There are
dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.
I started reading The Pickwick Papers way back in March 2016, and just finished it in
November 2017, but this long read is NOT because I am a slow reader. I read The Pickwick Papers as part of a 20
month read along, hosted by On Bookes, to commemorate the 180th
anniversary of the first publication; it was published serially beginning in
March 1836, 2-3 chapters a month, with no installment in May 2017. It was
Dickens’ first novel, published under the pseudonym “Boz”.
First, thanks to On Bookes for hosting this unusual
and fun read along. I am happy I stuck with it to the end. On Bookes researched
and posted bits of trivia regarding what was going on in London as each
installment came out – creating the feeling that we were reading it like the
original readers. My understanding, that around chapter 10, and the
introduction of Mr. Pickwick’s valet Sam Weller, The Pickwick Papers became perhaps the first great publishing
phenomenon ever. 
The
Pickwick Papers is a farcical romp, definitely
the most comic of any work by Dickens I’ve read. In short, it is the story of
Samuel Pickwick, founder of The Pickwick Club, London 1827. Pickwick is a man
with a “gigantic brain” and a passion for science, philosophy, art, and adventure,
who according to his own description is “an observer of human nature”.
The Pickwick club, commissions Pickwick and three
companions to set out upon a quest of sorts, to pursue adventure and discovery
and to record said adventures for posterity. Pickwick’s three companions, Mr.
Tracy Tupman, Mr. Augustus Snodgrass, and Mr. Nathaniel Winkle are each known
for one particular passion which is their unique distinction: Tupman for an
admiration for the fair sex, Snodgrass as a poet, and Winkle as a sportsman.
These four receive hearty approval and commission from their fellow Pickwickians
and set out in pursuit of the greater glory of The Pickwick Club.
The Pickwickians are all very decent chaps at
heart, but all are a bit bombastic and Dickens delights in bringing them down a
notch or two by ironic twists of fate and the clumsy do-goodery of the troop. I’ve
alluded to one other principal character, Mr. Sam Weller, Pickwick’s valet. Sam
is worldly wise and fiercely loyal to Pickwick and as you might imagine, more
than once saves Pickwick and/or colleagues from embarrassing situation.
Of course, all comes right in the end. As Mr.
Pickwick settles into a leisurely retirement, Dickens writes:
Let us
leave our old friend in one of those moments of unmixed happiness, of which, if
we seek them, there are ever some, to cheer our transitory existence here.
There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the
contrast. Some men, like bats or owls, have better eyes for the darkness than
for the light. We, who have no such optical powers, are better pleased to take
our last parting look at the visionary companions of many solitary hours, when
the brief sunshine of the world is blazing full upon them.
Although I enjoyed the read along format, this is not
my favorite Dickens, but I can see how the
serialization, and the resulting cliff-hangers would have created excitement
and anticipation. There were a few months, when after finishing the allotted
installment, I was tempted to read ahead. I never did though…Honest!
My rating: 3 ½ of 5 stars
Trivia – near the beginning of Little Women by
Louisa May Alcott, the March girls are acting out scenes from The Pickwick
Papers.
Monthly reviews from the read along
