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    Oliver Twist
    Oliver Twist
    Oliver Twist
    Audiobook (abridged)4 hours

    Oliver Twist

    Written by Charles Dickens

    Narrated by Anton Lesser

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The eighth novel in Naxos AudioBooks’ series of the great works of Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist is Dickens’ second novel. Coming shortly after The Pickwick Papers it is a thrilling study of childhood innocence thrust into the darkly comic world of Fagin, his apprentice the Artful Dodger and their gang of child thieves. Who will help the orphaned Oliver to escape from their clutches and discover his true history? The original story is even more powerful than the musical that popularised it. Anton Lesser reads with all his intensity and comic versatility.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateFeb 1, 2002
    ISBN9789629544942
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the most popular and, many believe, the greatest English author. He wrote many classic novels, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities are available from Brilliance Audio.

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    Reviews for Oliver Twist

    4/5

    139 ratings98 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Writing: 5.0; Theme: 5.0; Content: 4.5; Language: 4.5; Overall: 5.0; This was a wonderful volume that shares the rough, yet heart-warming story of Oliver Twist. Oliver travels through life battling the evils of this world while growing up in the poor conditions of a street youth. This story resembles the process that many Christians go through. As Christians, like Oliver, we are persecuted in this life, but in the end those who were the persecuted will one day receive glorious rewards if they live their lives pleasing to Christ. Great tome! Highly recommend. ***March 5, 2019*** (read with Jonathan)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Still one of my favorite books. I loved rereading it. I read it the first time in Jr. High. The power of the words is even greater today.
    • 5/5
      Masterfully read by Anton Lesser. Abridged yes, but well worth the listen.
    • 4/5
      My third Dickens novel, and although I initally struggled a bit I ended up enjoying it very much. Dickens has such a way with words and you feel like you are living in his era when you read his books. So far, they have all made me want to wallow in history (in a good way!).
    • 5/5
      I wasn't sure to expect when I ordered this book. I've heard great reviews, but sometimes when I get around to reading the book, it just doesn't live up to the hype. Not so in this case. I sincerely enjoyed this tale of the young, innocent Oliver Twist and his story of misfortune. While the novel was darker and more violent than I'd at first anticipated, the language flows like poetry. I loved the roller coaster ride Dickens takes us on as Oliver searches to escape the evils forced upon him, only to be pulled back in. The build to the climax of the story was expertly formulated and executed.Oliver Twist is a classic in the true sense of the word. If you've not had the pleasure of reading this novel, don't delay. Order it today.
    • 4/5
      Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens is the gripping tale of a poor orphans struggle to free himself from the clutch of evil criminals in London’s underworld. I particularly enjoyed Dickens’ witty and satiric comments on the society of the time. The characters were vividly portrayed and starkly contrasted; the evil Fagin to angelic Oliver. Fagin’s downfall and Dickens description of the hours before his demise had me glued to each page…..I could not put the book down and I loved the way the novel ended….everything just came together beautifully. This was my first Dickens novel and it will definitely not be my last!! ☺
    • 4/5
      A while back, I decided that I really ought to read some more Dickens. So last year I picked up Great Expectations, which had a good enough story, but which kept reminding me far too much of a friend's comment that he never liked Dickens because it was too obvious they were paying him by the word. But while Oliver Twist might also be legitimately accused of wordiness, in this case that struck me as more charming than tedious, and overall I found it a much more engaging read.The plot has enough interesting elements, certainly. There's crime and punishment, kindness and cruelty, long-held secrets, and sudden reversals of fortune. Also huge honking coincidences, but at least Dickens introduces them gradually enough to give you time to shore up your suspension of disbelief. Oliver himself, though, really isn't much of a character. He's someone to whom things happen, not one who makes things happen, and his only defining traits are innocence, piteousness, and a vague, generic sort of sweetness. But this isn't necessarily a problem; he