Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Reviews

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Good Points: Its by Charles Dickens, so as long as you know you can cope with the odd twenty-line sentence you should enjoy the vivid treatment of the main characters and the exciting account of the London riots of 1780. This book followed the goo-fest of The Old Curiosity Shop, when you take that into account the lack of overdone sentiment in Barnaby Rudge is remarkable.

Bad Points: I wondered now and again what I was reading. Is this a murder mystery, a book about Barnaby Rudge, or about Hugh, or is this a historical account of the Gordon riots with some good characters lobbed to keep my interest? The book is well worth reading because its by Dickens (sorry to repeat myself), but you never get the sense of focus that you do from his better books. I knew the good would come out well, and that the bad would come out badly, because they always do, but I didn't care about them as much as I would have liked to.

General comments: Suppose you start to read Dickens with Oliver Twist, Bleak House, and Great Expectations, because you know the plots from films or the telly. You expect this will make your introduction to his books easier, and you'll be right. You'll probably love such books, and so embark on the rest of Dickens. When you get to a book like Barnaby Rudge, well down your list as you know little about it, it will probably come as a disappointment, at least in part. This would be a great shame. Its much better to start at the beginning, with Pickwick Papers, and to read your way through in the order he wrote them, just as the Victorians did. Then you get the thrill of reading each good one, the lesser known books will still be worth it, and you get the sense of Dickens growth from an excellent writer to an exceptional one.