Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Teaser Tuesday 191: Oliver Twist

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


I started Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Sunday night for a classics group read. Am only about a quarter of the way into it right now, but so it's pretty good. Though I am familiar with the story, I have never read the novel, and was a bit surprised by how long it actually is (my copy is just over 500 pages). Here is a teaser from near the beginning of the book.


They walked on, for some time, through the most crowded and densely inhabited part of town; and then, striking down a narrow street more dirty and miserable than any they had yet passed through, paused to look for the house which was the object of their search. The houses on either side were high and large, but very old, and tenanted by people of the poorest class, as their neglected appearance would have sufficiently denoted without the concurrent testimony afforded by the squalid looks of the few men and women who, with folded arms and bodies half doubled, occasionally skulked along.

(Chapter 5)




ABOUT THE BOOK:

First published in 1837.

The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens's tale of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a London peopled by vivid and memorable characters—the arch-villain Fagin, the Artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.





20 comments:

Unknown said...

I liked Oliver Twist when I read it a few years ago. Hope you do, too :)

http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/09/teaser-tuesdays_24.html

Heather said...

Thanks, Valentina! It is good so far. I was hoping to read more than I did last night, but was just too tired and started to nod od mid-chapter.

Beth said...

I just listened to this and am now reading it aloud to my kids. It was a great book! My teaser comes from Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers.

Heather said...

Hi Beth! I hope your kids are enjoying the book as much as you did. I'm looking forward to getting further into it!

kayerj said...

I've never read Oliver Twist. enjoy your book and thanks for stopping by.

Alice Audrey said...

I forget how verbose Dickens tends to be. It's been several years since I read this, but I have no desire to repeat. Not because of the verbosity, but because of the intensity.

JLS Hall said...

Good teaser! Not enough to get me to tackle any more Dickens, though. I'm just not that brave. Hope you enjoy the rest of the book, and thanks for the visit!

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

It has been very long since I read this...I hope you're enjoying it.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Yvonne said...

I don't remember if I ever read this one, but I know I saw the movie. Good teaser!

Unknown said...

Nice teaser. Thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

Thanks, Kelley, I am trying to enjoy it, though season premieres are getting in the way a bit this week. ;)

Heather said...

Alice: Yes, he can be quite verbose -- particularly his ealrier works. There have been a few paragraphs I've had to read twice, in order to make sense of them.

Heather said...

Joy: Thanks. I don't mind tackling him every couple years or so. I liked both Great Exopectations and A Tale of Two Cities, and who doesn't enjoy A Christmas Carol?

Heather said...

Laurel-Rain: I hope you enjoyed the book when you read it. So far it has been good. The story has been familiar than expected -- whether because we read an abridged version in elementary school, or because we watched the musical on TV many ages ago, I have no idea.

Heather said...

Yvonne: I know I've seen the movie, too, though it was a long time ago. Must have been the 1968 musical version, as I remember watching it in either elementary or middle school (not actually in school, but sometime in that age-range).

Heather said...

Thanks, Andrea -- and thanks for visiting!

Beth F said...

I haven't read this in years! Enjoy!

Heather said...

Thanks, Beth -- It's been a bit slow-going this week, but I have liked what I've read so far. Really should have started this before season premiere week.

Alice Audrey said...

And yet some of it comes across very well.

Heather said...

True. I've now 100 pages to go and sprinting to the end.