seems to me to be filling the role of a slightly sentimentalized everychild, and on that level he works well enough.But what really makes this worth reading isn't the characters or the plot. It's the surprising little moments of human insight, the wonderfully sly and dark satiric humor, and the sharply pointed social commentary. And, unfortunately, while there may be no more workhouses in England, the attitudes towards the poor that Dickens targets here are still too familiar and relevant even now. It's brilliant writing, and if it occasionally brings a little bit of mawkishness or melodrama along with it, I find that entirely forgivable.Somewhat less forgivable, though, is the portrayal of Fagin as an unpleasantly stereotypical villainous Jew. Interestingly enough, despite everything about this book that I already knew through cultural osmosis, I had never even realized that he was Jewish. Dickens, however, never lets you forget it for an instant. Every other sentence, he's referred to as "the Jew." My impression is that, for whatever it's worth, at least this is more thoughtless stereotyping than active maliciousness. A brief bit of research on the internet reveals that Dickens, having had the offensiveness of this pointed out to him, later revised the last fifteen chapters or so to tone it down. Which is something, I guess, but I don't know that it helps all that much. And it really is very unfortunate, both for the obvious reasons and because without the uncomfortable overtones of anti-Semitism, Fagin really could have been quite an entertainingly smarmy character. And he actually does get some surprisingly poignant moments at the end.
    • 4/5
      It had been many years since I read Charles Dickens, but this is pretty much exactly what I remember of him. This was a classic story where the good guys end up being good, and the bad guys end up being bad. The writing style and the atmosphere are where Dickens makes his money, and I loved being transported back to 19th century London. The story itself was not really a page-turner for me, but I did enjoy the characters enough to have no trouble getting through the novel. I will certainly be reading more of Dickens.
    • 4/5
      Dickens' second published work (after Pickwick Papers) and the author has 'arrived'. Confidently and exuberantly written, this is a real novel, a big step up from the miscellany that made up the earlier work. The characterisation is more assured - Fagin is a great study in calculated manipulation, the Artful Dodger a gifted comic creation; and the plot is more coherent, although the plot coincidences and contrivances that plague later books are starting to become evident here. Dickens is quite outspoken in his views - his disgust for the hypocrisy of the callous behaviour of many outwardly religious persons; his hatred for the bullying of petty officialdom such as the precious Beadle, while at the same time unwittingly reflecting the prejudices and standards of his time - such as the two orphans (Oliver and Rose) being able to maintain the innate "gentlemanly" character of their origins in spite of the appalling upbringing they endured. great stuff. Read December 2011.
    • 5/5
      Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is another classic by that master of storytelling, Charles Dickens. First published in 1838, the novel is a strong protest against the cruel conditions then facing the indigent in England. Dickens is furious at the abuses of the workhouse system but he never loses control of his clipped, unrelenting sarcasm, even when speaking of daily bureaucratic villainies. He knows just how far to take it. And what is so amazing about Dickens' genius is that his invective never overtakes the story; the story is never just an excuse for the protest. Social reform is a big ingredient of Dickens' work, but his work doesn't reduce to that. Please note there are some spoilers in this review.The storyline of Oliver Twist is very well known. Oliver, born of an unwed mother in a workhouse, suffers a deprived childhood under the tender care of parish officials (it is here that he is punished for famously asking, "Please, sir, I want some more"). At age nine Oliver is apprenticed to a coffin-maker, but is eventually driven from that harsh home. Oliver makes his way to London, where he is picked up by the Artful Dodger, one of a small gang of criminals. This gang is led by Fagin, an elderly Jew who trains the band in the art of theft and picking pockets. But Fagin has a special reason for making Oliver a thief. There is some mystery surrounding Oliver's birth, but how can it be discovered? What is the real history of his nameless mother, and why would anyone still care?What strikes me principally about Oliver Twist is its gritty feel. Dickens doesn't hesitate in his other books to show poverty and suffering, but this story goes beyond that and portrays the individuals who people the seamy side of London in all their foulness