3 Things I Like In Dickens' Writing

My Thoughts After Reading Three Dickens Novels

Photo by me

Hello my lovely readers!!!

Welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books.

Happy March! I feel like February passed by in the blink of an eye.

Over the last three months, I read three Dickens novels back to back. A Christmas Carol in December, A Tale Of Two Cities in January and Bleak House in February. After that, I decided to take a break from him and am re-reading Mansfield Park at the moment. But I’m definitely going to come back and read the rest of Dickens’ works. I might not be fond of him as a person but he is without a doubt a brilliant writer.

Now, after my little marathon, I’ve formed a general idea about his writing style. So, in today’s letter, I want to talk about three things I enjoy in his writing.

1. Clever Plotting and Narrative Structure:

Dickens’ writing in many ways reminds me of Agatha Christie’s writing. Not exactly a popular idea, I know, but I find a lot of similarities in how both write plots filled with twists, turns, and unexpected revelations. The characters become intertwined through coincidences and secret connections. Both are great at foreshadowing and planting subtle clues throughout their stories. I think ATOTC was the best example of this where Dickens brilliantly drops hints and casual references that later come back to play crucial to the resolution of the plot. Now, sometimes the events are a little too over-dramatic and hence, not very realistic. But the high tension and  emotion make them very entertaining to read. The set up and pay off are balanced perfectly to make the reading extremely satisfying. 

2. Social Critique And Humor:

The most striking aspect of Dickens' writing, to me at least, has been his critique of social injustices and inequalities. He exposes the flaws of the class system, bureaucracy, and various institutions that perpetuate oppression of the vulnerable and marginalised people of society. He depicts the jarring nature of poverty, exploitation, and societal indifference with unfiltered honesty. And what makes it even more hard-hitting is the way he blends it with humour. He adopts a tone of comedy to depict what are scenes of absolute tragedy. This juxta-positioning almost creates a sense of cognitive dissonance that forces us to confront the sheer absurdity and cruelty of the status quo.

3. Rich Descriptive Details:

Dickens loves his descriptions. He writes paragraph after paragraph describing things in vivid detail— the scenes, sounds, and smells, everything. This creates a fully immersive sensory experience. When I read his stories, I can literally see it all playing out in front of my eyes, I feel the atmosphere. However, I think at times it gets a bit too much and stagnates the flow of the story. This was the case for me with Bleak House. I found the details excruciating and felt like they were holding the plot from moving forward. I understand that Dickens was a Victorian writer and life was slow back then, readers enjoyed the detailed descriptions. But knowing that couldn’t stop me from getting frustrated and hoping things would move faster. ATOTC in my opinion, was well balanced, there were descriptions but not to the point that it kept the plot from moving ahead.

So, overall, I like Dickens’ writing. Of the three I read, ATOTC was my favourite and Bleak House least favourite. In fact, I think ATOTC is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

What about you? Have you read any of Charles Dickens’ books? Don’t forget to let me know.

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