The Pickwick Papers (Penguin Classics)

I grabbed this edition (green cover, copy of the original print edition) because it was free, but I am fortunate to have a very, very old print edition (predates ISBNs, described as the Dickens' best edition) . . . so old that the pages are extremely fragile. This has given me the best of both worlds, as I can read the text on my Kindle but compare the illustrations with the print edition. Print does justice to the engravings, while the digital format just can't compare. Background details are often lost, and the captions are omitted.The illustrations are of paramount importance, since the original plan was to hire Dickens to write sketches to accompany the illustrations, based on the success of his "Sketches by Boz." It was a fortunate choice for posterity, if not for the original illustrator, but the illustrations do matter.While most of the illustrations appear in both my print edition and the digital edition, each has some illustrations that are unique to it. Aside from the quality of the reproduction in digital format, the Kindle edition often tucks the illustrations far from the chapter it was intended to illustrate (most appear in later chapters, but occasionally one will appear before the scene it describes).The digital edition also omits the preface Charles Dickens wrote for the first post-serial publication. It's worth reading, although Wikipedia gives a fuller account of the dispute over the illustrations versus the text.

Readers new to Dickens should be aware that 'The Pickwick Papers' is, in some ways, not a particularly 'Dickensian' book. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I should like to dispose of some of the most obvious objections - forewarned is, after all, forearmed.Firstly, for the purposes of the casual reader, the prose style still reeks of the nineteenth century parliamentary and court reporter that he was before this, his first long work of fiction, was published. This can variously be viewed as enjoyably quaint, frustratingly gratuitous or simply incomprehensible. Half a page should suffice for the potential buyer to discover which way they will take it. Secondly, this is a book where nothing very much actually happens and that which does happen is generally ridiculous and inconsequential. I strongly suspect Dickens had some of the picaresque novels of his own literary heroes firmly in mind as he bent to each serial instalment, a cheap and nasty publishing method which negatively effected the quality and integrity of all but a handful of his works.Now to the good stuff. The lack of a plot is, as anyone familiar with Dickens will probably agree, a bit of a blessing in disguise. We do not have to struggle to remember characters who triumphantly unmask themselves after first appearing in disguise in some trivial incident buried unmemorably between bouts of low comedy. We are not required to strain our credulity at shocking co-incidences (much) or bizzare wills or motives. We are left free to enjoy the brilliant, fecund riot of spontaneous creation that is what makes Dickens an enduring miracle of English prose. Characters of such vivid and memorable form that, more than a hundred years on, the cigarette cards they were pictured on are still readily recognisable to anyone who has met them in print. And Dickens' England, a sort of neo-mediaeval, pre-industrial idyll, is one of my favourite places to go. Incidentally, this work was reportedly Tolstoy's favourite bedside book, so we travel in good company.Dickensian moral and social outrage is in full force here as well, as he rails against false charity, debtors prisons and charlatans of every stamp, rounding it all off with a dose of genuine compassion and forgiveness for the repenting sinner. At times sickeningly sentimental, but never dull, this book is a delight. Do yourself a favour and take an uncomplicated, cheerful walk through the English countryside and spend some time with its broad-waisted, narrow-minded, but ultimately big hearted denizens. Also, look out for what is arguably Dickens' finest creation - the irrepressible cockney everyman, Sam Weller.It is, however, important to keep in mind when this book was written. Political correctness should be left at the title page - I have never read a feminist review of Dickens that showed the slightest ability to see past the patriarchal reality in which he lived. If one wishes to understand him, I think it is best to accept the political world that he lived in as uncritically as he did himself.

Thank God this is over! I had previously read six books by Dickens and I loved them all. I even gave 5*s to one or two. This one, however, was a painful read. I think part of the problem might have been my own current personal issues. Rather a lot of heavy stuff has been going on recently and I have been having problems focusing. So perhaps the vapid piffle just didn't work because I wasn't able to take it all in. To be fair, the book was a better read in the middle. I was sorely tempted to give up during the first 10-20%, but after that, I was interested enough to finish it up.In reading this book, I was reminded of Harriet Vane's comment (in <cite>Strong Poison</cite>) that someone would like to marry Lord Peter Wimsey merely for the pleasure of hearing him talk piffle. Well, Dickens, who was 75 or so years before Wimsey, was a master at piffle. Normally, I like piffle. My very own spouse considers me to be a regular fountain of piffle. But, this book had a bit too much of it and a bit too little else. It basically had no point other than piffle. There's no real plot. Dickens just made up stuff for a year or two and eventually republished it wrapped all into a single volume as a novel. His first to be exact.His later novels seem to have some point from the beginning and eventually, with lots of entertaining piffle along the way, get to their appointed ends. In this case, there was no point except for the piffle and Dickens eventually ran out. Something like that. He does show some signs of his future greatness. He has some rather interesting and quirky characters. He has shyster lawyers all over the place. He has blaggards and scoundrels, albeit in this novel they're not also physically marred in some way as per usual. I don't remember any orphans in this book, and not really any sickly innocents. But, I suppose for Dickens, it's a good beginning. Or something.Perhaps the best way to view this book is akin to a modern sit com. There's a new episode each week that has some entertainment value in itself, but which is only marginally connected in any way with past or future episodes, other than that the characters remain the same and some of their past experiences are recounted in some way in the future. In essence, it's a Victorian-era version of the 1990s TV show, <cite>Friends</cite>.-------------------------------------As a side note, Amazon claims that the book contains 514 pages, the book itself says only 508, but the exact same edition on GoodReads has a more reasonable view of the page count, 914 pp. I checked that the ASIN numbers were the same on GoodReads and Amazon. Virtually all the dead-tree versions are closer to 1000 pages than to 500 pages. So why is Amazon so far off on it's alleged "real page numbers"? This isn't the first time I noticed that Amazon was page-count challenged. Why do I care?

