Dickens Novels

Charles Dickens wrote 15 novels, roughly 4 million words in total length:^[1]

1. The Pickwick Papers – 1836-37 (a mockery of the justice system)
2. Oliver Twist – 1837-39) (the first edition had a longer biblical title, Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress; the character Fagin was named after Bob Fagin, was was a fellow employee met by Charles Dickens as youngster working at a blacking factory)
3. Nicholas Nickleby – 1838-39 (Mrs. Nickleby was modeled after Dickens' mother)
4. The Old Curiosity Shop – 1840-41 - adapted as Little Nell and the Marchioness for the petite, winsome actress Lotta Crabtree, who made it a theatrical sensation
5. Barnaby Rudge – 1841 (an historical novel about the Gordon Riots of 1780)
6. Martin Chuzzlewit – 1843-44 (written after an unpleasant trip to the United States by Dickens)
7. Dombey and Son – 1846-48 (Dickens read this work to friends, and then to the public)
8. David Copperfield – 1849-50 (Dickens' 8th and favorite novel)
9. Bleak House – 1852-53 (a character dies oddly by spontaneous combustion; also a criticism of the legal system, a never-ending Chancery case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce and the title is the name of their family home)^[2]

   This novel Bleak House by Dickens has been cited 338 times by American court decisions, including 197 times by federal courts (including 9 times by the U.S. Supreme Court), as of Oct. 2, 2022. See, e.g., Hughes Tool Co. v. TWA, 409 U.S. 363, 393 (1973) (Burger, C.J., dissenting) (“To describe this litigation as a 20th-century sequel to Bleak House is only a slight exaggeration.”).

10. Hard Times – 1854 (an insightful criticism of utilitarianism)</li>
11. Little Dorrit – 1855-57 (about debtors' prison, which Dickens' father endured)
12. A Tale of Two Cities – 1859 (perhaps Dickens' most famous work)
13. Great Expectations – 1860-81 (about dreams of becoming a gentleman)
14. Our Mutual Friend – 1864 (Dickens' last completed novel, focusing on the "dust" business)
15. The Mystery of Edwin Drood – 1870 (halfway completed by Dickens when he died)

Novella[edit]

A Christmas Carol (1843) was a novella, short in length.

References[edit]