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Liked It7 of 7 members found this review helpful ““Our Mutual Friend” is the Master's most complex, Bosch-like cosmos, where all we encounter seems to be distorted by the light of flickering torches and glowing brimstone. It's a tale of greed, lust, envy…in fact, I’m sure all of the Seven Deadly Sins factor in at some point. It’s a study of...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The book that made me understand why Dickens was such a great writer. I think that human relationships in this novel are complex, interesting, and down right sensational”
Analisa G wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“One of my favorite Dickens”
Deany wrote this review Saturday, November 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“a masterpiece of satire, a book to read and savor”
Bil wrote this review Thursday, October 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Great work, there are moments when yo are aware he got paid by the word but his words are pretty good...”
Cynthia C wrote this review Wednesday, September 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I thoroughly enjoyed this multifaceted book. It's full of symbolism; two that stood out strongly to me were the river and the dining table. Some strong themes: love, faith, resurrection, avarice. ”
Laurel H wrote this review Tuesday, August 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A sprawling Dickens novel which is worth reading even if you are not studying it. Loads of characters and dark dealings in the teaming streets of London.”
Selina C wrote this review Saturday, August 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really enjoyed what was essentially my first Charles Dickens book, he has a moral tale to tell as well as a story, his views about the system in those times, like poor laws come through in his writing.
Angela S wrote this review Wednesday, July 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I really enjoyed the love story of Bella and John too.”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“In completing "Our Mutual Friend", I believe that I may well have just finished reading the finest book written in the English language. One could perhaps argue that the prose of Austen in her novel "Emma" is more perfect; but the plotting and characters of Dickens in "Our Mutual Friend" is exquisite. "Our Mutual Friend" rivals Tolstoy’s "War and Peace" in breadth, scope, scale, and number of characters; but while "War and Peace" proceeds forward majestically in a linear fashion; "Our Mutual Friend", like Dickens’ “Circumlocution Office” ("Little Dorrit") proceeds circuitously, bobbing and weaving, exposing its mysteries and delights, one-by-one, like peeling back the layers of an onion.
Christopher H wrote this review Friday, July 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In "Our Mutual Friend", Dickens plumbs the deep and dark depths of humanity’s soul with the creation and actions of some of fiction’s most horrifying villains. At the same time Dickens balances the novel’s darkness and depravity as we meet, and fall in love with, some of the kindest, noblest, and most good-natured saints and souls that ever graced the pages of his novels. One cannot but be completely taken with little Jenny Wren (“my back is bad, and my legs are queer”), and the beautiful Bella Wilfur and Lizzie Hexam, and kindly Betty Higdon. One must admire and respect the steadfastness and resolute nature of John Rokesmith, Eugene Wrayburn, and Mortimer Lightwood. One cannot help but laugh and smile at the comical goodness of "Our Mutual Friend’s" saints: the Boffins, Mr. Twemlow, “Rumty” Wilfur, and Mr. Riah. Then there are the multitude in the gray ambiguity between light and dark; the Veneerings, and those of “Podsnappery” like the Lammles. But it is the grotesque evil of the novel’s villains that makes the good characters shine so bright. There’s “Weggery”, an awful tasting dose of “Fascination” Fledgeby, all horrifyingly blended with “Rogue” Riderhood and the Dark Prince himself – Bradley Headstone.
From Dickens’ pen, "Our Mutual Friend" falls forth onto the printed pages like the brush strokes on the canvas of the grandest painting of an old master. "Our Mutual Friend" depicts the freshness and rawness of human emotions in all of its attendant forms, including: joy and happiness, pain and sorrow, anger and hatred, and love and tenderness. Like looking too closely at a painting of Hieronymous Bosch, we have an almost macabre fascination as we follow the novel’s characters through life’s stages – life, death, rebirth, and even resurrection. Primary roles and responsibilities are switched too; with children ‘raising’ parents, the disadvantaged aiding the advantaged, and the poor enriching the well-off.
In "Our Mutual Friend" things are never as they appear or ought to be. On some levels, "Our Mutual Friend" is the quintessential detective novel or mystery; but it is really more a series of mysteries nested inside a larger mystery. The reader must pay close attention to the seemingly slightest detail, for all does truly come together in the march to the grand, and most satisfying, conclusion. Through it all, however, there is one overarching and unifying theme, one thread that connects all – The River Thames. The Thames is the source of life, of death, of rebirth, and even resurrection; it infects and purifies; it is the source of depravity, horror, and hope and prosperity. The river is always there, relentlessly rushing onward, carrying the flotsam and jetsam, and the hopes and desires, of the novel’s characters, and even those of the reader. All I can say, upon turning the last page with a sigh, is that this is a novel for the ages; and one that I shall visit and revisit; setting forth again in my little boat upon the river of "Our Mutual Friend".
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“I mostly enjoyed reading this for the wonderful use of language rather than for the story, although that was enjoyable too.”
Tim W wrote this review Monday, May 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“First, this is my favorite Dickens novel. I know it is dark and jaded, but I found this to be the one book of all the Dickens narratives that has the complexity, the loss, the struggle in its pages. I don't think it gets as much acclaim as it should and I think that that is a loss. I am willing to lead a crusade to push this book to the forefront of all of his novels and declare that it is a masterwork.”
Mark V wrote this review Friday, April 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
