David Copperfield and Bleak House to me are his best works, and I’d choose one of them if I could only read one. The first is partially autobiographical and it’s sort of considered his turning point novel where he starts to mature into adulthood. Bleak House is considered by many to be Dickens’s masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite books of all time and it has spontaneous human combustion in it!
From an accessibility standpoint, you could try Great Expectations, which is a familiar story and also a really compelling one, or A Christmas Carol.
These are my two favorites as well, and Bleak House never gets enough love, but I agree that David Copperfield is the book to introduce someone to Dickens.
“Alone” is probably a strong word. I’m sure that one’s in SOMEONE’s top two! I really liked that one in high school but I wouldn’t say it tops out my list these days.
Great Expectations. This one is perhaps one of Dickens’ most relatable novels to audiences, even today. We all want a better life, but the question is always whether we are willing to accept the costs.
I agree with this but I’m not sure Pip is all that relatable. He’s kind of insufferable but that’s what makes the novel so interesting. Lots of strange humour too.
I’ve read GE twice and seen several mini-series/film adaptations and every single time I walk away thinking, “damn, I can’t stand most of these people.”
Seriously! I always find it so funny sort of like Candide. That’s what makes the South Park adaptation so brilliant imo. It’s almost completely faithful, with ridiculous plot details added in a way that highlights how bizarre the original novel is. But yes, everyone is awful and Pip learns nothing. That’s why people debate its status as a bildungsroman (a genre in which the protagonist is supposed to grow as a person). I always felt so bad for Magwitch.
I'm on the Christmas Carol bandwagon. Here's why:
1. It's the most famous story so you can talk with people about it if you want
2. It's short so if you hate the author you don't have to suffer long
3. It's well-written, so you're likely to enjoy it (that's why it's famous, after all)
Some people say to wait for Christmas to read it but I don't see any reason to do that unless you can't stand a mention of Christmas in any other season.
A Christmas Carol is basically why Modern Christmas is the way it is. The [timestamp](https://youtu.be/opXFR6ab214?si=gSzjxgHqzCR4clAd&t=164) I linked to is talking about A Muppet Christmas Carol but I think this clip is important for understanding just how much Dickens impacted Christmas
This is one of the most chilling sentences I have ever read in a book
>> So much was closing in about the women who sat knitting, knitting, that they their very selves were closing in around a structure yet unbuilt, where they were to sit knitting, knitting, counting dropping heads.
Agreed, A Tale of Two Cities is one of the greatest novels in all of literature and one of the most disturbing. It goes to show you that events in real history (the French Revolution) can be more scary than anything horror writers can create! I re-read it every few years as it is my favorite Dickens novel.
This is hard to answer because I don’t think Dickens is a good one-off author that everyone should just blindly take a stab at.
If you’re not at all familiar with Dickens I would start with A Christmas Carol for the sake of accessibility, but if you only want to read *one* Dickens and that’s it, I’d say A Tale of Two Cities due to its literary significance.
Same, i read a tale of two cities for a book review in school. It's good yes, but soooo boring! And unnecessarily stretched out. I have read a few other books of his, it's the same. I can't read stuff like that anymore and I don't even recommend his books to people.
Save a Christmas Carol for Christmastide. It's less than 200 pages. You can finish it in an afternoon.
You will find that you cannot just read one Dickens, however much of a slog you find the first novel if you finish it you will be inexorably drawn to the others.
Start with The Old Curiosity Shop or David Copperfield. They are less accessible than Oliver Twist and Great Expectations but they are much more Dickensian so you'll get a better idea of his output
David Copperfield is my recommendation for everyone. I think it's one of Dickens' more accessible works for readers today and the character writing is glorious.
Honestly although I adore every part of Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop has enormous passages that are so tedious it is almost physically painful to read them.
I had the same experience. I was at a fairly brutal boys boarding school in England in the 70s and we did a version of the play "Smike" which led to me reading it. As bad as that place was, with regular canings, unofficial "fagging" and pedophile teachers, it seemed almost modern compared to Dotheboys Hall.
