Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Timeless Classic!
I never had to read Dickens in high school or in college; so I decided to try this classic author.This book was extremely FUNNY! Pip and Joe were particularlyhilarious throughout the first half of the story...

Also, I understood the British writing more easily than I thought I would! (Though for many of the dated words I had to use the Kindle dictionary.) I loved the characters!The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because the story did go on a bit long near the end.

But Dickens is a great storyteller! Nicholas Nickleby is next for me...

Love Great Expectations!!!!!
This is a great classic. One of my favorite books by Dickens.
A book everyone should read at least once....(though you will probably read it more than once!!!!)

Still a classic....
Having not read this since high school (and not being able to finish it due to boredom), and now having the ability to rediscover it since it was a free download, i decided to give this book another whirl.
I was pleasantly surprised....I loved it.I found the book to be moving, interesting, and an all around great read.It has all the classic Dickens-style plot twists, with some great surprises, as well as some pretty contrived coincidences (also classic Dickens).
I only took off a star because the ending was changed from how i remembered it.When I googled it, I found that Dickens often changed the endings of his books in to go with the times.....not a big fan of that!!

colorful characters
Anyone who loves the english langauge language will enjoy this book. Dickens is a master of description bringing to life the colorful characters. So, if you haven't read Dickens for years, pay him a visit .

Dickens wit and eloquence at its best
It is such a good and interesting read everytime I read it! If you're getting started on Dickens, I would totally recommend "Great Expectations."Dickens considered it a short novel (probably true for him, considering the length of some of his other books like "David Copperfield") but there is so much depth in "Great Expectations", so many layers to it that it doesn't fall short in content.It is because of "Great Expectations" that Dickens is my favorite English writer ever. One of the greatest novels of all time. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (149)

book vs movie
Having watched the Hollywood version way back in the 70's, when I was a teenager, I found this an interesting read. It gives you a glimpse into conditions of the time period, and the life of those people in early England. I would recommend this to anyone, especially those that love history.

Best Novel by Dickens
Oliver Twist is the best novel by Dickens.Out of all the very enjoyable books by Dickens, I think Oliver Twist just has that certain wow factor that keeps the reader hooked from page one.This novel, along with The Christmas Carol, are great read alouds that both adults and children can enjoy.I've read this book at least a dozen times, but Oliver Twist seems to get better with time.

Late and Wrong
The item shipped was not the one listed on the website.It was a different edition.

It was ordered with express delivery but delivered over a week later.

Both of these had a bad impact on a college student.My daughter at Texas Tech will probably go ahead and buy from the bookstore.There was a particular versioon they were looking for Peguin Classics but another version was delivered.

I have purchase from you before but didn't have this type of experience and I really don't have the time to try to make phone calls or whatever to try to get my freihgt costs returned but I would be happy to return the book.

Suspenseful page turner
Cons:L-O-N-G.As another reviewer stated, if Dickens can say it in 10 words, he'll go with 50.

Pros:Strong character development, suspenseful story, interesting social commentary, the Oxford World Classic edition offers a bunch of educational commentary - so, I read it and learned about the laws Dickens didn't care for, the relationship between himself and the illustrator, etc.

As an accountant, if something isn't able to hold my interest, I'll put it down and try something else.With Dickens, I can truly say that my interest was completely held!

Not to be missed
Once upon a time, as a child, I read "Oliver Twist" in an issue of Classic Comics. Once upon a time, as a student, I worked through a reading list of paperback Dickens novels that, for whatever reason, did not include "Oliver Twist." When I returned to this early Dickens novel, I read it on a Kindle. I am sorry it took me so long to get from the comic book to the real thing.

The plot of "Oliver Twist is well known, so let me mention some other things that a grown up reader might enjoy. For one thing, the novel is an angry commentary on how a society treats its poor. The baby farms for orphans, the workhouses, and the apprentice situations have not lost their power to shock.The scene where Oliver dares to ask for more gruel is rightly famous, but there are many scenes that detail the routine near starvation of those dependent on "porochial" generosity. Along with these scenes go the overseers: the beadle, Mr. Bumble, and his estimable wife, both of whom are regularly depicted eating and drinking their fill. The fact that they are one step removed from poverty only increases their contempt for those beneath them.

