Oliver Twist is a sham
Dickens and his novel set among the great unwashed poor of Victorian London have been vastly over-rated
Characters are wooden and two dimensional. The book imbued with Victorian hypocrisy. Oliver Twist, far from shining a light on inner city poverty and crime, is voyeuristic and nauseatingly sentimental. In the end, Oliver is plucked from London's 'wickedness' only to join his benefactor in a life of rural privilege.
O ~ 0 ~ o ~
My first Vocal Media runner-up prize, Yay! I am so pleased to have made the mark for the first time and super grateful to the lovely Vocal team for choosing my little literary critique. I am also grateful for all the support I have received from various other Vocal creators for this and other work. I am particularly pleased to have won a 50-word challenge, as 'ultra-brief' is one of things I love to do. If you would like some hints and tips about how to write a complete story/article in 250 words, 100 words or even 50 words, you might like to check out:
I am also glad to have had my reviews recognised in this way. I have been writing book and other reviews for some 40 years, professionally for 10 years when I was a business journalist back in the 1980s/90s. I still write occasional book and other reviews. For example:
- What we fear most (book about forensic psychiatry)
- Lichtenstein: Whaam! (the pop-art painting)
Not to mention....
My "Art for our sake" regular roundup of Art community gems.
Despite the many non-fiction articles I have written and posted on Vocal, my main ambition now is to make some waves in short fictional story writing. Please check out some of my short stories, perhaps by starting with this little WWII story of one determined woman shining her own heroic light in what was very much a man's world of aviation.
Thanks for reading and 1,000 thanks again to the Vocal curation team for providing us all with some fantastic and inspiring challenges!
Congratulations to all the winners!
Ray
About the Creator
Raymond G. Taylor
Author based in Kent, England. A writer of fictional short stories in a wide range of genres, he has been a non-fiction writer since the 1980s. Non-fiction subjects include art, history, technology, business, law, and the human condition.
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Comments (14)
Yes indeed. I have my liking for Dickens and a sentimental attachment to that book. The child hero is not only wooden, but empty. As representation of the child psyche, he is nothing but a fragile an imperturbable blankness of innocence and silence. Kids on the London street of that time were not that. The Artful Dodger (only with more profanity) that was reality.
You raise an interesting point and perspective on this piece! I need to reexamine it. Oh, and congrats on your placement! I am going to read all about how to write 100 word stories now... :D
Congrats on making the shortlist!
Very well done, congratulations!
Congrats on your prize and your thoughtful mini critique! 😊👏
Loved the hot take. Well done, and congrats!
Congrats, Raymond! As someone who periodically tries to convince herself she likes reading Dickens, your critique of Oliver Twist really resonates, haha!
Congrats on your very honest and well-structured critique. Glad to see your work recognized. 💖🤩
Spot on...and I want some more... ;)
Congrats Raymond!
This is one way of looking at this piece of classic literature, but to me 'Oliver Twist' is one of growing up and making choices that help us grow.
That's a real critique!
Lol, I can sense how much you hate this! Loved your review!
Couldn't agree more, utter vomitworthy cack. At least Scrooge had some sort of arc that wasn't just "luck".