. This is definitely worth reading, even if you feel like you have already read it as a child.

For the younger reader exploring Charles Dickens, this abridged version will not be intimidating. It'll help open the door to classic literature, and challenging ideas.

"Oliver Twist" is a complex story about the English welfare system for orphans, overlayed by a story of love, family, and the pursuit of each.

What is missing from this version is Dickens' long descriptions and thorough presentations of a situation. What makes Dickens great, in part, is his multi-woven characters, filled with color and excitement. Some of that is lost here.

That said, this is an excellent choice for an older child having trouble reading, or the younger, aggressive reader. The story about Oliver Twist is strong enough to endure an adaptation, but, later on, it is a thrill to read the original version.

I fully recommend "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens.

Anthony Trendl

The creative novel Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens in 1838, defines a classic of all times. This intense story reflects a young boy's life in London with no family or place to go. Oliver's mother dies while giving birth to her son in the beginning of the book. Oliver's father remains unknown. Throughout the book the reader sees constant struggles. Oliver is befriended by Fagin and his company. Fagin, along with the Artful Dodger, invite Oliver to stay with them and become a thief. During one of Oliver's pick pocketing adventures; he is caught by Mr. Brownlow. Instead of reprimanding the young lad, Mr. Brownlow decides to raise him. Oliver desperately searches for the answer to his past while trying to stay alive on the streets of London. Ironically, Mr. Brownlow is Oliver's grandfather. A dominate theme of Oliver Twist examines the importance of family. Oliver's early years taught him to fend for himself and he suffers from never experiencing a loving and nurturing childhood. The setting of the book plays a powerful role as the story unfolds. Dickens describes the setting of London and all the places that Oliver stays very descriptively. "The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odor. The walls and ceiling of the room were perfectly black with age and dirt..." (page. 56). Dickens explains the facilities that were available to poor Oliver and makes them sound unbearable. He does an excellent job making the setting come alive and allows the reader to plight. I would recommend all readers at some point in life to delve into this classic. I found Oliver Twist very moving and towards the end hoping only the best for poor Oliver.

Edmund Gravel traverses through this quick but enjoyable read by Edward Gorey, including his great illustrations. A bug-like creature leaps from Edmunds tea-cozy and takes him on a Dickens-like "Christmas Carol"-like journey. The stories are sad, depressing, and amusing all in one. Great holiday entertainment, and a great gift for the scrooge who has everything but this book.

Three ghosts, a recluse and an initial apparition. Dickens, right? Wrong: Edward Gorey does his own take on "Christmas Carol" in "The Haunted Tea Cosy." Delightfully verbose and filled with Gorey's surreal drawings, this is a picture book that adults will adore.

Recluse Edward Gravel is going about dreary tasks before Christmas. Then sudden an enormous insectile creature leaps from beneath the tea cosy. (Never mind what a tea cosy is) It is the Bahhum Bug, which has come to "diffuse the interests of didacticism." To escort the Bahhum Bug and Mr. Gravel, three subfuse but transparent personages appear to show him the Christmas That Never Was, The Christmas That Isn't, and The Christmas That Never Will Be. They show him distressing scenes around the grey town of Lower Spigot. It's written in a wry, twisted style, this book includes delightfully dour illustrations by the late and much lamented Gorey.

Tired of relentless holiday cheer? Looking for a dash of Halloween's darkness in the chirrupy holiday season? Then check out "The Haunted Tea Cosy," and then carry on to "the very edge of the unseemly"!

This book is a wonderfl antithesis to all the forced jollities of Dicken's beloved chestnut. Old Scrooge should only meet this Bahum Bug! Instead, the Yuletide Bug takes the dour Edward Gravel through a tour of Christmases that Never Were, Isn't, and Never Will Be, all shown in wonderfully ambiguous terms. Of course the Moral Lesson Is Learned, and Mr.Gravel learns to sheer cheer with the equally grey people of his town of Lower Spigot. But the delight is that nowhere does Gorey force the lesson on us, never do the odd little tragedies, even in cemetaries, force one to See the Real Meaning of Christmas--until we have finished the story, and even then it is a droll little moral. This is one story I intend to make a holiday standard in my family.