The London in which Oliver eventually finds himself is equally vivid, drawn from those dank nooks and corners Dickens observed as a young man as he went about his work as a reporter. He also knew well Newgate Prison, where Fagin spends his final days; Dickens had already written about it in an earlier sketch.

Another aspect of the novel that is gripping is the way Dickens depicts abusive relationships between men and the women who are love them. The relationship of Bill Sikes and Nancy is the most famous, but it is paralleled by the connection between the snitch Noah Claypole and his subservient Charlotte (both of whom torment Oliver when he is apprenticed at Sowerberry the coffin-maker's). Dickens humorously reverses this dynamic when he depicts Mrs. Bumble ruling over the craven Mr. Bumble, but we understand that this is the exception, rather than the rule. Oliver's existence is, to some extent, the result of the unequal relationship between his father and his mother.

The character of the diabolical Fagin induces an unease in a modern reader that Dickens's readers mostly did not feel. He is almost always called "the Jew" and is, in accordance with the stereotype, preoccupied with money. One of Dickens's biographers, Michael Slater, gives an account of a Jewish reader who wrote to Dickens to object to this.

Don't miss this novel. The progress of the little parish boy, Oliver Twist, suggests that a society is only as admirable as its compassion for the least among it.
M. Feldman ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Family ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Perhaps this is what Dickens was getting at
Like General Breadbasket, I, too, was confused about exactly what was supposed to be happening in the bell tower.After reading NotATameLion's review and rereading certain parts of the story, I tend to think that perhaps Trotty, a la George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life", committed or thought to commit suicide.That would fit with the story in the newspaper that had so disturbed him.(Makes me wonder if that's where Capra got the idea--and the bell.)The child guide showed him what life would be like if he were not around to care for his daughter and the others, and if they thought of themselves the way their "betters" did.What makes "A Christmas Carol" great and "The Chimes" only so-so is that the former can be easily understood superficially upon the first reading, but upon rereading (and rereading again, and watching/listening to many versions of the story) it reveals multiple layers of character and story that continue to affect the reader more deeply each time.Over the years, "A Christmas Carol" has changed the way I view society and my place in it.I doubt that "The Chimes" has that power.

The Chimes
Toby "Trotty" Veck is a ticket-porter, an honest man, a man who hears the chimes from the local church as he goes from place to place on his errands. He relates to their rhythms, and imagines them speaking to him. He and his daughter Meg aren't the richest people in the world, and Toby feels that being in the lower classes, no good can come from him. Comments from the likes of chaps like Alderman Cute don't help much with his feelings. Toby's way of looking at things, though, is changed forever when one day he finally visits the tower of the Chimes...

Charles Dickens wrote this book in 1844, from around October to November that year apparently, for release that December as a sort of sequel to "A Christmas Carol", focused around New Years rather than Christmas Day, and on a man who is too hard on himself, rather than being hard on others like Ebenezer Scrooge. It has good moments, yeah, (I liked Toby, Meg and the setting of the scene) but I really struggled to get through this one. After Toby visits the Chimes, I got a bit confused and found things rather hard to follow. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know where Toby was, I didn't know what Dickens was getting at. It was a bit frustrating actually. Found it pretty hard to finish.

A New Year's Eve Carol of Sorts...
Modern readers of Dicken's A Christmas Carol are often inoculated to what a shocking piece of literature it was in its day. Familiarity has softened its blow to the public at large. This is not so with The Chimes.

The Chimes is the second of Dickens's "Christmas Books." Written in 1844 it came a year after A Christmas Carol and a year before The Cricket on the Hearth. Not nearly as widely read as either its predecessor or its successor, The Chimes probably packs more of an emotional wallop than either story.

Set on a New Year's Eve rather than on Christmas proper, The Chimes is a story about self-respect and the consequences of our choices. The main character, Trotty Veck is an inverse of sorts to A Christmas Carol's Ebeneezer Scrooge. He is poor and thinks so little of himself that he threatens to destroy himself and his family. Only through supernatural intervention can things hope to be set right.

