LNC Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 We are reading Tale of Two Cities for school next year. I have the book What Charles Dickens Ate and Jane Austen Knew. We plan to read several Dickens and Austen books, and follow up with movies or miniseries. Which are your fave Dickens books, preferably with a good movie version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 I'd suggest Great Expectations and the classic movie. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Pickwick Papers would be one although I would suggest Great Expectations first (but Laura already mentioned it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 I don't know about the movie portion, but I read Oliver Twist last year and liked it alot. I love the movie A Christmas Carol but have never read the book. I should do that soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 Thanks, we'll read Great Expectations first. I see Bleak House and Little Dorrit miniseries are well liked. Are the books well loved too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLDebbie Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 David Copperfield is my definite favorite, followed by Great Expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Thanks, we'll read Great Expectations first. I see Bleak House and Little Dorrit miniseries are well liked. Are the books well loved too? Bleak House is rich and dark - I haven't read Little Dorrit. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Bleak House is rich and dark - I haven't read Little Dorrit. Laura Bleak House can also be slow moving. I wouldn't put it at the top of a list. Later on though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 I really liked Martin Chuzzlewit. It has a wonderful cast of memorable characters and it is especially interesting because Dickens includes a voyage to the U.S. for one of his characters and his impressions are not always favourable. It provides some interesting discussion. There is this movie version: http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Chuzzlewit-Paul-Scofield/dp/B0009PVZL4 but I can't comment on the quality because I haven't seen it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 My older dd read Bleak House, The Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield and we've seen numerous movie versions of a Dicken's book. My dd says that while her favorite main character is in The Tale of Two Cities, she considers David Copperfield the book that she liked the most with Bleak House coming in behind it. She saw the movie version of Great Expectations and didn't care for it enough to want to go back and read it. Usually we do that in the opposite order (no movie until you've read the book) but in this case I was comfortable that she had read enough Dickens and knew that she did not want to read Great Expectations, so I let her watch the movie first. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 We are reading Tale of Two Cities for school next year. I have the book What Charles Dickens Ate and Jane Austen Knew. We plan to read several Dickens and Austen books, and follow up with movies or miniseries. Which are your fave Dickens books, preferably with a good movie version? A Christmas Carol is a great, short introduction to Dickens, and because everyone knows the story already, makes getting over the hump of first exposure to the language easier. Oliver Twist is a fun cliff-hanger serialized story. And we really enjoyed Tale of Two Cities -- need to persevere for the first 5-6 chapters, though; after that we all really got into it. My favorite of all the TV/movie Dickens I've seen was David Copperfield, so I am really looking forward to reading it one of these days. Quoting myself from this past post (Best Dickens novel for a 15yo) on Great Expectations: "I know everyone else loves to do Great Expectations, but... that is a work written late in Dickens life, when he himself felt he had failed to meet his own "expectations" and that his life had not ended up as he would have wished. And that sombre tone and theme is throughout the book in all the major characters. I read Great Expectations in my 20s and the book just irked me -- I was so annoyed with the characters and their choices, their "wallowing", and ending up with lives that would never be fully realized. Now in my 40s, I more fully appreciate what Dickens was expressing, having "disappointed life expectations" of my own, BUT..." HOWEVER, I have to say, in spite of my own "disappointed expectations", I'm STILL NOT willing to wallow with Dickens in that and be willing to just leave my life at: "oh well, we tried, I guess we just have to live in misery of our bad choices." ;) ... I think this tells you far more about ME than it does about Great Expectations... :D Here are more recommendations in this past thread: Dickens: which book is easiest to understand and most enjoyable visual versions of Dickens we've seen and enjoyed: David Copperfield -- great casting Little Dorritt -- loved Mr. Pancks and the other odd characters! Martin Chuzzlewit -- so odd and off-beat, but I enjoyed it Tale of Two Cities -- I saw this version many years before reading the book, so I can't really remember how close it is; I did enjoy this mini-series at the time I saw it, however Oliver Twist -- or -- Oliver! -- the musical; we also watched the Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist, which was pretty bleak at the end for Fagin, but a pretty well-done version Muppet Christmas Carol -- okay, I confess, I just LOVE this version and we watch it every holiday; I mean, how can you go wrong with Gonzo actually reciting lines from the narrative portions of the story and Rizzo the Rat commenting?! "To begin with, the Marleys were dead..." What I can't quite manage, however is the Patrick Stewart version of A Christmas Carol; all I can visualize is Scrooge saying "Number One... er... Cratchit, make it so. Engage..." :smilielol5: Enjoy your family journeys with Dickens, whatever works you select! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.