Oliver Twist was one of the first books by Dickens that I read, back in the day. I should say, started to read, because I couldn't get more than halfway through before giving up. But in the past couple of years, I've read and enjoyed a few books by Dickens, so I figured I'd give it another try.
I know that Oliver Twist is one of Dickens' best-loved books, but for the life of me I don't see why. It's not a terrible book, but I felt like it has neither the depth of, say, Great Expectations or the humor of Nicholas Nickleby. I will say that the penultimate chapter (Fagin's last day on Earth) is very good. But that's balanced out by the fact that Oliver himself is a cipher, the love story (such as it is) is boring, and the good guys are generally interchangeable.
I'm leaving out the standard Dickens faults, like the extended use of coincidence, because I like the other novels even though they're just as bad on that front.
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