Growing up, the very name “Charles Dickens” sounded like some ancient writer whose prose I would never come to understand. He was always spoken of in vague reverence in literature class, but we never read much of him. We would read Shakespeare or excerpts from Anderson or Thoreau. But Jane Austen or Dickens were distantly praised and hailed as exemplary writers.
It wasn’t until a few years ago I had mustered up the courage to try him. At worst, I could claim I had finally challenged a classic. At best, I could find a new favorite book or writer.
I decided upon A Christmas Carol. In small part because it was before the holiday, in small part because it was short, and him small part it was among his most famous; but largely I chose it because I adore “The Muppet Christmas Carol” and was already very familiar with the story. It was already a movie praise (for a long time) as the most accurate adaptation of the book, and if I ever got frustrated, imagining Gonzo as the narrator would ease things.
What I found was that there was no reason for this book not to have been a part of the curriculum. In fact, if they had used Dickens, they probably would have had fewer students struggling to transition to older English writers. But, after reading several of his books, I assume they would have to also admit that what made Dickens so widely known wasn’t his amazing turn of phrase, sophisticated language, or cleverly hidden double entendre. No, he was an amazing writer because his humor was easily identifiable, his language modern and not overly done, and his stories could easily be understood by anyone capable of forming a sentence. Many of his stories were simple, some having more unique tales than others. His earlier works perhaps struggled with pacing, but they were still very approachable. It became obvious why The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist were often mentioned as favorites to other young characters in other stories. As earlier works, his writings were lively and villains so classically villainous that you would need to be villainous yourself not to see it.
While not every writer or author is for every reader, for an author under the umbrella of “Classic Literature”, Charles Dickens is perhaps the closest to an enjoyable read for all readers with many of his works.