I first listened to this recording of The Chimes on last New Year's Eve. First of all, this recording is unabridged (even though it is currently listed as abridged.) Secondly, this particular recording is a wonderful reading of The Chimes. One could not ask for more.

The Chimes is a tale that will--as the best of Dickensian melodrama does--grip you and wring your heart. One really gets the sense of what reading Dickens must have felt like to his contemporaries.

This is powerful stuff. Give it a try. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; Juvenile Fiction / Holidays ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dickens at his best.
Without doubt Dickens best short story; first heard it being performed by the actor Simon Callow (this man brings Dickens alive like no other!).

Dickens was a great champion for social reform in the Victorian age; this story is prime example of his ability to touch the raw nerve of social conscience.

A little known book in the vast collection of his writings, but probably his best.

Humour and pathos wonderfully brought together.
... Read more

Product Description
The collected works of Charles Dickens in one huge Kindle collection. An active table of contents makes it easy to navigate the book and find the work you are looking for.

Works include:
American Notes for General Circulation
Barnaby Rudge
The Battle of Life
Bleak House
A Budget of Christmas Tales
Captain Boldheart & the Latin-Grammar Master
A Child's History of England
The Chimes
A Christmas Carol
Contributions to All the Year Round
The Cricket on the Hearth
David Copperfield
Doctor Marigold
Dombey and Son
George Silverman's Explanation
Going into Society
Great Expectations
Hard Times
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain
Holiday Romance
The Holly-Tree
Hunted Down
The Lamplighter
Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
Letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 1
Letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 2
Letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 3
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Little Dorrit
The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman
The Magic Fishbone
Master Humphrey's Clock
A Message from the Sea
Miscellaneous Papers
Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy
Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings
Mudfog and Other Sketches
Mugby Junction
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
No Thoroughfare
The Old Curiosity Shop
Oliver Twist
Our Mutual Friend
The Perils of Certain English Prisoners
The Pickwick Papers
Pictures from Italy
Reprinted Pieces
The Seven Poor Travelers
Sketches by Boz
Sketches of Young Couples
Sketches of Young Gentlemen
Somebody's Luggage
Some Christmas Stories
Speeches: Literary and Social
Sunday Under Three Heads
A Tale of Two Cities
Tales from Dickens
Three Ghost Stories
To Be Read At Dusk
Tom Tiddler's Ground
The Uncommercial Travelle
The Wreck of the Golden Mary ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Too many typos
This is a good deal overall, given the total content and the price. I haven't read the entire contents yet (that's going to take some time!), but I can already conclude that this collection needs some serious proofreading. David Copperfield has a few problems, largely confined to inconsistent capitalization -- not a big deal. However, there are numerous typos, missing letters, and at least one word in Oliver Twist -- not a good effort. Oliver deserves better. One can only hope that the publisher will correct the errors and bring this collection up to snuff.

What a sweet deal!
The active table of contents allows me to go instantly to any of the books in the collection. Very convenient.

Not-so complete set of Charles Dickens
Have been looking for this set for a long time.It was published early in the 20th Century as a 30-volume set.That's what we ordered, but only received only 27 volumes. ... Read more

Product Description
Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870), also known as "Boz", was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. The popularity of his novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public. Among his best-known works are Sketches by Boz (1836), The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Barnaby Rudge (1841), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1865). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Had to stop
I don't know if it is his style of writing or just a bad idea, but I couldn't get into the book. I read the first couple of pages, but then just starting skimming the further I got along. After a little while I just had to stop and give up.

A bit dull
These three stories may have been novel at the time Dickens wrote them.Today, they are but three ghost stories; nothing particularly exciting or thought provoking from our viewpoint today.

To give a couple of examples; in the first story, a railroad signalman foresaw his death.In the last, a murdered man appeared to the jury foreman at the murderer's trial.This murdered man, now ghost, interfered as much as possible with witnesses and lawyers in order to get the murderer found guilty.Once his purpose was fulfilled, he disappeared.

