Compare and contrast

    

   Mr. C. has been whizzing through a range of novels lately, leaving me standing, so to take up the slack he has kindly offered his thoughts on a couple of recent reads. He writes:-

    Pickwick Papers and Middlemarch are both set in the years leading up to the Great Reform Act of 1832, in an England on the eve of huge changes not just in politics but in the stuff of everyday life, but in tone and content they could hardly be more different.

    Dickens paints in primary colours: plot is not absent, but comes a long way behind exuberant comedy, characters that any sitcom writer would love to have invented, and set-piece scenes that are now part of the national consciousness (even if you haven’t read the book), such as Christmas at Dingley Dell or the Eatanswill election.

    Eliot is by contrast a water-colourist; she follows the moral struggles of her characters with an exact, unsparing but sympathetic eye, and the dilemmas they face - essentially, variations on the theme of ‘doing the right thing’ - are ones which we would all recognise in our own lives.

    In summary: Pickwick Papers is more entertaining, but Middlemarch is a better book.

Comments

[Dark Puss]

I couldn't stand Pickwick Papers and indeed gave up on it fairly quickly, the "comedy" completely failed to chime for me. I did appreciate Middlemarch which I read on the outbound and return transatlantic flights when I went to a conference at MIT (Boston MA) a few years ago.

[Cornflower]

Both of you are ahead of me - I haven't read either book!

[Mary]

I'm with Dark Puss on Pickwick - I found the humour very wearing and though it was my mother's favourite of all Dickens' novels, it's the one I love least. I did enjoy all the food, though - but I'm a greedy reader!

[callmemadam]

I attempted Pickwick Papers about three times and couldn't get past the unbearable facetiousness of the first few chapters. When I tried again until Sam Weller appeared, I got through it. Much as I love Dickens, this is one I won't read again. Middlemarch, OTOH, I absolutely love and have read several times. One of the really great novels.

[Rebecca]

Ah! I have tried Middlemarch several times and not gotten anywhere, but lately people are recommending it. Maybe it's a sign that I should try again!

[Toffeeapple]

I have never desired to read The Pickwick Papers but I did try Middlemarch a couple of times. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the characters so abandoned the book without angst.