General Questions (Vicki):
1. This is Dickens' first novel: is it representative of his opus? Was anyone pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised by it?
2. Travel & adventure in comic literature is a time-honored theme dating back to the first appearance of 'Don Quixote' (2001 Reading List) in 1605. What makes 'TPP' peculiarly English?
3. 'TPP' was written as a monthly magazine serial. What is our modern equivalent? How does the average serial reader of today compare with the average Victorian reader? Are his appetites similar? Which other characters in serial literature are memorable?
4. Does satire - in the form of caracature - require charity towards one's victims? What happens when characters lose their power to charm and entertain? Can one learn about oneself, or human nature in general, from caracatures? What about irony?
5. G.K.Chesterton said of 'TPP', "it exudes that sense of everlasting youth - a sense of the gods gone wandering round England." Comment.
6. If these are "gods" - and I take that to mean that they are not human - can/should we defile them by human character analysis? Can/should one analyze Bertie Wooster?
5. In his next novel, 'Oliver Twist', Dickens employs sentimentality, idealized and grotesque characters, unrealistic events, and serious social commentary, all of which became elements of his trademark. How does Dickens' style compare with that of Jane Austen (pre-dates) and Anthony Trollope (contemporary)? Should he be considered a romantic, or a realist?
6. Is this a philosophical novel? A psychological novel? Is the switch from comedy to gravity (the prison episodes) successful?
