Review of Oliver Twist

I think there is so much to learn about society in reading Oliver Twist. The poor tale of Oliver in his upbringing, how some things have changed in the world while some have remained unchanged. There is still poverty in the world, criminals, people of higher power abusing their authority (in thinking they are above the law), etc. It does give one a lot to think about. I often thought perhaps if Dickens himself could see and relate to Oliver as he was writing this book, I guess this maybe answered if I read Little Dorrit. Everyone's life experiences shape who we are in same way, this can of course be either good or bad. Oliver Twist I think also shows the resilience of humans, as far as Oliver never giving up, even though he was not treated kindly by a great majority of people and didn't have much of a support system in several instances. In reading Oliver Twist I wanted to keep reading to see what occurred, and I enjoyed knowing the end of all the characters in such detail. This is a definate reread. I rate this book a 5 out of 5. This is my third book review for the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge, second for Historical Fiction Challenge, and fifth book for Classics Club.

My next book to read is The Little Princess. I still plan on having movie reviews for Ivanhoe and Oliver soon.

Ivanhoe Review....

I have never read anything by Sir Walter Scott before.  I vaguely knew  a little bit about this classic book, that it took place during the 12th century in England. During this time the ruler was Prince John (while his brother King Richard was away), of course if this reminds anyone of then Robin Hood (how can it not with the saying the name of Prince John?), combine all of that with a few damsels and Knights is the main setting of the tale. Ivanhoe has just returned from fighting in the Crusades and wants to marry his beloved, Rowena. There is opposition to this and even to who Ivanhoe represents for other people. This book is rampant with the distrust of several groups against each other and even within them; saxons, normans, knights or common people, templars, holy orders, christians, muslims, jews, unbelievers, etc. It brings to mind of the injustices, superstition, and corruption done in history, especially during this lawless time in the medieval era. It was a wonderul read, and I can only say that I am disappointed in not knowing more detail of what happened afterwards to a few characters. I rate this a 4.5 out of 5. The first 100+ is mostly about the history and setting of this story, which some may feel drags on or is boring. I actually enjoyed this part, but I am a huge fan of reading history. After this the characters are talked more of and we are then introduced to more as well, the issue with that is it is harder to remember who was who. The version I had consisted of thee's and thou's among other type of old English language, so just be prepared for that (maybe there are versions without it?).

The version I had also had an index which helped. This is my fourth book review for the classics club and the first for outdo yourself reading challenge as well as my first review for historical fiction reading challenge.  The next book up to read is Oliver Twist.