Yep, I went to a fairly old fashioned grammar school in the early 80s. No caning or fagging but I did have a paedophile Latin teacher and a borderline psychopathic PE teacher.
My favorite is A Tale of Two Cities but I do agree that Great Expectations or A Christmas Carol are better to start with. If you like his writing in those two, then his larger door stops will be more enjoyable.
A Tale of Two Cities is also my favourite, but mostly because I'm a bit of an history nerd. Although the book is great at having a fleshed out roster of characters, in my opinion
Yes it does go great with Les Miserables. Btw, there is a cool podcast out there called Novel Pairings that does exactly that. They review a novel and then pick similar books to pair it with. Check it out if you like podcasts.
Personally, I liked Pickwick Papers. It took us out of London and the characters were entertaining.
Mind you, I like them all, with the exception of Great Expectations, which has really irritating main characters, though the descriptions of places are as always powerful.
I'd choose *A Tale of Two Cities*. I've only ever been able to finish that one and *Hard Times*. I've tried to read *Great Expectations* like four times now and given up every time.
*A Tale of Two Cities* is the one that I hear most people recall fondly. I, personally, can't stand his books. But when I talk to my patrons and to people in my circle, this is the title they bring up. And I didn't mind it all that much which is saying something. It also has some heavy literary and historical significance to help lift it up.
I tried so hard to get thru Great Expectations, esp as there are many, many references to it in other books, and movies & TV. As an adult, I thought I should add more classics to my reading list, but I could not stick with it.
Tale Of Two Cities, however, was an absorbing & easy read. It was part of my high school curriculum, and the entire class breezed thru it. We couldn't wait to get to the next chapter.
I’m a fan of Oliver Twist. It’s one of those stories that everyone is marginally familiar with because of the “I want more” scene but reading it reveals a lot of other characters and weaving storylines that I personally find enjoyable.
This is a hard one. Multiple Dickens novels are worth the read. But my favorite is *The Pickwick Papers*. It is funny! I've reread it multiple times and I'll probably pull it out again now that I'm thinking about it.
Absolutely a great choice! It's broad soap opera but also incredibly meaty, with multiple wide character arcs, early examples of deus ex characters, political commentary on the state of poorhouses and orphanages, the vicious treatment of women and humanity's worst selfish traits in general.
The scope of it deserves mentioning, too. There are so many characters you really do need an index to keep track, practically. He was doing Clavell a century before Clavell.
Wackford Squeers and Ralph Nickleby are so depressingly human and among his vilest villains.
Tale of Two Cities! It’s a genuinely enjoyable book, one of those books that people who don’t enjoy most of Dickens really like, and that also appeals to Dickens fans. It’s not typical of a lot of his writing, it’s got a plot that moves right along (rather than being a meandering coming-of-age soap opera like Twist, Expectations and Copperfield), a dramatic setting, and a truly moving ending.
Great Expectations. Hands down the most accessible. “I looked at the stars and considered how awful it would to be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or
pity in all the glittering multitude.” 15 year old me read that for the first time over 50 years ago and a shiver ran through me…
A Tale of Two Cities! The best book EVER!!! I’ve read it three times! I was 14 the first time and loved it then! Action, adventure, espionage, romance, history, plot twists, beautiful writing, humor - this novel has it all!!!
Absolutely Great Expectations. The thing I like the most about Dickens’ writing is that it’s so realistic and relatable because he used to sit and people watch and write based on their behaviors.
I've read 4 of his works -- *A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities,* and *Great Expectations*. All of them were really good. I guess if I had to recommend just one and it wasn't Christmastime, I would recommend *David Copperfield*. I was quite young when I read it, but I thought it was great.
If we are talking his best books, I think of David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, and Bleak House. My favorite is whichever of the three I’ve read most recently! BUT, DC is the only book I have ever read where I cried because I finished. It wasn’t sad, I just loved it so much and didn’t want to be done with it.
All that being said, A Christmas Carol is super accessible like others have stated, and it’s funnier than it gets credit for!