and degradation. And yet at the same time, innocent Oliver provides the moral center of the novel. Often his innocence is taken advantage of and his naive youth manipulated, but the message is clear: moral virtue will always be rewarded in the end. This has been likened to a fairy tale, in which the good always triumph and the wicked are always punished.I suppose it is also like a fairy tale in the sense that our hero Oliver possesses such high principles and firm moral character when all his life has been spent among other wretched children under selfish, calloused overseers. No one is naturally that good. I also found it difficult to appreciate Dickens' angelic female, Rose Maylie. Sometimes the descriptions of Rose are too flowery to bear. Perhaps Dickens overdid it just a bit to refresh himself after writing all his realistic gritty villains?But Dickens makes up for these weaknesses with several brilliant characters, most notably Nancy, the fallen woman who is almost redeemed. Her struggle with the inexplicable desire to stay in her wretched life is probably the truest thing Dickens ever wrote. Nancy can envision a different life should she accept the help of Oliver's friends, but something in her clings instead to her old life. She returns to the scenes of her degradation, loyal even to the fiends who dragged her there — and dies for it. It is utterly tragic, and the worst of it is that she could have been different if Fagin and others had not set out to corrupt her. Little acts of selfishness can change another person's life forever.I imagine there are essays discussing Dickens' anti-Semitism as depicted in Fagin, the foul crook who is more often than not referred to as "the Jew." It can't be denied that Fagin is a singularly distasteful character, with a stereotypical love of lucre, but I think there is a little more to it. First, the unlovely descriptions of Fagin are not that different from the descriptions of Dickens' many other villains. And somehow Dickens makes me pity Fagin, despite all his crimes. The chapter near the end that deals with Fagin's trial and state of mind after being sentenced to death is a masterpiece of psychological scrutiny, entirely believable and, in its way, heart wringing. I think Dickens pities Fagin too, not for his Jewishness but for the dreadful sneaking life he has lived and the horror of his death.Certain moments stand out, crystalline in their emotional clarity. I think of Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Grimwig sitting across from one another with the watch between them, measuring Oliver's character. Or Nancy telling Rose through tears that "if there was more like you, there would be fewer like me." Or Sikes grinding his chair up against the wall, to keep the specter of his guilt from hovering at his back. Other moments are brilliant in their humor, like Mr. Grimwig threatening to eat his head and Mr. Giles telling of his daring exploits. There is just so much here. I listened to this on audiobook read by Nadia May, and I understand why her work is so acclaimed. She has a warm voice and accent that wear well over the course of a long book like this. I could tell she was enjoying performing the story just as much as I was enjoying the performance. Her voice graces this story and I will certainly be looking for more audiobooks read by her.All of this, this grand drama made up of petty cruelties, of small thefts and dramatic murders, of the uneven love between degraded man and degraded woman, of innocence, poverty, crime, desperation — all of this is Dickens' arena and he performs it like no one else. Oliver Twist reminds me why we still read classic literature today.
    • 4/5
      oliver was born in 1800 in place called workhouse in england, but after that his mother died, so he lives 8 years in the same place where his mother died, after that they deside to make him work picking oakum. when he start to complain about the food they chased him, but the manager forced him to work with him, after a while he escaped from from him and traveled to london. in london he start a new life and new adventure.
    • 3/5
      A bit longer than it needed to be, but still has some interesting moments. Fagin is a hilariously offensive caricature, and most of the other characters are only the latter.
    • 3/5
      Overheersend: humoristische en vooral sarcastische stijl. Sterke zwartwit-tekening van de karakters. Oliver is uiteraard de held, maar eerder schaapachtig; alleen in het begin aanzet tot eigen karakter, daarna drijft hij mee en evolueert zijn karakter niet (is grote zwakte van de roman)Uiteraard is er een sociale achtergrond: de achterbuurten van Londen, de schandalige Poor’s Law, de hypocrisie van de kerkelijken. Lichtelijk melodramatisch, vooral op het einde nogal melig.
    • 5/5
