The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

With the exception of A Christmas Carol, all of Dickens' novels require a serious commitment (600 t0 800+ pages worth), but it's almost always worth it. This was Dickens' first novel, and I can easily imagine that it made him an instant hit. Just as a measure of its popularity and impact, there's at least one literary device (Wellerism) and one medical condition (Pickwickian syndrome) that derived their names from this novel. I also remember the Little Women girls playing Pickwickians, and although I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about at the time, in hindsight this is exactly the type of book that would be fodder for children's playtime. I've liked the Dickens novels that I've read in the past, but this one is my favorite so far.

Overview
The opening chapter is presented as the minutes of a meeting of the 'Pickwick Club'. It is by far the least-organized and most difficult chapter of the entire book. Fortunately, it's also unique, so if you can make it through, stuff starts making more sense almost immediately. The general idea of the first chapter is that the esteemed and venerated Mr. Samuel Pickwick has agreed to travel the countryside with three companions and provide the club with the complete record of their adventures for the education and entertainment of the members.

Mr. Pickwick's three young companions are introduced at this point: Mr. Tupman, the romantic; Mr. Winkle, the sportsman; and Mr. Snodgrass, the poet. As the story progresses, Mr. Tupman's conquests include almost winning the heart of someone's spinster aunt, before she runs off with another scoundrel; Mr. Winkle's sportsmanship consists of accidentally shooting Mr. Tupman in the arm; and although none is ever offered, I will let you take a guess as to the quality of Mr. Snodgrass' poetry.

The first half of the book follows Mr. Pickwick and co. through several seemingly random visits to small English towns, where they take in the sights, mix with the local color, and generally manage to get themselves into plenty of trouble. They also collect and record any stories that their acquaintances have to tell, and these can range from tragic to hilarious to just . . . strange (but always entertaining). The last half has more direction and slightly more cohesiveness; it follows several storylines and has a more subdued tone, although there's still plenty of humor involved.

Usually, the only books that leave me laughing out loud are Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but this one had my husband slightly worried because I kept randomly chuckling while working in the kitchen.

Recommended for: Anyone with enough time

Parental Worries: Umm, it's Dickens. Wholesomeness is basically a given.

Audiobook Comments: Read by Patrick Tull, who does a splendid job. I would highly recommend tackling this book on audio, for several reasons. The names that Dickens gives his characters are a joy to hear aloud; their humor and appropriateness are not quite as effective in print. Also, (and I had to check the print edition to make sure of this) the wonderful accents in the book are actually spelled out, and I at least would find reading it to be fairly tedious at times. (as with any heavy accent, they require a bit of translation that isn't necessary when read aloud)

Ramblings
Dickens is famous for his characters, and several of his most memorable come from this work. The title character is so lavishly and outrageously praised by the narrator that I almost expected him to be the complete opposite, but he turns out to truly be as good-hearted and lovable as the narrator claims (although perhaps not as dignified :-p ). My favorite character by far though is Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick's manservant. Sam is not a trained valet, but was originally a bootblack who became mixed up in the affairs of the Pickwickians and was subsequently hired by Mr. Pickwick, who found his originality and wit refreshing. Sam is not only great fun but one of the most virtuous characters in the book. He and his father also have a charming accent that I'd never heard before--all of their v's are pronounced as w's, which means that things are 'wery nice' or 'conwenient'.

As with any of Dickens' novels, The Pickwick Papers is chock full of social commentary. However, most of it is lighthearted satire, with one notable exception. The debtors' prisons of London, which lock away men who would work to clear their debts, but provide good-for-nothings with the life of leisure that they desire, are not a matter for levity. It's interesting to look at Dickens' development over the course of this novel, which was released in serial form over a year and a half--he starts out with a very unconnected, piecemeal story with a light tone and eventually builds to a serious condemnation of a social injustice that strikes close to him personally. (Dickens' father spent some time in a debtors prison when he was about 12 years old, bringing a harsh end to an otherwise happy childhood)

Another thing that really made me smile is Dickens' lawyers. Dickens does not like lawyers, and it shows in all of his books. Remarkably, only two of the lawyers in this story are truly despicable; the others are merely amusing, although his criticism of lawyers in general and the justice system in its entirety is still very strong.