Part 2 of Oliver Twist Readalong as hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey
This part was weird and seemed divided into roughly two sections. The first section was boring to me as it talked about everyone but Oliver, suggesting that the boy was left dead in a ditch as Bill Sikes ran for his life. I knew of course that Oliver wasn't dead although that would have been a very interesting twist! For me, I found these chapters to be more stereotypically Dickens with many long sentences and description.
I much preferred the second section where Oliver meets good people who love him and want to take care of him, helping to turn him into a healthy little boy. The only problem is that there didn't seem to be much plot. I know that Oliver has to return at least once more to Fagin and the gang before achieving a happy ending for himself but there were just chapters of Rose being ill and then recovering (how did she even get sick?) and the aftermath. I did feel like it could have been shortened though.
I'm very excited for the last third which will a. explain who Monks is; b. give Oliver's history; c. probably make me cry, re. Nancy; and d. wrap everything up. It's about 160 pages (including illustrations) which would be enough for most people but as Dickens is, ahem, long-winded, I hope I don't feel cheated or rushed too fast to a false-feeling conclusion.
I agree, the second part is a tad boring, but I liked the sense of comfort and safety.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're excited for the third part! I can assure you that all of the points you mentioned will be explained/will happen, so stay tuned.:)
Have I seen it...hm...must check ;)
ReplyDeletenice review
I'm with you - this section mainly just seemed like a placeholder, but my suspense is definitely up for what will happen, and especially WHO IS MONKS and why does he care so much what will happen with Oliver? Should be interesting to find out!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I wanted to find out what happened to Oliver, but I was pretty entertained by the chapters with Mr. Bumble and the widow. I thought they were pretty funny. I'm looking forward to the rest of Oliver Twist. :)
ReplyDeleteI kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in this second section. Surely those baddies were going to steal him away again after he was all healed--when Oliver went running for the doctor for Miss Maylie I just knew he was going to be snatched again. Thank goodness he wasn't!
ReplyDeleteI put the Oliver Twist film you have a pic of on my Netflix queue last week--I've never seen a film adaptation before (and this is my 1st time reading) so I'm looking forward to getting to it!