So much has been written about this book, first published in 1837. It remains a favourite with Dickens readers and the 1959 Collins edition which I have just read has a succinct introduction which gives a reason for this popularity. Alec Waugh writes: "['The Pickwick Papers'] is the work of a very young man, a young man with a heaven sent gift of friendliness and laughter, who was saying, exactly as he wanted to say it, the thing that he was impelled to say. And he was never quite that again; he was never again wholly free from the influence of his popularity and success". I am a great admirer of Dickens, and from a very early age, but I admit the truth of Waugh's remarks. As he grew older (and so phenomenally successful) he began to 'sermonise' a lot and sprawl out his plots rather too much. He was a great editor who, himself needed an editor.

But that was later. This is his first, and it's a great book. A real 'pick-me-up'. So many parts still make me laugh, after so many readings: Mr Pickwick being discovered at night in the garden of the boarding school where he had been lured on a false errand; Then later ending up by mistake in an old lady's bedroom; and Mr Winkle agreeing to go horse riding, even though he had no experience in the equestrian arts ('What makes him go sideways?' said Mr Snodgrass [in the carriage] to Mr Winkle in the saddle. 'I can't imagine,' replied Mr Winkle. His horse was drifting up the street in most mysterious manner, side first…); and many more.

Mr Pickwick is of course the prototype of many subsequent portly, good humoured old gentlemen who come to the rescue of various characters in distress in his later novels. such as the Cheeryble brothers, in Nicholas Nickleby, and Oliver's long lost grandfather in Oliver Twist. But none of these descendants are really so full of joviality, generosity and pure goodwill as is Pickwick. He's a tonic. ( )

I usually enjoy Dickens, but found The Pickwick Papers quite hard going. It's pretty meaty at over 700 pages, and structured more as a series of events in the lives of the Pickwickians rather than having a common narrative thread (or, as is more usual with Dickens, several narrative threads). This isn't to say that there is no coherence throughout the book, on the contrary, we return to the same characters again and again and relationships develop, but for me the urge to find out what happens next was not so strong as with other Dickens novels.

Dickens characters are often stereotypes, and given the origin of The Pickwick Papers as a series of sketches, it was no surprise to discover that many of the characters were portrayed in an even more overblown and exaggerated manner than is normal for Dickens. However, I didn't find this particularly irksome, probably because most of the characters were likeable.

There was a quote on the back of my copy of this novel from Thackeray, saying something along the lines of 'historians looking to understand 19th century Britain should not dismiss The Pickwick Papers'. Very true, as others have noted, this book is very evocative of the period, and whilst humourous, the description of the debtors prison is also instructive, particularly in light of the effect that such an institution had on Dickens' own life. ( )

This book was much, much better than I was expecting.

It's the first Dickens I've read and I can see now why he's so highly rated.

It was very readable, funny and evocative of the period it is set in. The characterisation is superb and despite it being over 800 pages long, it was at no point a chore to read. It's full of amusing situations & events and interesting details. I was expecting the language to be much more archaic than it turned out to be, which is one of the reasons as to why I found it an easy read.

I'm definitely going to try to read (at least one) more Dickens now. ( )

This was my first exposure to Dickens as an adult. I had recently read Stoker's Dracula which is a good example of the end of Victorian literature. Craving more of this era in literature and knowing that Dickens was the most highly acclaimed author of this period, I decided to read his first novel. It enthralled me. There are most likely tons of little quips and satirical stabs at society in this book that will go over my head because I have not lived through those times......but it was still a hell of a read and I enjoyed every moment. This is one of the oldest books that has ever made me laugh out loud. I will definitely be reading more of Mr. Dickens. ( )

The best of Dickens.
Anti-triumphalism. ( )