Book Review: Dodger by Terry Pratchett
I've been aware of Terry Pratchett for a very long while. I tried reading his books as a kid, but nothing really clicked at the time. After uni, Dad had left a few of his Discworld novels here... I started reading and fell in love.
Excepting Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, Dodger is the first non-Discworld book of Pratchett's that I've read.
Still enjoyed it though. Mostly because of the investigation into Charles Dickens and his inspiration into what 'Dodger' in Oliver Twist could have been like. Dodger was a very sweet character in spite of his occasional lawlessness. He had a good sense of morality and his relationship with Simplicity was so endearing. It's probably one of the sweetest book ships I've read in a long while and I enjoyed every twist and turn of their relationship, which slowly turned Dodger into a hero. Even at the end, he was still chameleon-like though, and that was ultimately what made him such an intriguing character.
I know very little about the era that Dodger is set in. I'm very glad for the notes that Pratchett left at the end of the novel, to get me up to speed - even if I haven't looked up much since finishing it. There were things I did especially appreciate though - like the Sweeney Todd storyline. I love that it's a historical-fantasy, but still more grounded in reality than any of the Discworld novels are. I appreciate the deft hand he used to portray beliefs and feelings of the characters - how God couldn't have been at Simplicity's first wedding. How Dodger believed in the Lady, but still had a little skepticism and unsureness about how to address her and so on. Then, there's the portrayal of various classes and how Dodger somehow managed to seamlessly slip into any of them despite being a tosher.
Even so, I sometimes wonder if Terry Pratchett is too clever for me to appreciate. Or whether it's just his sense of detailing that means I get bogged down when reading his books...
I've now moved onto Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult. I wanted to read Plain Truths first but my mum 'borrowed' it and she takes months to read any book. Ugh.
Excepting Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, Dodger is the first non-Discworld book of Pratchett's that I've read.
Still enjoyed it though. Mostly because of the investigation into Charles Dickens and his inspiration into what 'Dodger' in Oliver Twist could have been like. Dodger was a very sweet character in spite of his occasional lawlessness. He had a good sense of morality and his relationship with Simplicity was so endearing. It's probably one of the sweetest book ships I've read in a long while and I enjoyed every twist and turn of their relationship, which slowly turned Dodger into a hero. Even at the end, he was still chameleon-like though, and that was ultimately what made him such an intriguing character.
I know very little about the era that Dodger is set in. I'm very glad for the notes that Pratchett left at the end of the novel, to get me up to speed - even if I haven't looked up much since finishing it. There were things I did especially appreciate though - like the Sweeney Todd storyline. I love that it's a historical-fantasy, but still more grounded in reality than any of the Discworld novels are. I appreciate the deft hand he used to portray beliefs and feelings of the characters - how God couldn't have been at Simplicity's first wedding. How Dodger believed in the Lady, but still had a little skepticism and unsureness about how to address her and so on. Then, there's the portrayal of various classes and how Dodger somehow managed to seamlessly slip into any of them despite being a tosher.
Even so, I sometimes wonder if Terry Pratchett is too clever for me to appreciate. Or whether it's just his sense of detailing that means I get bogged down when reading his books...
I've now moved onto Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult. I wanted to read Plain Truths first but my mum 'borrowed' it and she takes months to read any book. Ugh.