Home Oliver Twist: Or, the Parish Boy's Progress by Charles Dickens; Read by Martin Jarvis (ISBN: 9781602838765)

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Oliver Twist: Or, the Parish Boy's Progress Compact disc - 2010

Name: Oliver Twist
Price: 10.01 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Charles Dickens
ISBN: 9781602838765

by Charles Dickens; Read by Martin Jarvis

One of Dickens' most popular works is a darkly satiric indictment of the social ills of Victorian London as it tells the story of a young orphan who becomes involved with a gang of criminals.

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About this book

Oliver Twist, published in 1838, became one of English writer Charles Dickens's better-known stories and was the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist.

Oliver Twist (Parish Boy's Progress) focuses on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by an elderly criminal Fagin. The book shows an unromantic portrayal of criminals and the treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.

From the publisher

One of Dickens' most popular novels, Oliver Twist tells the story of a young workhouse orphan who escapes into the mean backstreets of Victorian London. There, he is thrust into a den of thieves where some of Dickens' most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the barbarous bully Bill Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, whose knavery threatens to send them all to the gallows. A novel with autobiographical overtones, this was the first of Dickens' works to realistically portray London's impoverished underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime. At the heart of the drama, however, is Oliver, the orphan whose unsullied goodness leads him to salvation, and who represents Dickens' belief in the principle of good triumphing at last.

First Edition Identification

Oliver Twist was first published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book in 1838 before the serialization ended.

The first edition was published by Richard Bentley in London, 1838. Octavo, three volumes, original reddish-brown cloth, gilt titles to the spine, front and rear panels marked with a stamp. Features 24 illustrated plates by George Cruikshank.

The first issue has the "Fireside" plate in volume 3 and "Boz" listed as the author on all title pages. It was issued on November 9, 1838. At Dicken's insistence, the Fireside plate was replaced with the "Church" plate, and Dickens's name replaced "Boz". The book was then reissued in three volumes 7 days after the first issue, on November 16.

The First US Edition of Oliver Twist was published in New York by Jemima M. Lewer in 1838, as two volumes, bound in modern brown quarter-leather bindings, with marbled paper boards.

Details

Title Oliver Twist: Or, the Parish Boy's Progress
Author Charles Dickens; Read by Martin Jarvis
Binding Compact Disc
Edition Unabridged
Pages 14
Volumes 14
Language ENG
Publisher Blackstone Audiobooks, U.S.A.
Date 2010-05
Features Unabridged
ISBN 9781602838765 / 1602838763
Weight 0.83 lbs (0.38 kg)
Dimensions 6.28 x 6.42 x 1.7 in (15.95 x 16.31 x 4.32 cm)
Themes
- Ethnic Orientation: British
- Topical: Coming of Age
Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

Publishers Weekly, 07/26/2010, Page 0

About the author

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of England's most successful novelists. He worked relentlessly, producing novels that created a gallery of notable characters, and he also campaigned against many of the social evils of his time. His novels have subsequently been adapted for theater, cinema, radio and television.