      When reading this book I found that it was quite a good read. It had humor, was descriptive, and entertaining. It was interesting because it had many characters of many backgrounds coming together in some way or another. When it came to describing simple things such as the morning air, Charles Dickens showed to describe in a detailed manner that was not boring. One could also find themselves cheering along Oliver to get out of harms way and everyone else who was trying to help him. There was a lot of treachery unkindness and dishonesty around Oliver as he was growing up but in the end he finally finds the family he needed while other characters don't have the same happy ending. All in all I think that I would choose to read it again sometime in the future...it was that good!
    • 5/5
      I still remember taking my paperback edition of Oliver Twist with me to summer camp when I was twelve years old. It was my first Dickens and I was mesmerized by the characters and incidents, especially Oliver. While as I have read most of Dickens' other books over the succeeding decades, this novel continues to hold a special place in my reading life.
    • 4/5
      I admit that I've been avoiding Dickens for quite a while now. My experience with him, aside from a few illustrated, abridged children's versions, consists of two encounters: A Christmas Carol (easy and short) and Hard Times (not that easy, not as short, although shorter than most of his books). I was quite disinterested in subjecting myself to more Dickens after Hard Times - so much so that Oliver Twist was my first tentative foray into his works since 1990. Whether I've just grown up, or grown more patient, or read more 19th century novels since those days, I was pleasantly surprised to find that reading Oliver Twist was not the torturous experience I was convinced it would be.There's no point in discussing the plot, since everyone knows it. But I found Oliver himself kind of annoyingly limp and high-strung. I guess that's to be expected when you're doing a classic good vs. evil setup. Evil is just always much more interesting than good. But a surprising amount of the book doesn't really involve Oliver all that much, except as a pawn everyone else is trying to do something with. Some of the turns in the plot, I didn't see coming (no, I've never seen a movie/musical version), so that was kind of fun. Also, I enjoyed the amount of snide social commentary that Dickens worked in. The worst part was probably my frustration that after everything was over, there was still a "wrapping up" chapter to go, but I suppose that's pretty standard with this sort of book. I'll be less hesitant approaching the next Dickens book, although I wouldn't call myself an enthusiast either.Recommended for: Dickens-o-phobes, fans of melodrama and mustache-twirling.Quote: "He had a decided propensity for bullying: derived no inconsiderable pleasure from the exercise of petty cruelty; and, consequently, was (it is needless to say) a coward. This is by no means a disparagement to his character; for many official personages, who are held in high respect and admiration, are the victims of similar infirmities. The remark is made, indeed, rather in his favour than otherwise, and with a view of impressing the reader with a just sense of his qualifications for office."
    • 4/5
      I read a review on Amazon where the reviewer really enjoyed this book until the last third, when she said it got bored. I feel exactly the opposite, trudging through it resentfully, until I reached the last third. At this point it suddenly morphed into one of the best books I've ever read and I couldn't put it down.Everybody knows the basic story of Oliver Twist - workhouse boy falls in with a gang of street thieves in London. However, this only takes up the first third, if that, and it occurred to me that I had no idea what happened /after/ that. It turns out to be a very interesting story.It's been said before, and probably will be again, but Charles Dickens uses three pages where two sentences will suffice and this irritated me a little. At one point he took up a page and a half to say how he wasn't going to say much on that particular topic. It can make the novel hard going sometimes.I do love his dry, sarcastic humour though, particularly during the workhouse scenes near the beginning. Throughout these scenes, you are made very aware that this is a book with A Point. It's primary objective was not to entertain, but to showcase the terrible conditions of the workcases to the Victorian public. After these scenes, the tone of the book changes and it becomes much less biting.It's definitely worth reading, but the last third is far better than the rest.
    • 4/5
      Frankly, I thought Oliver Twist would be a bit of a chore, but instead I really looked forward to it each night (I chose to read most of the book following the original serialization breaks marked in my edition). The story is melodramatic and sentimental, and the coincidences in the plot are extremely far-fetched, but it’s a fun ride and an interesting exposure of social welfare and the criminal justice system of the time.

