Description

The Pickwick Papers was Charles Dickens's first novel, published in serial form in 1837. This is the story of the "Pickwick Club," a private society of eccentric gentlemen who feel themselves to be very dignified. Much to their dismay, comic misadventures rule the day for the gentlemen of the club. Pickwick and his friends—Winkle, Snodgrass, and Tupman—have countless adventures, never quite seeming to learn to stay out of trouble's way. Their taste for mischief, fun, and romance most often leads to disaster, all of which is recounted in hilarious detail throughout. Whether they are on the run from the law or evading zealous would-be brides, the trials and tribulations of the "Pickwick Club" have brought delight and laughter to generations of readers.

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was uniquely successful as a writer during his lifetime, enjoying huge followings from readers and audiences in England and America. When, early in life, sudden misfortune sent his family into extreme poverty, the young Charles was sent to work in a factory. Never forgetting this childhood misery, Dickens wrote often in later life about the plights of the working poor. As a young man he became a law clerk and stenographer, moving into journalism in the 1830s. Dickens's early journalistic sketches formed the basis for his first literary works. With the 1836 serialized publication of The Pickwick Papers, his unparalleled success as an author began. Dickens went on to write such famous novels as David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, and Bleak House, with all of his works remaining in print to this day.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

The first ray of light which illumines the gloom, and converts into a dazzling brilliancy that obscurity in which the earlier history of the public career of the immortal Pickwick would appear to be involved, is derived from the perusal of the following entry in the Transactions of the Pickwick ...