para que sirva mi opinión primero deberíamos coincidir en criterios e incluso así, habría desencuentros.El libro me recuerda a las obras de teatro con pícaros, gentil hombres, caballeros y servicio, muchas postas, caballos y alcohol, puestas en escena de ópera y -de nuevo-teatrales. Y por eso me ha encantado, lo terminé con una sonrisa. Quizás por los mismos motivos, a otra persona le pueda resultar infumable.

As Aventuras do Sr. Pickwick continua a ser um livro para crianças extremamente inteligentes, de todas as idades, e o fogo cênico de Dickens arde nas páginas do romance. Trata-se de um romance alegre, até o Sr. Pickwick ser recolhido à prisão em função de dívidas, depois que se recusa a pagar os valores injustamente impostos por um tribunal, a título de indenização por uma suposta quebra de compromisso com a infeliz Sra. Bardell. Dois personagens são marcantes na estória: o erudito Sr. Sejeant Buzfuz, denunciando Sr. Pickwick durante o julgamento; e Mr. Leo Hunter, recitando para Pickwick duas estrofes da “Ode a um sapo Agonizante” de autoria da Sra. Leo Hunter:“Posso ver-te ofegante, se estirar/Sobre o estomago, sem suspirar;/Posso, indiferente, ver-te morrer,/Sapo agonizante, sem te mexer!Diz, demônios, em forma de meninos,/ Com gritos selvagens, ruídos ferinos,/ Caçaram-te nas alegrias do charco, / Com algum cão, agonizante sapo!”Parafraseando Chesterton: “Dickens apreende, de um modo, ao mesmo tempo, suave e convicente, a estranha inocência da tarde da vida. Os óculos de Pickwick, redondo, no formato da lua, percorrem a história como emblemas de uma certa simplicidade esférica. Dickens foi ao clube de Pickwick com a intenção de fazer troça, e ficou para rezar.” Em suma, existe no gênio de Dickens um sentido de abandono que tem apelo universal, porque repercute na criança abandonado que temos dentro de nós, por menos compatíveis que sejamos com tal papel. Muito lamento que uma obra que está entre as 50 melhores do mundo não tenha uma edição recente no mercado editorial brasileiro.

この本は今年大学に入った孫に、２年で読み切れとプレゼントしたものですが、ハードカバーではありませんが、随所にある挿絵が素晴らしく、本人も多分挿絵に吊られてもっと早くに読了するのではと、私も楽しみにしています。

Resta sempre una lettura affascinante. Fu la mia prima lettura di Dickens, non ricordo se ai tempi del ginnasio o del liceo, più di mezzo secolo fa, e da allora questo autore è stato per me un buon amico, che mi ha accompagnato tutta la vita. Intrapreso lo studio dell'inglese, solo grazie a Dickens sono riuscito a perseverare in esso. Ora ho voluto rileggere questo mio "primo amore" in lingua orignale ( con fatica, ma ne vale la pena: una musica) in questa edizione dei Penguin Classics in e book. L'intoduzione, ma sopratttutto le note, sono illuminanti e complete. Edizione consigliabile sotto tutti i punti di vista. Riletto con gli occhi smaliziati della vecchiaia, il romanzo lascia intravedere tutti gli artifici narratiivi del giovane Dickens. Evidente la transizione in itinere dal progetto iniziale, ricalcato sugli Sketches by Boz, all'idea del romanzo compiuto. Il personaggio di Pickwick matura via via e diviene il prototipo di tutti i "buoni" dei romanzi successivi, dismettendo l'orignaria veste della macchietta ironica dell'ingenuo e un po' supponente scienziato dilettante. Lo stilema dei raccontini inseriti nel testo, forse ripreso dalle Mille e una Notte, è la residua traccia di un certo arcaismo dickensiano, evidentemente condizionato dal programma di uscita a dispense periodiche, che bisognava anche riempire per arrivare al giusto numero di pagine. Ma i personaggi sono via via meglio scolpiti e preannunciano tutto il mondo bizzarro, variegato, fatto di indimenticabili icone, dei romanzi successivi. Già compaiono alcuni "topoi" che saranno wagnerianamente ricorrenti: la prigione per debiti (Little Dorrit), il feroce ritratto del sistema giudiziario (Bleak house). Per noi italiani, l'artificio dei "posthumous papers", non a caso inventato nel 1836, tra la ventisettana e la quarantana, ricorda un altro manoscritto "dilavato e graffiato", che ci presenta altra commedia umana, certo più profonda e meditata, ma con notevoli analogie. Qui siamo ancora all'abbozzo di romanzo, ma con i prodromi di quel grande deposito di bellezza per l'umanità che l'opera di Dickens rappresenta.

I have ordered this book to re-read, and I do recomment it for the meaningful wonderful past-time with the great classical book, very humouros, to be enjoyed after a working day, to be carried away into another world.