stargazer

The Literary Duel: Oliver Twist vs. Nicholas Nickleby

Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to this exciting literary fencing match between two world class champions: Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby! Both are literary heavyweights and as an additional twist to this once-in-a-lifetime duel, the two opponents are products of the same quill-driver, the renowned Mr. Charles Dickens! But no need for long introductions, let the game begin!

Protagonist
Both Oliver and Nicholas are unbelievably good, bordering to angelic. Personally, I like protagonists, who are more realistic, flawed and nuanced. But whereas poor, little Oliver is quite passive – the story revolves around Oliver, rather than being driven by him – at least Nicholas shows some determined initiative. The latter also has a bit more personality.

Supporting Cast
The baddies in Oliver Twist are so much more charming and charismatic than their peers in Nicholas Nickleby. In the latter novel, they are just, well, bad. I wished to the last, we would see some redeeming features or get some insight into, why they are so evil. In particular, I had high hopes for Nicholas’ uncle. But no such luck. Nancy in Oliver Twist is one of the more interesting Dickens characters in terms of complexity and ambiguity. Nicholas Nickleby features an excessive list of colourful characters, many of which are described in a highly amusing way. But to me a lot of them came across as caricatures rather than real people.

Setting
Seeing Victorian London through Dickens’ eyes is a treat. He often writes about locations, where I walk around on a regular basis, and I love to imagine what these locations looked like at Dickens’ time. Here Oliver has the edge. Mostly, his story takes place in or around central London, whereas Nicholas spends a decent amount of time in other locations, such as Yorkshire. Admittedly, this is subjective, but as the sole referee, I give this round to Oliver.

Plot
Even the biggest Charles Dickens supporter must have wondered: How likely is it that a poor, filthy boy, who lives amongst thieves is picked up twice – count them, twice – by goodhearted, wealthy people, who find it the most natural thing in the world to clean him up and offer him a home? I am not saying, that Nicholas Nickleby is a prime example of realism, but it works. Also, Nicholas’ life is a good deal more interesting than Oliver’s, partly, I suppose, because he is older. While Oliver is picking flowers for the mistress of the house or learning to read, Nicholas is getting into fights, saving people in distress, making his way in the theatre world and – of course – falling in love.

Structure
Dickens wrote his stories as serials, which give them a different structure. Instead of a slow build-up towards a climax, the stories consist of an uneven flow of small and big events, quiet and dramatic sections, ups and downs. I guess this resembles real life, but I do prefer the more traditional structure. For Nicholas Nickleby I read one part each week, which made the serial structure work better. But I prefer the structure in Oliver Twist, mainly because it is a lot shorter, hence the serial structure is less pronounced.

Writing
Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist were written almost at the same time and there are similarities in the writing. I love Dickens’ sense of humour, though, and in between the social injustices and the misery Nicholas Nickleby is bursting with humour. The mother stands out as a prime example, she is a larger-than-life character and gives rise to some good chuckles. Apparently, she is inspired by Dickens’ own mother.

Final Result
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce the winner of today’s literary duel as Nicholas Nickleby! Give the winner a big applause and thanks so much for joining this special event! 

Title: Oliver Twist [1838] 
Author: Charles Dickens
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Claire Walsh
Genre: Classic

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Title: Nicholas Nickleby [1839] 
Author: Charles Dickens
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Genre: Classic

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

For more literary duelling, check out: Rebecca vs. My Cousin Rachel or Christmas Special: Scrooge vs. Christmas.

30 comments

    • I’m glad you liked it! I’ve never felt I ought to read certain classics, just because they are classics, but Dickens has always appealed to me due to the London connection and his sense of humour. If you want to read more Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby is not a bad choice at all!

  2. Fantastic post! I haven’t read or listened to either of these yet, but of course I do know the story of Oliver Twist from the wonderful musical Oliver! I think I’ve seen an old BBC production of Nicholas Nickleby because some of your descriptions seem familiar.

    • Aww, thanks Nicki, I enjoyed writing it. 😀 I am sure there must be a wide selection of movie, tv and theatre versions of many of Dickens’ novels. The musical version of Oliver Twist is great fun, some of the scenes played in my head, when I read the book. I’ve never seen Nicholas Nickleby as movie or theatre, I wonder, how they get 800+ pages down to a reasonable length performance.

    • Glad to hear! 😀 Nicholas Nickleby is very long, but if it doesn’t bother you, you should definitely give it a go.

  6. Great idea for a post! Are you doing more of these? 🙂
    I’ve only read each of these books once, but I have a vaguer sense of Nicholas Nickleby’s story.

