u/DTownForever

So, I mean a book where the MC is a child for a large portion of the book (at least 1/3). I just can't fathom how an adult man can write children so authentically.

Some of the prose just makes my inner child feel so seen! It's insane. Sometimes I'll read a few sentences and be struck by the most vivid childhood memory of feeling exactly that way. The scene where Pip is left alone in the courtyard the first time he visits Miss Havisham's and Estella abandons him and he wants to kick the walls ... I had to stop and take deep breaths after I finished that passage.

So, like Our Mutual Friend wouldn't fit this category, there's only smatterings of when the characters are small children and I believe they're only flashbacks. Same for Little Dorritt. The MC grows up quickly.

GE and David Copperfield would be examples of what I'm looking for. I know there are so many. I've read GE and DC and Oliver Twist, but beyond that I am open! (I will read them all, eventually, but I just finished a book and want to start something else today or tomorrow.)

I'm really glad to have found this sub, I have become a Dickens fiend lately. One of my favorite things about him in general is the side characters he creates - who eventually are keys to the plot moving along, but are so memorable in their own right.

I was wondering which ones are people's favorites / most memorable. I have mine but I don't want to push the conversation in any one direction!

So I have been on a Charles Dickens kick, and in the past few months have read or re-read Bleak House, Little Doritt, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Pickwick Papers, and David Copperfield. I am going to take a break, but I do think he has settled into my top 3 favorite authors. I'm in AWE of his talent, absolutely.

But what I love about Dickens is:

1. the way he writes little children

2. the crazy cast of characters he creates, some ridiculous and some with a ton of gravity

3. the twists and turns in the stories

4. the vivid descriptions of London - and elsewhere - that make me actually visualize it - I am not a visual person and usually cannot picture things in my head, but with Dickens it's different

5. The friendships he portrays

6. his stark exposure of the random cruelty of class

What I don't like is ... the constant polite social mores. I completely understand why it's necessary but I'm so annoyed with it at this point.

Anything you can think of that would give this variety of well-written children, vivid description, large and interesting cast of characters, intricate story that is modern and not filled with people tripping over themselves to be proper? Bonus points if it's got a class struggle, but not essential. (I've read Demon Copperhead already, absolutely LOVED it.)

I did think of Tom Robbins, but I read all his books in my early 20s and when I went back to start one I was like, yeah, there was a time and a place for this in my life and it was 30 years ago, lol.

I'd love any suggestions.