The Pickwick Papers: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

The Pickwick Papers was my first real encounter with a Charles Dickens novel. Before I started reading this epic comedy, my only experience of Dickens was having read the seasonal Christmas Books (mini-masterpieces in themselves)and seen the various cinematic adaptations that we are all bought up on. I will confess at this point that I had already seen Noel Langley's 1952 film version of the book, which I deem to be one of the most hilarious films i've ever had the pleasure of seeing, and so I was a bit biased when I started reading.

However, from the first chapter I was hooked and can safely say that the novel surpassed any expectations the film had given me. Never before have I encountered a piece of literature that has made me laugh so much. The novel depicts the adventures of Mr Pickwick and his friends as they travel the country in order to observe human nature. Beyond this, there is only the faintest notion of a plot but this is the intention of the author due to the monthly form in which the book was published. The novel pretends to be nothing more than it is.

And what the novel IS, is jolly good fun. It does not take itself seriously and spans all kinds of humour, ranging from the verbal kind to memorable scenes of slapstick.This is the book by which all other comedies, be they written or cinematic, should be judged! Each new situation is unique and virtually all the characters, be they major ones or minor, are so vividly drawn that they remain with the reader a long while after the novel ends. Each of them from Mr Pickwick to Dodson and Fog are distinct, and what is even more wonderful is that the reader can laugh both at, and with, the characters.

In my view, The Pickwickians and Sam Weller became like good friends, whom I knew I could have a good time with, and indeed I felt surprisingly sad at having to leave them at the end of the book. Also, The Pickwick Papers is a must for anyone interested in the later works of Charles Dickens, since it contains important precursors to themes which he was to focus on in his following novels. The Christmas chapter, for example, which contains a story that appears to be an early version of A Christmas Carol, and the references to the poor and destitute who are depicted through tales told by the characters.

On the whole though this novel is an uplifting read, with plenty of loveable and more importantly realistic characters, that encompasses all areas of human life, from politics to relationships, from sport to the media. A sheer comic masterpiece to raise a smile, no matter how low the reader maybe feeling.

...Dickens' first novel is a comic masterpiece; his reading public hoped in vain that he would continue to produce humorous novels, and although his subsequent works have humorous (generally satirical) elements, they all fundamentally bear a much heavier, serious message. This is simply an enjoyable romp. "Ode to an expiring frog" is genius.

For some reason I had been reading - as I'm writing this - English literature quite intensively for the last 25 years but had never read anything by Dickens. Was it because I feared being disappointed by the books, having seen several film and television adaptations? Or because of the rumours of his 'flat' characters? Whatever the case, when I recently determined this could no longer do I simultaneously resolved to go about it methodically and read Dickens' novels chronologically, which meant starting with 'The Pickwick Papers'.

I confess I felt at first rather daunted by the prospect due to the sheer size of this novel (in comparison: Oliver Twist (Oxford World's Classics) is a mere 480 pages, Hard Times (Oxford World's Classics) just over 300 pages), but as soon as I got started I was hooked instantly, and every time I opened the book to read on (an urge I could barely suppress, even during working hours) I was immediately transported back to the England of the 1820s, in the delightful company of Mr. Samuel Pickwick and his companions.

In a way, this is surprising as 'The Pickwick Papers' has little, if anything, of a plot. Mr. Pickwick founds an amateur club 'to enlarge his sphere of observation, to the advancement of knowledge, and the diffusion of learning' (as it says on page 1), and the rest of the book chronicles the adventurous travels across England of Mr. Pickwick and his 3 companions (Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Tupman, and Mr. Winkle). So why would one feel this incessant appetite to read on and find out 'what happens next'? Well, in my case there were a number of reasons. First of all, there is a truly incredible gallery of fascinating characters. True enough, they may be 'flat' according to the textbook definitions of flat vs. round characters, but they are - in all their quirkiness and eccentricity - extremely lifelike, and often very likable. Mr. Samuel Pickwick himself seemed to me (speaking as a foreigner) the very embodiment of much of what constitutes 'Englishness' to me (at times quick to take offense but with a heart of gold, fond of good company and a good laugh). His manservant Samuel Weller ('Samivel' as his father calls him) also seems the very embodiment of the streetwise Londoner, and I could go on and on and on. Even characters appearing just briefly in the story are so well captivated by Dickens (often in just a few lines) that you not only feel them to be entirely credible but often enough feel you know someone exactly like them.

Secondly, there's the language, and especially the dialogues. Dickens must have had an incredible ear for speech, because all major characters really have their own 'voice', and it perfectly suits the man (or woman) they are. But in setting the scene too, and describing people, inns, offices, coaches, cities, ... Dickens uses a very colourful vocabulary and always seems to find exactly the right word. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, 'The Pickwick Papers' is a book bursting at the seems with good-hearted humour. There are some serious passages too, but all in all Mr. Pickwick and his companions succeed in getting into one ludicrous situation after the other (with often as not Sam Weller coming to the rescue), and I found myself absolutely captivated by the mood of this splendid book. What one wouldn't give to have accompanied Mr. Pickwick on his travels!

To conclude: I could kick myself for having waited so long to read Dickens because 'The Pickwick Papers' was an absolute delight. So now I am already halfway into Oliver Twist (Oxford World's Classics), with Nicholas Nickleby (Oxford World's Classics) lying ready on the bedside table!