Like everyone
educated in an English-speaking country, I have read or been exposed to
multiple works by Charles Dickens, one of if not the most prolific writers of
all time. His body of work contains several literary classics, including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, David
Copperfield, Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol.
In 1970 to commemorate
the 100-year anniversary of his death, Heron Books published his complete works
in green and gold faux leather bindings.
I subscribed to that centennial publication while still in high school,
and still have all 36 volumes -- of course, they are a little worse for wear, I
have been moving them around with me all these years.
Many I have
read at least once, but not all.
Yesterday I finished reading the first of the two volumes of Pickwick Papers,
Dicken’s first novel. It was printed in
serialization before being collected in book form in 1836. It was an immediate commercial success. It is
also completely funny – even some 185 years later.
The Pickwick Papers are the records of The Pickwick Club, named after its founder and President, Mr. Samuel Pickwick. The club is a fictional cross between garden variety literary clubs, and a spoof of the Royal Geographic Society. Its members travel the English countryside and make their observations of the culture and livelihood of its residents, to further the knowledge of club members and for posterity.
If you begin Pickwick
Papers taking it seriously you will soon discover that is not the point. It is
entertainment and it is very funny, with a touch of knife-between-the-ribs thrown
in for social commentary.
If I may be so bold, one could call Pickwick Papers a precursor of Laurel & Hardy, and Monty Python making its movie adaptation a natural. The 1952 version is priceless.
Recommendation: Yes, book and movie.
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