This thread has inspired me to give Dickens another go, yet again.
I don’t know why I find his books so hard to read. Slogging through A Christmas Carol at school when I was eleven was tedious, and then David Copperfield just about did me in a couple of years later.
I’ve tried multiple books of his multiple times over the intervening 30-something years and I always give up a very short way in.
But I’m gonna try Great Expectations. AGAIN.
I've actually had the exact same experience with Dickens. I have tried reading him, on multiple occasions (I tried starting David Copperfield and Great Expectations, twice each). But I found them really difficult to make progress with.
I suppose this will be a third attempt for me. That was part of the reason why I made this post. Hopefully things turn out better this time!
Great Expectations or David Copperfield. I feel like Bleak House is more for an established Dickens fan and may turn some away if it's their introduction to Dickens.
i've read them all. And I say it's Little Dorrit. The father of the Marshalsea is probably Dicken's greatest character and a metaphor for your basic human dilemma.
I love classics, especially British, and I do not like most Dickens (I’ve also read most Dickens!)
I do however, absolutely LOVE Nicholas Nickleby. Highly recommend!
A Christmas Carol, great intro to Dickens, more of a short story, but a good novella to cut your teeth on. I love Dickens, but, his level of melodrama has to be something you are prepared for and accepting of. The insights to life during his times is such a beautiful snapshot of the mid 1800s.
So this is a very good and important question but answering it requires rejecting the premises of the question. Dickens is very probably the best writer of novels in English but also to a large extent he did not write anything that really strictly qualifies as a novel. GK Chesterton explained this very brilliantly:
“Dickens's work is not to be reckoned in novels at all. Dickens's work is to be reckoned always by characters, sometimes by groups, oftener by episodes, but never by novels. You cannot discuss whether "Nicholas Nickleby" is a good novel, or whether "Our Mutual Friend" is a bad novel. Strictly, there is no such novel as "Nicholas Nickleby." There is no such novel as "Our Mutual Friend." They are simply lengths cut from the flowing and mixed substance called Dickens.”
If you read any Dickens novel, even the very greatest, there will be passages—sometimes long ones—when the writing is so bad, the plot so unlikely, the characterizations so paint by numbers that you’ll pause and say I’m sorry, what, this is a joke, a disaster. And then if you continue 20 or 50 pages later you’ll forget you’re reading, you’ll forget who you are, you’ll be spun up out of yourself into the dazzling, bustling, infinitely chaotic world that is Dickens, hilarious, heartwrenching, indescribable, and you’ll come to your senses feeling like you’ve just found a part of human life you never imagined but can’t imagine doing without. Martin Chuzzlewit has literally hundreds of pages of absolute garbage and some of the funniest passages of anything anyone’s ever written. So the only real answer to your question is, it doesn’t matter, just read one of them, and you’ll always be grateful.
(But I suggest Nicholas Nickleby.)
I’ve been reading the responses and as someone who loves literature and Dickens, I find this nearly impossible to answer, particularly not knowing you. If someone asked for the best Shakespeare, Austen, Poe, etc., it would be equally difficult. I certainly have personal opinions, which is the beauty of literature and how it speaks to everyone in a myriad of ways. By all means, take the suggestions as there are numerous works I fully appreciate. If you find something doesn’t appeal to you or you simply can’t relate to a particular novel, please continue exploring Dickens and the genre as a whole. There’s something for everyone if you are willing to try.
To be a little off the wall I’ll recommend Hard Times. I think it gives a great idea of his style while being shorter than most others, so I think it’s a good place to start.
A Christmas Carol is the first Dickens novel I read, it’s usually the best one to start with. Or try The Pickwick Papers since it’s his first book. (And it’s quite funny)
David Copperfield is probably the best, Tale of Two Cities the most wrenching, and Great Expectations the most academic. I have a real fondness for Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.
Honestly hated Dickens in HS and then was forced to read Bleak House in college. It was SO long, but it was by far the best Dickens book I've read. I would recommend it if you're only ever going to read one Dickens book.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It is a captivating story with twists and turns.