      It’s admittedly difficult to read Dickens’ characterization of Fagin (“the Jew”) today, but there were other “bad” characters who were exceptionally drawn, such as the Bumbles or Bill Sikes, and other characters I would have liked to see more of, such as Mr. Grimwig or Jack Dawkins (who disappears unceremoniously from the narrative at a certain point). The portrayal of the relationship between Nancy and Bill Sikes is particularly strong and sadly relevant even today.
    • 1/5
      seemed really predictable, hackneyed, lacking dimension. Oddly, the movie is so much better.
    • 4/5
      I've seen the musical play/movie of Oliver dozens of times since I was a kid and generally know the story backwards and forwards. I anticipated there would be some differences between the book and the movie/play but didn't expect to find many surprises. Thus, I wasn't shocked by the changes I encountered but I think perhaps my history with the story may have tainted my view a little bit.For those unfamiliar with the story, we're taken on adventures with Oliver Twist…a boy who was born to an unknown woman in a poorhouse and spent his early life in poverty and obscurity. He leaves the poorhouse on an apprenticeship and later runs away to London where he encounters a band of thieves and ruffians and struggles to find his way in the world. That's the high level view of the story.Being a Dickens novel, there is no shortage of characters or of vivid (sometimes overly lengthy) descriptions of people, places, things and events. In addition, there is frequent coincidental interactions between characters otherwise unrelated but linked through their acquaintance with our young hero. These coincidental meetings are believable at times and at other times Dickens stretches credibility to the limit by having these people's paths cross the way they do. I definitely acknowledge that "It's a Small World" and that karma and coincidental interactions are more frequent than we may admit, but the nature and degree that they happen in Dickens is sometimes comical.Anyway, the arc of Oliver's life is a generally depressing one. He's scorned, imprisoned, tricked, beaten and wholly maltreated in spite of him being a very angelic and innocent young boy with no vices to speak of. In fact, Oliver's character may be too perfect…with his only flaws being flaws of circumstance rather than flaws of character and behavior.As I mentioned, I knew the general plot progression from the movie/play, but I was somewhat surprised at a couple of significant differences. The first difference wasn't very striking (the introduction of a second wealthy family) and I could see why they left it out of the movie (it just adds additional levels of detail which is interesting and insightful but doesn't really progress the story in a vital way). The second difference was much more important and was very interesting to me. (*slight spoiler, but I'll keep it high level*). In the movie/play, the thieves are primarily "led" by Fagin and Bill Sikes. The book actually includes a 3rd character kept even more in shadowy mystery until nearly the end of the book. And once again, this 3rd character is victim to Dickens's crazy circumstantial coincidence in that he has an intriguing tie to Oliver. I found this plot point intriguing and fun to unravel, but again, it wasn't wholly vital to the core of the story so I can see why it's excluded from modern productions. Still, it was a fun new angle for me.On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It's definitely Dickens…true to his style in many regards. The language. The characters. The settings. All very Dickens. So if you're put off by Dickens, this isn't the story for you. Granted, it is a bit lighter than some of his other works but it is heavier than Christmas Carol or shorter stories and it's definitely not near as light as the treatment given in the play/movie. Furthermore, it's more depressing than the play/movie, so if you're looking for the lighthearted fun of Fagin and Dodger that you know from the modern production, you may be disappointed.Overall, it was an enjoyable read. It wasn't as strong to me as other Dickens work but it was still a very worthwhile read and I'm glad I read it.****3.5 out of 5 stars
    • 4/5
      The first Dickens' I've "read" and I'll be back for more. Dickens is masterful at painting a picture of the time and his dialogue and narration is fully of biting social satire. It's great to check out the audio version. Dickens' novel was originally serialized (and one might assume, often read out loud from the paper) and thus, it translates well into audio format.
    • 4/5
      I always loved Oliver Twist the most of the Dickens books I've read. He seemed to come to life in my head the most of all Dickens' characters.
    • 4/5
      Great book. Really liked it. Delivers what was promised.
    • 4/5
      Great classic.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite Dickens novels, and Simon Vance's narration does it justice :)I have read this book several times, but the last time was maybe 25 years ago. The basic plot is (I hope!) well-known but I was surprised by how much of the details I had forgotten. What I hadn't forgotten, and enjoyed just as much this time around, was Dickens mordant sarcasm
    • 4/5
      [Oliver Twist] is the story of an orphan boy who is sent to several workshouses and finally ends up in the home of a benevolent widow and her female companion. The plot and ending of the story are very predictable. Compared to Dickens' [Bleak House] and [A Tale of Two Cities], [Oliver Twist] leaves much to be desired.
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly readable. Good satire, good humor, good story. Nice, though forced, surprises
    • 4/5
      I was a late convert to Charles Dickens. Having recently read and greatly enjoyed Dickens’s Great Expectations, David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities, I elected to purchase several other of his works. Oliver Twist was the first of these novels that I read, and sadly found to be not up to the standards of the three works cited above.Many have seen the musical Oliver and other are certainly familiar with the story and many of the characters (Fagin, Bill Sykes and the Artful Dodger). Oliver became an orphan soon after birth and found himself in the tragic, hopeless life that met such destitute characters in Victorian England. After finally escaping from an abusive apprenticeship, he finds himself bounced back and forth between the mean streets of London (under the control of Fagin and Sykes) and the tender mercies of upper class patrons who take pity upon his condition (both physical and financial).Having read several Dickens works prior to this one, I was aware that a period of acclimation is required before becoming comfortable with both the language and the cultural landscape, however the comfort that I eventually attained in the previous novels was more difficult to come by here. Deep into the book I found myself having a problem following some of the prose. Most frustrating, at the key point in the narrative where “all is explained”, I was at great pains to understand much of what was being related. In addition, the book is very predictable and strains credibility in several instances. Quite simply, this is by far the weakest of the Dickens books I have sampled to date.
    • 3/5
      I admit, my opinion is colored by being dragged thru this book very unwillingly while in High School.
    • 5/5
      "There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't."

      The same applies to Charles Dickens. I like him!