    • Thanks! I hadn’t thought of making this a regular feature, but if I come across a set of suitable books, I might do another duel. Oliver Twist definitely stands out the strongest in my memory as well; I am not sure, it’s because the story is more ingrained in popular culture or if it really is a more classic tale, similar to the old fairy stories. Perhaps a combination of the two…

  7. This was so entertaining to read, Stargazer, and so very close! I have not read NN yet (love Oliver Twist, but my favorite is Great Expectations, possibly because it was my first Dickens’ novel); however, your thoughts and its scores have me eager to finally get to it!

    • I’m glad you found it entertaining, that was really the point of this post! I am thrilled to hear, that your favourite Dickens is Great Expectations, since this is going to be my next Dickens. Nicholas Nickleby is highly recommendable. To me it worked well to read it over a long time period, with one part each week.

  8. Haha – brilliant post and I’m delighted Nicholas Nickleby won! However while I agree with the overall results, since NN is one of my faves and OT is one of my unfaves, I have to put up some counter-arguments… 😉

    Protagonist – Oliver is sickly sweet and manages to speak beautiful middle-class English despite having been brought up in poverty – gah! Whereas Nick beat Wackford Squeers to a pulp with his own stick – yay! Nick 5 – Olly 0.

    Supporting cast – I grant you Fagin, Bill Sykes and Nancy are all great characters. But what about the Crummles? What about the Infant Phenomenon?What about poor dear Sir Frederick Verisoft?? What about lovely Kate – his best heroine by miles?? I declare a draw. Nick 2.5 – Olly 2.5.

    Setting – yes, definitely the London of OT is great, but what about the regional theatre circuit in NN, not to mention Dotheboys Hall – one of the greatest of Dickens creations? Nick 3 – Olly 2

    Plot – While Bill and Nancy are one of my favourite bits of Dickensian plotting, the rest can’t compare to the wonders of NN! The Smike story, the Cheerybles, Kate in the milliner’s shop, plust Dotheboys and the theatre as afore-mentioned. Nick 4 – Olly 1!!

    Structure – hmm, I never really notice the structure too much unless it annoys me, so I guess it couldn’t have annoyed me much in either of these since I don’t remember noticing it… Nick 2.5 – Olly 2.5.

    Writing – totally agree about the humour aspect of NN, and that it’s the clear winner overall. But oh, I love some of the Bill Sykes’ scenes very much, especially the last one… Nick 4, Olly 1.

    Final Result: Olly 9 – Nick 21 (Olly actually did better than I expected – must re-read it sometime… 😀 )

    • This is great! 😀 Thanks so much for adding your own take on the duel. Obviously, I know you are a real Dickens connoisseur! It is always fun to read other opinions, I am sure each reader will have favourite scenes and favourite characters, which are all different. As to my points ending up quite close to each other: I’m not sure it’s an entirely fair expression of my view; really I should have weighted the different rounds, since some aspects are more important than others for the overall enjoyment of a novel. However, I thought that would probably be overdoing it, for a post which was just meant as some lighthearted fun!

  10. This is fabulous! 😄 Having read both books, it’s tempting to add my own scores and perhaps I’ll come back with some (but don’t hold your breath!). I wasn’t totting up your marks as I read so it was a surprise that NN won; felt to me like OT was getting more rounds there 😂 But which is my preferred choice? 🤷 I honestly can’t say. I enjoyed both but for different reasons and I really should settle down and write out my thinking rather than sit on the fence…. Doh! Another unwritten post beckons! 🤦‍♀️ 😂

    • Thanks Sandra, I would love to read your thoughts on these books! 😀 With Dickens I’m sure we all love different characters and different parts of the plot. As the points indicate, I agree they both have their strengths. To be honest, I found the biggest weakness in Oliver Twist being Oliver himself *hides*. If he had been a bit more gutsy and less angelic, the balance might have tipped the other way. Haha, I have lots of ideas in my head, which may never materialise as actual posts. And I generally abstain from writing reviews of the classics. How can you possibly say something, which hasn’t already been said? So I prefer to do these “alternative reviews”, which are quite fun to write.

  11. What a tight match-up! Who would’ve thought! I like how you broke it down and put them both up against each other. I only barely remember Oliver Twist’s story and hope one day to get around to both of these classics.I liked how I learned so much on both those stories but also on your preferences through this post! Thanks for sharing! 😀

    • Yes, it came out a lot tighter, than I would have thought. It was quite fun to put them up against each other, I always try to come up with alternative ways of reviewing the classics, I find it difficult to write a traditional review, because, let’s face it, everything which can be said about these classics have already been said. Thanks for reading!

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