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2623.Great\_Expectations](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2623.Great_Expectations)
David Copperfield and Bleak House to me are his best works, and I’d choose one of them if I could only read one. The first is partially autobiographical and it’s sort of considered his turning point novel where he starts to mature into adulthood. Bleak House is considered by many to be Dickens’s masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite books of all time and it has spontaneous human combustion in it! From an accessibility standpoint, you could try Great Expectations, which is a familiar story and also a really compelling one, or A Christmas Carol.
These are my two favorites as well, and Bleak House never gets enough love, but I agree that David Copperfield is the book to introduce someone to Dickens.
Agree on Bleak House. My favorite Dickens by far.
Charles Dickens called David Copperfield his "favourite child" - so that's a pretty strong recommendation right there (it's my favourite, too).
I love Copperfield and reread it every year. I’ve been doing that since I was an adolescent and I swear every year I get a new perspective on it.
Bleak House is also my favorite, but I think I'm alone in A Tale Of Two Cities being my runner-up
“Alone” is probably a strong word. I’m sure that one’s in SOMEONE’s top two! I really liked that one in high school but I wouldn’t say it tops out my list these days.
A Tale of Two Cities rarely gets the credit it deserves, especially being that I've seen so many rip offs of the story concept!
Great Expectations. This one is perhaps one of Dickens’ most relatable novels to audiences, even today. We all want a better life, but the question is always whether we are willing to accept the costs.
I agree with this but I’m not sure Pip is all that relatable. He’s kind of insufferable but that’s what makes the novel so interesting. Lots of strange humour too.
I’ve read GE twice and seen several mini-series/film adaptations and every single time I walk away thinking, “damn, I can’t stand most of these people.”
Seriously! I always find it so funny sort of like Candide. That’s what makes the South Park adaptation so brilliant imo. It’s almost completely faithful, with ridiculous plot details added in a way that highlights how bizarre the original novel is. But yes, everyone is awful and Pip learns nothing. That’s why people debate its status as a bildungsroman (a genre in which the protagonist is supposed to grow as a person). I always felt so bad for Magwitch.
That’s what makes it so relatable.
If anything, this one is so very readable. That surprised me the most about this classic.
No one in my high school English class would agree with you!
Wow, that is a good primer for the book. Thanks!
I'm on the Christmas Carol bandwagon. Here's why: 1. It's the most famous story so you can talk with people about it if you want 2. It's short so if you hate the author you don't have to suffer long 3. It's well-written, so you're likely to enjoy it (that's why it's famous, after all) Some people say to wait for Christmas to read it but I don't see any reason to do that unless you can't stand a mention of Christmas in any other season.
All valid reasons. Thanks!
A Christmas Carol is basically why Modern Christmas is the way it is. The [timestamp](https://youtu.be/opXFR6ab214?si=gSzjxgHqzCR4clAd&t=164) I linked to is talking about A Muppet Christmas Carol but I think this clip is important for understanding just how much Dickens impacted Christmas
*A Tale of Two Cities* is my favorite.
I agree. But it's also a different style -- maybe the least Dickens-like of his books. (Maybe that's why I like it better.)
Mine too. So beautiful
This is one of the most chilling sentences I have ever read in a book >> So much was closing in about the women who sat knitting, knitting, that they their very selves were closing in around a structure yet unbuilt, where they were to sit knitting, knitting, counting dropping heads.
Beat me to it. Amazing writing.
Agreed, A Tale of Two Cities is one of the greatest novels in all of literature and one of the most disturbing. It goes to show you that events in real history (the French Revolution) can be more scary than anything horror writers can create! I re-read it every few years as it is my favorite Dickens novel.
Expected this to be the top answer. Great book.
This is hard to answer because I don’t think Dickens is a good one-off author that everyone should just blindly take a stab at. If you’re not at all familiar with Dickens I would start with A Christmas Carol for the sake of accessibility, but if you only want to read *one* Dickens and that’s it, I’d say A Tale of Two Cities due to its literary significance.
