Maven Books

Phew!  I managed to finish the whole thing!  I think this was the first Dickens novel I read in full, at least that I can recall, and it was quite an experience. 

It's a hefty tome, especially in terms of the often weighty language and cast of characters.  (I wish I'd taken notes or had a list of who's who to refer to as I read along.  Though sometimes it seemed like there were only 30 people in England at this time, and they all knew each other.)  I often had to reread passages to grasp was what going on, or go back to a previous chapter to remember if I'd seen a certain character before, and I'm sure I missed some clever coincidences or small events that played into the bigger story. 

Despite all this, I did enjoy reading it, though I feel I'd need to reread the whole book to really see all that was going on, and to appreciate the writing more fully.  Maybe someday.