The filth upon which wealth and pomp can be constructed is a central image in this, Dickens's deepest and darkest novel. The tale revolves around an inheritance based on London's trash. The River Thames - a central personage in the novel - is a moody muddy cloaca of murders and misanthropy. Yes, there are love interests, tra la, and love does triumph, though the victory seems shadowed by the deception it involves. And there's the murder mystery, as murky as any detective fiction lover could wish. And of course the ending is sappy and implausible, so mood-shattering that you may wish you'd lost the book on the bus before finishing it. This is Dickens, after all. Nevertheless, Our Mutual Friend is easily a candidate for "the greatest Victorian novel of all" and a very entertaining novel as well, gut-bustingly funny, fiercely satirical, masterpiece-colorful.

This is Dickens's second-most political novel, after Hard Times. The satire makes tatters of the pretensions of both old wealth and new, of the Veneerings and the Podsnaps, the unlovable conservatives whose mansions seem to float on the river of filth and misery that runs through British society. Dickens was a curious blend of social prudery and radical labor sympathy, and it is true that his mudlarks and cutpurses are always more fully human than his uppity burghers. But the depiction of smug conservatism in Our Mutual Friend nails its targets with such sharp scorn that Podsnappery became a term of political opprobrium in after-years. Perhaps as Dickens gained access to the upper classes through his literary success, he became more acquainted with their human foibles and follies, and was better able to portray them in this, his last finished novel.

I've read this great novel twice, and I think I'm due to read it again in light of its relevance to the false self-images of America's neoliberal "conservatives," Podsnappers every one of them. I'm grateful to a young friend in Florida, whose review of the filmed version of this novel brought it back to my attention.

The last completed novel by Dickens is also one of the darkest and, in my opinion, one of the best. The plot, as usual, is too dense and complex to be treatd here in detail. The story centers around one John Harmon, back from abroad to claim the inheritance from his deceased, horrible, and miser of a father. For reasons that are never explained (one of the several loose ends of the book), Old Harmon had set the condition that, in order for his son to receive the inheritance, he must marry a young, poor girl called Bella Wilfer, whom young Harmon had never met. One night, a guy whose trade was to recover things -and bodies- from the fetid Thames, along with his daughter, finds a corpse, which is later identified as that of John Harmon. Mysterious characters appear to have an interest in the affair, but the fact is that, missing the first-choice heir, the fortune must go to the Boffins, long time employees of Old Harmon. By the way, Old Harmon's source of fortune is a very strange one: he was a Dustman, apparently someone who trades in garbage and other discarded objects. The Boffins are an old, childless, good, charming, and ignorant couple. Feeling sorry for the death of beloved Johnny, and owing to a sense of reparation, they practically adopt Bella Wilfer. They also hire as their secretary an old tenant of the Wilfers, the mysterious John Rokesmith, who falls in love with the arrogant and pretentious Bella.

What follows is a mad, symphonic, convoluted tale of ambition, corruption, passion, crime, and revenge, as well as of confused identities. All in a tone of farce and black -but very funny- humor. Dickens paints his very own London, dark, wet, fetid, inhuman. The characters travel up and down the Thames, through St. James, the Temple, the City, etc., crossing time and again the dangerous river. They come and go all the time. The two young ladies, Bella and Lizzie Hexam, the daughter of the man who first recovered the body, are subject to mad passions, especially the latter. There are dozens of subplots, all worth reading. Dickens mocks just about every kind of people in London: business, politics, social habits. Most characters are mean and ridiculous. The vividness of the situations is witness to the enormous creative powers of this great writer.

Thre are too many characters to sketch them all here, but some memorable ones are: Miss Jenny Wren ("I know your tricks and your manners"), the dolls' dressmaker, smart, cynical, penetrating, beautiful and handicapped, as well as her pathetic drunkard of a father. Silas Wegg, "a man of letters and with a wooden leg", a sinister rascal who tries to dispossess the Boffins through blackmail, and his associate, Mr. Venus, embalmer and taxidermist, always sitting in his dark parlour, surrounded by phaetuses in bottles. Bradley Headstone, who literally gets crazy about Lizzie. Rogue Riderhood, the common criminal of the Thames. The most outrageous one is an usurer, a petulant and despicable pseudo-dandy called Fascination Fledgeby.

It's true: in contrast with most great writers of the XIX Century, Dickens does not create human beings. He creates cartoons. In fact, at least for me, some passages of the novel are more easily imagined as cartoons than as people. But, as Anthony Burgess put it, "Language and morality add dimensions to his cartoons and turn them into literature". This is an enormously funny book, well worth your dedication through its many pages. Some people criticize him for leaving subplots open and for not tying it all up close circle. Who cares, his power with words is extraordinary and his landscape of characters unforgettable.

Great book club pick! Many plots to follow and tons of discussion. For people who typically read Oprah books, this is not an easy read. If you enjoy classics and can get through the period type of writing, this is a great book. I would read reviews first so you can get the general feel. Also good to note: Gets much easier after the first 250 pages. Hang in there and it is soooo worth it.
This should be a book taught in high school. Lots of issues of that time to discuss and learn from.

This is by far my favorite novel by Dickens. I couldn't put it down. Dickens draws you in to his world like nobody else is able to do. I am still trying to find that feeling of satisfaction that Our Mutual friend gave me after I completed it. Amazing novel.

Difficult to get your head round and finish unless you really love Dickens - which I do. This is not one of his best and so by Dickens' standards a failure. It was the last novel he finished and it lacks the optimism and wit of many of his other works. If you have to read this for study purposes, good luck to you. If for leisure, I personally would read another Dickens, say David Copperfield, Hard Times, Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, Bleak House or Little Dorrit.