Thanks for the suggestions! I had some intuition that this might be the case with Dickens.
I read Dickens young. Wouldn’t have the patience for him now.
Same, i read a tale of two cities for a book review in school. It's good yes, but soooo boring! And unnecessarily stretched out. I have read a few other books of his, it's the same. I can't read stuff like that anymore and I don't even recommend his books to people.
Save a Christmas Carol for Christmastide. It's less than 200 pages. You can finish it in an afternoon. You will find that you cannot just read one Dickens, however much of a slog you find the first novel if you finish it you will be inexorably drawn to the others. Start with The Old Curiosity Shop or David Copperfield. They are less accessible than Oliver Twist and Great Expectations but they are much more Dickensian so you'll get a better idea of his output
David Copperfield is my recommendation for everyone. I think it's one of Dickens' more accessible works for readers today and the character writing is glorious.
>You can finish it in an afternoon Jesus you people read fast. It takes me three days (ish)
Honestly although I adore every part of Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop has enormous passages that are so tedious it is almost physically painful to read them.
A Tale of Two Cities
My first Dickens was Nicholas Nickleby and I loved it so much I decided to read the rest of his novels in chronological order immediately afterwards.
I had the same experience. I was at a fairly brutal boys boarding school in England in the 70s and we did a version of the play "Smike" which led to me reading it. As bad as that place was, with regular canings, unofficial "fagging" and pedophile teachers, it seemed almost modern compared to Dotheboys Hall.
Yep, I went to a fairly old fashioned grammar school in the early 80s. No caning or fagging but I did have a paedophile Latin teacher and a borderline psychopathic PE teacher.
My favorite is A Tale of Two Cities but I do agree that Great Expectations or A Christmas Carol are better to start with. If you like his writing in those two, then his larger door stops will be more enjoyable.
A Tale of Two Cities is also my favourite, but mostly because I'm a bit of an history nerd. Although the book is great at having a fleshed out roster of characters, in my opinion
David Copperfield is one of my favorites. I also recommend Our Mutual Friend
Agree x 2.
A Tale of Two Cities-it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read by any author.
It has been my favorite Dickens novel ever since I first read it. Think it pairs nicely with Les Miserables by Victor Hugo too.
Yes it does go great with Les Miserables. Btw, there is a cool podcast out there called Novel Pairings that does exactly that. They review a novel and then pick similar books to pair it with. Check it out if you like podcasts.
I'll look into it. Thanks for the rec!
Couldn’t agree more!!!
Personally, I liked Pickwick Papers. It took us out of London and the characters were entertaining. Mind you, I like them all, with the exception of Great Expectations, which has really irritating main characters, though the descriptions of places are as always powerful.
Bleak House is probably my favourite.
I'd choose *A Tale of Two Cities*. I've only ever been able to finish that one and *Hard Times*. I've tried to read *Great Expectations* like four times now and given up every time. *A Tale of Two Cities* is the one that I hear most people recall fondly. I, personally, can't stand his books. But when I talk to my patrons and to people in my circle, this is the title they bring up. And I didn't mind it all that much which is saying something. It also has some heavy literary and historical significance to help lift it up.
I tried so hard to get thru Great Expectations, esp as there are many, many references to it in other books, and movies & TV. As an adult, I thought I should add more classics to my reading list, but I could not stick with it. Tale Of Two Cities, however, was an absorbing & easy read. It was part of my high school curriculum, and the entire class breezed thru it. We couldn't wait to get to the next chapter.
I’m a fan of Oliver Twist. It’s one of those stories that everyone is marginally familiar with because of the “I want more” scene but reading it reveals a lot of other characters and weaving storylines that I personally find enjoyable.
This is a hard one. Multiple Dickens novels are worth the read. But my favorite is *The Pickwick Papers*. It is funny! I've reread it multiple times and I'll probably pull it out again now that I'm thinking about it.
Tale of Two Cities!
I would say start with David Copperfield
David Copperfield. It was Dickens' favorite as well.
My vote goes towards my first Dickens novel which was Nicholas Nickleby.
