Addison

I would have to confess that I am rather more attracted to the cynical style of Thackeray or of the myriad satirical/picaresque novels produced in the 18th Century. Therefore, although I do love Dickens, I often find the overwhelming sentimentality of his earlier novels rather too cloying for my tastes - Oliver Twist, I fear, is one of my least favourite of his works for this reason, though it does not offend so greatly as The Old Curiousity Shop. On the other hand, as he aged and matured (and generally grew wearier with society and the world), Dickens' style improved in my eyes; Bleak House and Little Dorritt are my particular favourites due to the increasing prominence of his melancholic satire and - indeed - his black humour. I generally suspect that in an age far less sentimental than his own, these latter novels are the more popular.

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Mungye

I very much love both Dickens for himself and his works. Although I must admit that having been a severly battered child living and being raised by strangers I have great difficulty reading Oliver for instance or Little Dorit. Great Expectations is so depressing to me it somehow reminds me of the Lemony Snicket books.
I loved the truthfulness of the way society really was and the tiny glimmers of light here and there of redemption or kindness that totally goes against the grain of the average persona in his books.

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JP Wagner

Just because you disagree with someone is no reason to talk down to them. I agree Dickens is a great author and those who don't admire his work probably just don't understand it or haven't read deep enough into it. But thats no reason to be that harsh on someone. Take a chill pill.

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cecelia

I have only read one book by Dickens so far, and it was David Copperfield. I absolutely loved it. While I agree that his work, at least in Copperfield, is not an historical accounting, I do think it helps to understand the social and political climate of the times in order to really get it. There are many political and social references that could easily be overlooked if the context of the period is not understood. Just because something is fictional doesn't mean we can't learn about history from it! I hated social studies and political science in high school. I just didn't get it! My understanding of world history and politics is understood primarily through the different ways it is represented in literature and art. I hope to read more Dickens in the future...

chmpman

I've heard Hard Times has been used in history classes to teach about the times. This is the only one of his books that I've read. What I don't like is that Dickens tells you in his descriptions of the characters whether or not you should like them. Good characters are described positively and bad with negative descriptions. It's like he doesn't trust his audience to make a decision on actions but insists on placing his preference right smack in the faces of the readers. But maybe it's just this book. I want to read A Tale of Two Cities some time. I did strongly agree with the message of Hard Times though.

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Glfralin

Dickens has always been an author that I admire so much. He is one of the most enduring for the majority of his body of work of all authors I ever remember reading. There are many who are famous for one or two great works, and this draws attention to their less known, but Dickens different. I think probably the most recent author that could claim such talent would be Mark Twain.

My personal favorites are "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver Twist".

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Finduilas

Yes; I agree! And I also loved David Copperfield.

Addison

I tend to be one of the many who prefer his later novels, such as Bleak House and Little Dorrit, to his earlier works, like Oliver Twist, which contain so much that is cloying as to actually annoy me in parts. That said, I do love Dickens, and have generally found that he is one of the very few authors to have mastered both the novel and the short story.

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Great God, how frail a thing is man; how swift his minutes pass:
His age contracts within a span, he blooms and dies like grass.

rboy27

David Copperfield has remained a favorite novel of mine for many years. To be perfectly honest though, I did see the made-for-TV movie on PBS before I actually read the book. If you've never seen it, it's really quite fantasticly done. It's sort of funny that most of the cast is from the Harry Potter movies (a very young Radclife plays Copperfield fantastically).

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