The Pickwick Papers
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1836-1837
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 800 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Pickwick PapersPenguin Classics, 2003Mark Wormald's edition, with the original Seymour and Browne plates.
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Dickens's first novel, issued in monthly parts, follows the stout, innocent Samuel Pickwick and his three friends on their travels through the England of coaches and inns, with his cockney servant Sam Weller as guide. The loose comic episodes darken when Pickwick's landlady sues him for breach of promise; he refuses to pay the damages and goes to the Fleet prison, where the book's view of the law and of poverty hardens. He is released and retires, having done good all round.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Pickwick Papers are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