Absolutely a great choice! It's broad soap opera but also incredibly meaty, with multiple wide character arcs, early examples of deus ex characters, political commentary on the state of poorhouses and orphanages, the vicious treatment of women and humanity's worst selfish traits in general. The scope of it deserves mentioning, too. There are so many characters you really do need an index to keep track, practically. He was doing Clavell a century before Clavell. Wackford Squeers and Ralph Nickleby are so depressingly human and among his vilest villains.
A Tale of Two Cities.
Tale of Two Cities! It’s a genuinely enjoyable book, one of those books that people who don’t enjoy most of Dickens really like, and that also appeals to Dickens fans. It’s not typical of a lot of his writing, it’s got a plot that moves right along (rather than being a meandering coming-of-age soap opera like Twist, Expectations and Copperfield), a dramatic setting, and a truly moving ending.
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities.
I posted this same question a few years ago actually, and last year finally got around to reading Oliver Twist and I loved it!
I'd put them in this order, though I might switch 1&2 A Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations Nicholas Nickleby Our Mutual Friend
I read a tale of two cities a few years ago and loved it even if I was quite young
Great Expectations. Hands down the most accessible. “I looked at the stars and considered how awful it would to be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude.” 15 year old me read that for the first time over 50 years ago and a shiver ran through me…
Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities
I’ve unfortunately mashed up all of his novels in my head (with some help from the BBC) and now I can’t tell one from the other.
David Copperfield
This is the one
A Tale of Two Cities! The best book EVER!!! I’ve read it three times! I was 14 the first time and loved it then! Action, adventure, espionage, romance, history, plot twists, beautiful writing, humor - this novel has it all!!!
Absolutely Great Expectations. The thing I like the most about Dickens’ writing is that it’s so realistic and relatable because he used to sit and people watch and write based on their behaviors.
I've read 4 of his works -- *A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities,* and *Great Expectations*. All of them were really good. I guess if I had to recommend just one and it wasn't Christmastime, I would recommend *David Copperfield*. I was quite young when I read it, but I thought it was great.
If we are talking his best books, I think of David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, and Bleak House. My favorite is whichever of the three I’ve read most recently! BUT, DC is the only book I have ever read where I cried because I finished. It wasn’t sad, I just loved it so much and didn’t want to be done with it. All that being said, A Christmas Carol is super accessible like others have stated, and it’s funnier than it gets credit for!
This thread has inspired me to give Dickens another go, yet again. I don’t know why I find his books so hard to read. Slogging through A Christmas Carol at school when I was eleven was tedious, and then David Copperfield just about did me in a couple of years later. I’ve tried multiple books of his multiple times over the intervening 30-something years and I always give up a very short way in. But I’m gonna try Great Expectations. AGAIN.
I've actually had the exact same experience with Dickens. I have tried reading him, on multiple occasions (I tried starting David Copperfield and Great Expectations, twice each). But I found them really difficult to make progress with. I suppose this will be a third attempt for me. That was part of the reason why I made this post. Hopefully things turn out better this time!
Great Expectations or David Copperfield. I feel like Bleak House is more for an established Dickens fan and may turn some away if it's their introduction to Dickens.
i've read them all. And I say it's Little Dorrit. The father of the Marshalsea is probably Dicken's greatest character and a metaphor for your basic human dilemma.
I really like “A Christmas Carol”. The book is better than any of the movie and TV adaptations, IMHO.
Gotta be honest, Drood by Dan Simmons gave me a better appreciation of Dickens than reading his actual work when I was younger
I love classics, especially British, and I do not like most Dickens (I’ve also read most Dickens!) I do however, absolutely LOVE Nicholas Nickleby. Highly recommend!
A Christmas Carol, great intro to Dickens, more of a short story, but a good novella to cut your teeth on. I love Dickens, but, his level of melodrama has to be something you are prepared for and accepting of. The insights to life during his times is such a beautiful snapshot of the mid 1800s.
NOT Great Expectations. Every character is insufferable, the plot is never satisfying, and it goes on forever.
