The Pickwick Papers by Charles Darwin

The Pickwick Papers is the rambling account of the adventures and misadventures of Samuel Pickwick, a supposedly learned man of independent means, and his feckless little band of well-to-do friends.  The action takes place around 1827 in London and its nearby counties.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (to give it its proper title) is the first of Charles Dickens fifteen novels.  It was originally published in twenty installments during 1836-37.  As Dickens was writing and publishing it chapter by chapter, the early part of the novel has very little structure, being mostly a collection of tenuously linked vignettes.  It is not until second half of the book that some kind of story arc beings to develop, strands of narrative are pulled together, and farce, burlesque and genial buffoonery give way to a more considered exploration of characters and events.

Despite its defects, The Pickwick Papers is an enjoyable book.  This is mainly because of the proliferation of absolutely memorable characters that grace its pages.  Foremost amongst these is Sam Weller, who makes his appearance a quarter of the way into the novel.  A man of native cunning, Sam becomes a Sancho Panza to the unworldly Mr Pickwick's Don Quixote.  When the latter gets into strife, it is Sam who repeatedly comes to the rescue. Tony Weller, Sam's father, is no less memorable, and the banter between these two is hilarious and endearing.  Also in the mix are the idiosyncratic Alfred Jingle, a strolling actor and teller of tale tales, and his side-kick Job Trotter; and Dodson and Fogg, two opportunistic and highly questionable lawyers.

The Pickwick Papers is a long book, and its first quarter is of a mediocre quality (apart from the antics of Alfred Jingle);  however, if the one has patience enough to hang in there until the arrival of Sam Weller, it is well worth the effort.

Sam Weller was such a popular character with Dickens' contemporaries that people even began making their own Sam Weller jokes - Wellerisms as they are now known.  If they were not invented by Dickens,  they were certainly brought to the public's attention by him.  Here are a few:

'... out vith it, as the father said to the child, ven he swallowed a [farthing].’

 ‘Now, gen’l’men, “fall on,” as the English said to the French when they fixed [their bayonets].’

'Business first, pleasure arterwards, as King Richard the Third said ven he stabbed the t’other king in the Tower, afore he smothered the babbies.’

And I can't leave without mentioning the poem 'The Expiring Frog' by Mrs Leo Hunter.  Its an excruciating lancing of pompous parlour poetry.  Along with Sam Weller, this poem makes persevering with the book all the more worthwhile.

Dickens heavily revised The Pickwick Papers in 1847 and 1867.  I read the Penguin version of the book which is based on the 1937 edition - which is, more or less, what the original audience would have read - this is an interesting thing to experience, but I can't help wondering ...