One of my mini reading goals is to read all of Charles Dickens's novels. I haven't set a date to do so; last year I just said I'd read one in 2021, which I did with The Pickwick Papers. If I limit myself to a similar goal in 2022 I've already met it with the reading of Oliver Twist.
I liked Oliver Twist. I had a vague notion what it was about from some clips of the movie versions I'd seen over the years, but I did not know the full story.
It had the usual colorful characters typical of Dickens, - plus the satirical criticism of some social institutions.
It was not a perfect book. In the first two thirds or so of the novel Oliver faces repeated physical and spiritual dangers. We cared what would happen to him. But in the last third or so of the book he is safe and protected, almost as if Dickens didn't have the heart to put him in danger again. That threw the focus of the book off a bit. The character who faces physical and spiritual dangers in this part of the book is Nancy. Indeed, you begin to care more about what happens to her than to Oliver!
The ending is a bit too pat - all the threads are suddenly tied together in a way that doesn't seem quite believable
Finally, there is Fagin. I did not know he was Jewish./Dickens makes use of the offensive stereotype of the evil Jew, and keeps referring to him as the Jew. It was a bit off-putting. I understand that anti-Semitism was typical of the English at that time, but it made me uncomfortable.
Despite those flaws, I did enjoy the book.
Pax et bonum
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