Oliver Twist
Unabridged Large Print Edition
by Charles Dickens
This quality large print edition is not an electronic scan or reproduction. It has been prepared by human editors and includes the complete unabridged text of Charles Dickens’ classic tale in a freshly edited and formatted edition printed on heavyweight bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original full color design.
Oliver Twist, the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows Oliver, an orphan raised in a workhouse following the death of his mother. The boy escapes to London, where he becomes involved with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin, learns the secret of his parentage, and connects with his surviving family.
Dickens provided a stark portrayal of the sordid lives of criminals and exposed the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.
An early example of the social novel, Dickens harshly satirized child labor, domestic violence, the squalid conditions and sordid lives of the poor and petty criminal classes, the common practice of recruiting children for criminal gangs, and the widespread presence of destitute children in the streets and back alleys of London.
While the literary community and upper classes objected to his work as dealing with unsuitable subject matter, the mass working and poor classes recognized themselves and their world in his stories, and embraced Dickens as they had no author before, revolutionizing an English literary tradition dominated by stories about the romantic and personal difficulties of the landed gentry.
About Charles Dickens
Born in Portsmouth England on February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens enjoyed a comfortable childhood until his father lost his post at the Navy Pay Office and ultimately landed in debtors’ prison. Young Charles embarked upon an horrific stint pasting labels on jars of bootblack in a rat-infested slum. He would later find work as a newspaper writer, covering politics and then the courts. These experiences, with his almost photographic memory, would provide him with material for the colorful characters and vivid depictions of life in England which would characterize his work for decades.
The publication of The Pickwick Papers in serial form in 1836 brought Dickens success. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity. Ultimately he would become the foremost novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most widely read writers in history. His books have never gone out of print, have been turned into films and plays, and are still widely read today.
Along with his compelling storylines and unforgettable characters, Dickens’ stories served as vehicles for social commentary, often harshly critical of class stratification and public institutions. In particular, and contrary to prevailing views, Dickens championed the poor, whom he saw as wretched not because of their own weaknesses and moral failures but because of their helplessness before society’s attitudes and institutions. And yet Dickens managed throughout to maintain a humorous element, and satire and caricature fill the pages of his works.
Dickens died on June 9, 1870, following a stroke. Given the body of work he left behind, it is striking to note that Charles Dickens was just 58 years old at his death.
Product details
Publisher: Apex Publications, Independently published (February 20, 2024)
Language: English
Paperback: 680 pages
ISBN: 979-8880150571
Item Weight: 3.25 pounds
Dimensions: 7.44 x 1.54 x 9.69 inches
List Price: $26.97
