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Oh Dickens!

Reading this book was quite the journey! There were moments when I loved it, and there were moments when I didn't.
It was a joy to see the charm of Dickens take shape in this book. His humor was wonderful as expected, and his ability to create unique caricatures was utterly charming!
Although this book didn't have much of a plot, it was very fun to watch all of the different adventures and misadventures unfold.
Since this book was originally serialized, it felt very episodical. At certain points this type of storytelling was exciting and fun, but overall I was missing the structure of one solid plot line.
I feel that the best way to read this book is as if it was in fact a periodical. I think my own enjoyment would have been much greater if I read it that way. Dickens didn't intend for this story to be read as a novel, so I do acknowledge that.
My biggest gripe with this book is that it is VERY (white) male-centric. The women don't really do much except faint, cry, or "become hysterical." They honestly felt like silly objects for the men to have very minor interactions with. This is a common occurrence when reading classics written by men, which is a sad truth. The good thing is that there are many "classic" male authors who do great justice to their female characters. Dickens in-fact created some of the most iconic and complex female characters in literary history, such as Miss Havisham and Estella.

All in all, it was wonderful to read Dickens' first "novel," but I wouldn't recommend starting with The Pickwick Papers if you're new to Dickens.

I can't wait to fully discuss The Pickwick Papers with Emma during our second Dickens vs. Tolstoy debate! The live show will be on Emma's (@emmie) channel on April 3rd at 2pm EST! SO EXCITED!