I kept reading, hoping something more interesting would happen, but it never did. ... Read more

Product Description
Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870), also known as "Boz", was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. The popularity of his novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public. Among his best-known works are Sketches by Boz (1836), The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Barnaby Rudge (1841), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1865). ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

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Mugby Junction, first published in the 1866 Christmas issue of Charles Dickens's weekly magazine All the Year Round, is one of the author's later fictional works, written only four years before his death in 1870. Dickens vowed to write a Christmas story every year after the resounding success of A Christmas Carol in 1843, and the three stories collected in this volume are holiday tales of kindness and redemption. Today, many people may not realize the debt they owe to Dickens -- his holiday stories almost single-handedly transformed Christmas from a disreputable holiday known for roughhousing and carousing, to the goodwill, charity and warmly-remembered traditions that the holiday represents today. As Dickens grew older, his fictional Christmases sometimes became far darker than the joyous holiday of A Christmas Carol. The original edition of the Christmas magazine All the Year Round also included ghost stories, and tales by other popular writers. Mugby (a thinly-veiled version of "Rugby") is a rail station situated in the British midlands. Well-known in the United Kingdom for its description of the unsavory railway refreshment room inspired by Dickens's 1865 train accident and a later, unpleasant repast, the rail station is a home base for the story of Jackson, a traveler who wanders into the station, alone and forlorn, at Christmastime. The kind and not-so-kind people he meets at the station tell tales of the holidays, of which the last, The Boy at Mugby, is the best. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Short Stories; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This was great.It made me laugh.
Dickens did a great job with his insight to couples.Dating, married, or in between, check out this story. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction; Fiction / General; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

Product Description
Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870), also known as "Boz", was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. The popularity of his novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public. Among his best-known works are Sketches by Boz (1836), The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Barnaby Rudge (1841), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1865). ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Literary Collections / Essays; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; Literary Collections / Essays; Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Sea Stories; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

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Sketches by Boz, illustrative of everyday life and every-day people is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Charles Dickens is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Charles Dickens then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) has produced some of the most memorablewritings in the English language, including such well known works as "A Christmas Carol, Sketches by Boz,A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, Daivid Copperfield, Great Expectations, and The Pickwick Papers.

Dickens is famous for the characters he created and his descriptions.A man of tremendous energy, he spent hours a day walking the London streets from which his characters and scenes came.

Most of Dickens' work was in magazine serial form. Quiet Vision publishes not only Dickens' well known works but also many of his lesser known but still well crafted works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short story that has you thinking...
This was a short story that was kind of weird at first. It follows a guy who is sitting out alone but listening in on some mens conversation who is near by. They begin to tell a stories of something quite weird. You listen and they are kind of creepy and scary. It is descently written and is a neat little story. I gave it 3 stars because it was difficult to follow in some places, but once I got to the end I was like: ooohhh, I get it. It was a cool read and one I don't regret. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Captain Boldheart & the Latin-Grammar Master - A Holiday Romance from the Pen of Lieut-Col. Robin Redforth, aged 9 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Charles Dickens is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Charles Dickens then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Most of us see some romances in life. In my capacity as Chief Manager of a Life Assurance Office, I think I have within the last thirty years seen more romances than the generality of men, however unpromising the opportunity may, at first sight, seem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dickens' Mysteries Hunted Down
Only mystery here is why the above title is Mysteries when there is only one short story included. Very poor come on for this title!

Kindle Version - Only one story!!!
Despite the description, this is ONLY ONE STORY.

It was, admittedly, a good story... but the description said it was all of Dickens' mysteries together.Now one could argue that that is true if all he wrote was one... but even if that was true it still seems misleading...

Any fan of detective fiction will find this an essential key to the early methods and choices of the genre
Charles Dickens's Hunted Down: The Detective Stories Of Charles Dickens gathers stories which demonstrates the detective-writing prowess of a classic author best known for his social issues fiction. His influence on crime fiction fostered the development of a genre, while his characters and plots were based on his observations of the fledgling police detective force when he was a reporter and accompanied them on their nightly patrols. Any fan of detective fiction will find this an essential key to the early methods and choices of the genre. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction ... Read more