- Editorial:
- PENGUIN BOOKS (UK)
- Materia
- General fiction
- ISBN:
- 978-0-14-143974-7
OLIVER TWIST
DICKENS, CHARLES
Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" is a gripping portrayal of London's dark criminal underbelly, published in "Penguin Classics" with an introduction by Philip Horne. The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin.
Combining elements of "Gothic Romance", the "Newgate Novel" and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery. This "Penguin Classics" edition of "Oliver Twist" is the first critical edition to faithfully reproduce the text as its earliest readers would have encountered it from its serialisation in Bentley's Miscellany, and includes an introduction by Philip Horne, a glossary of Victorian thieves' slang, a chronology of Dickens' life, a map of contemporary London and all of George Cruikshank's original illustrations. Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved novelists in the English language, whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012.
