It was an ordeal that never left him and looms large over everything he wrote. It features chunks of a memoir Dickens once tried to write but abandoned out of self-consciousness - notably, his account of a two-year stint working in a boot blacking factory as a child after his father was sent to debtors’ prison. The most autobiographical of Dickens’ novels, David Copperfield is a coming-of-age story of a boy facing hurdles to complete his education and ultimately (spoiler!) becoming a successful author. Oliver Twist is a great introduction to the colourful realm of Dickens, particularly his lively, characterful and humorous dialogue. Adaptations have been abundant, whether in the form of the Lionel Bart musical, Oliver!, various other film and television versions, and, most recently, an audiobook version directed by Sam Mendes and starring Brian Cox, Daniel Kaluuya and Nicola Coughlan. Even if you haven’t yet read the book, you will probably be familiar with the workhouse boy who asks for more, escapes to London and is recruited by the Artful Dodger to a gang of pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin. Perhaps the most well-known of his works, Oliver Twist was Dickens’ second novel.
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