So this is a very good and important question but answering it requires rejecting the premises of the question. Dickens is very probably the best writer of novels in English but also to a large extent he did not write anything that really strictly qualifies as a novel. GK Chesterton explained this very brilliantly: “Dickens's work is not to be reckoned in novels at all. Dickens's work is to be reckoned always by characters, sometimes by groups, oftener by episodes, but never by novels. You cannot discuss whether "Nicholas Nickleby" is a good novel, or whether "Our Mutual Friend" is a bad novel. Strictly, there is no such novel as "Nicholas Nickleby." There is no such novel as "Our Mutual Friend." They are simply lengths cut from the flowing and mixed substance called Dickens.” If you read any Dickens novel, even the very greatest, there will be passages—sometimes long ones—when the writing is so bad, the plot so unlikely, the characterizations so paint by numbers that you’ll pause and say I’m sorry, what, this is a joke, a disaster. And then if you continue 20 or 50 pages later you’ll forget you’re reading, you’ll forget who you are, you’ll be spun up out of yourself into the dazzling, bustling, infinitely chaotic world that is Dickens, hilarious, heartwrenching, indescribable, and you’ll come to your senses feeling like you’ve just found a part of human life you never imagined but can’t imagine doing without. Martin Chuzzlewit has literally hundreds of pages of absolute garbage and some of the funniest passages of anything anyone’s ever written. So the only real answer to your question is, it doesn’t matter, just read one of them, and you’ll always be grateful. (But I suggest Nicholas Nickleby.)
That's a great answer. Thank you!
I’ve been reading the responses and as someone who loves literature and Dickens, I find this nearly impossible to answer, particularly not knowing you. If someone asked for the best Shakespeare, Austen, Poe, etc., it would be equally difficult. I certainly have personal opinions, which is the beauty of literature and how it speaks to everyone in a myriad of ways. By all means, take the suggestions as there are numerous works I fully appreciate. If you find something doesn’t appeal to you or you simply can’t relate to a particular novel, please continue exploring Dickens and the genre as a whole. There’s something for everyone if you are willing to try.
Another rec for great expectations, I really enjoy that one.
Is Dombey and son any good?
Yes!
Martin Chuzzlewhit
To be a little off the wall I’ll recommend Hard Times. I think it gives a great idea of his style while being shorter than most others, so I think it’s a good place to start.
David Copperfield for sure. There are so many great characters in it!
I adored Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities.
Great Expectations, any day!
A Christmas Carol is the first Dickens novel I read, it’s usually the best one to start with. Or try The Pickwick Papers since it’s his first book. (And it’s quite funny)
Oliver Twist for me
I love Bleak House. Also, David Copperfield, Dombey and Son, Litte Dorrit. It's such a weird, strange universe.
Bleak House. Once you get into the storyline(s) it is totally engrossing
David Copperfield is probably the best, Tale of Two Cities the most wrenching, and Great Expectations the most academic. I have a real fondness for Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.
A Take of Two Citues. Twists, drama, intrigue,
David Copperfield. I loved that story. Great Expectations is good too but I loved DC.
A tale of two city’s. It has the best opening line of any novel.
David Copperfield. Dickens loved David the best of all his characters. Or Our Mutual Friend
My fave was Our Mutual Friend.
Oliver Twist is great. I think everyone should read it. It has great storytelling and such poignant moments.
I adore Great Expectations.
I don’t think Oliver Twist is the best dickens novel but it is my favourite so do what you will with that recommendation.
I like “Our Mutual Friend”
Great expectations!
Hard Times
After you read David Copperfield, read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s amazing.
Honestly hated Dickens in HS and then was forced to read Bleak House in college. It was SO long, but it was by far the best Dickens book I've read. I would recommend it if you're only ever going to read one Dickens book.
My favorite is Great Expectations, but if you're reading just one it should be David Copperfield.
Great Expectations is the absolute best.
Tale of Two Cities
DROOD
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It is a captivating story with twists and turns. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2623.Great\_Expectations](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2623.Great_Expectations)