mjmooney Posted January 17, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 17, 2016 I expect a modern teenager to have not read any Dickens but i find it slightly odd that an adult hasnt. My wife hasnt by the way. Shes odd. I hate Dickens' writing. With a passion. Hate it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Was forced to read Jane Austen at school. It's like they're trying to put school kids off reading for life. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Perfick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I've only read two Dickens novels. Great Expectations which I didn't really enjoy too much, but it wasn't so bad that I refused to finish. And Bleak House which is one the best books I've ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) Cereal multipacks. Edited January 17, 2016 by useless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 7 hours ago, DK82 said: Im now off to pull some strippers, put my feet up them.. no pipe yet though. Fair play. Happy birthday old bean. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sharkyvilla Posted January 17, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2016 1 hour ago, useless said: I've only read two Dickens novels. Great Expectations which I didn't really enjoy too much, but it wasn't so bad that I refused to finish. And Bleak House which is one the best books I've ever read. Yeah Great Expectations wasn't as good as I thought it would be 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 The same for me, I read Bleak House first and really liked that one, and so thought Great Expectations, would be a good read but it really fell quite short in comparison to BH.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Interestingly I first read 'Bleak House' after it being recommend for fans of Dostoevsky's work. In comparison I found it a more difficult read than FD's stuff and wasn't really expecting that and it left me wondering how different Dostoevsky's stuff reads if you read it in it's original language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 As a little kid i was a voracious reader, anything i could get my hands on. Call of the wild, white fang, watership down, water babies etc. I read Dickens 2 most popular, a christmas carol and oliver twist and although enjoyed them didnt read any of his others till i was about 12 and never got the same enjoyment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 (edited) similar to above, dickens et al hold no interest for me from a reading point of view. I just find it a bit too old fashioned. No doubt some of the social commentary is presumably as relevant as anything done today, but there's too much to read as it is without entering into stories that the only motivation comes from a sort of social pressure to "read the classics". Edgar Allan Poe, Conan Doyle , are readable and good fun. Dostoevsky, Turgenev, fine, but Dickens, Melville so dull. Edited January 18, 2016 by Rodders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I've only read two Dickens novels. Great Expectations which I didn't really enjoy too much, but it wasn't so bad that I refused to finish. And Bleak House which is one the best books I've ever read. Yeah Great Expectations wasn't as good as I thought it would be Ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Seems like a lot of people have had the same experience with Great Expectations as me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zen Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 16 hours ago, mjmooney said: I hate Dickens' writing. With a passion. Hate it. Interesting. Wierdly, I like - admire, even - some of his works a lot but sometimes feel I could have written them better myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 similar to above, dickens et al hold no interest for me from a reading point of view. I just find it a bit too old fashioned. No doubt some of the social commentary is presumably as relevant as anything done today, but there's too much to read as it is without entering into stories that the only motivation comes from a sort of social pressure to "read the classics". Edgar Allan Poe, Conan Doyle , are readable and good fun. Dostoevsky, Turgenev, fine, but Dickens, Melville so dull. What name are we supposed to be amused by there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 Oh, and I can't agree about Melville. Great writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 1 hour ago, Michelsen said: Interesting. Wierdly, I like - admire, even - some of his works a lot but sometimes feel I could have written them better myself. with 11 weeks holiday you could probably have written the works of William Thackeray as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 16 minutes ago, mjmooney said: What name are we supposed to be amused by there? oh on that google search thing, on mine it listed great russian authors and after the obvious big ones, comes Vladimir Putin. That renowned author of Russian literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Horses for courses innit. I didn't read for a long long time and got back into it via Dickens. I read three or four in quick succession and loved them, loved the walking across country from one village to another, which today would all just be 'London'. But then I tired of the longer descriptive passages that didn't really go anywhere and I tired of the olde worlde language. I've tried to pick Dickens up again fairly recently and it's absolutely no longer for me. But it was 'my thing' for a while back there. As for the comment on Dostoevsky being 'dull'. I love it. In some ways it does still have those rambling passages I got bored of with Dickens, pages of description of something not required by the main story. But I love it. House of the Dead, Demons, Crime and Punishment, absolutely fantastic books that had great story, great idea at the heart - and look impressive on the shelf! Heading off in the opposite direction, I've also got a thing for Colin Mcinnes. He's no Dostoevsky, but bloody hell the pulp books City of Spades and Absolute Beginners are just gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 Let's take this over to the book thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts