It's always very difficult to judge classics, and it's even harder when they're almost 200 years old. The line between reality and satire blurs because you can't distinguish one from the other, and so many things have changed in the world that an innocent comment back then is transformed into pure evil in this day and time.

For example, Dickens' use of the phrase "The Jew" and the stereotypical behavior of that character would never be accepted in a modern book. What most rattled me, however, was the fact that Dickens thinks Agnes, Oliver's mother, and his father, did something inherently wrong when they had sex before marriage. In the modern world, each and every character in the book seems very chaste, for sex is never mentioned in any context, even though it would seem two of the characters are prostitutes.

But disregarding all of the above, what did I think of the book? I thought it was too unlikely, to put it shortly. Everything falls into place too neatly in the end. Also, Nancy's stupid refusal of escape and subsequent slaughter were all too clear indications of Dickens' warped worldview when it came to women.

The characters' ages were handled badly. I have no idea how old Nancy was, for example. But the story progresses fast enough, at least after several false starts, so it's fairly enjoyable reading.