Social commentary, yes, expected but satire? I didn't know. What else are you going to do with it?It also turns out to be much more satirical than I ever realized. Extended review:Despite its verbosity, sentimentality, and exaggerated characterizations, how can you not love this book? Like a dog at your feet, it's there to be loved. Six-word review: Deservedly classic tale of orphan's survival. The relatively straightforward Twist will give way to the diffuse, picaresque Nicholas Nickleby, and then the real Dickens will be formed. Certainly a worthwhile read, but possibly the least of Dickens' "Big Fifteen". What works in the story is the vividness of "low" culture, and Dickens' already fierce moral stance on the inhumanity of much of 19th century English culture. Oliver Twist, carrying the torch from some of Dickens' sentimental Sketches is a rather lifeless little twig. Only Fagin has any sparks of internal life, and he's an unfortunate anti-Semitic caricature common to the era. One could argue it's still the work that has had the greatest impact on the public psyche: Dodger, Fagin, Nancy, and Bill loom large in the collective cultural consciousness, don't they? Who can forget Oliver asking for more, or the climactic tightrope walk? In truth, this is not a brilliant work. Written in 1837, during Dickens' astronomical rise to success, Oliver Twist is his third major work, second novel, and the negative counterpart to its exact contemporary, The Pickwick Papers.
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