Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens, 1864
Pages: 591
Read time: 27.6 hrs*
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Our Mutual Friend by Charles DickensOur Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864–65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life".Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens' skill as a writer in general, although not reviewing this novel in detail. Some found the plot both too complex and not laid out well. The Times of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. In the 20th century, however, reviewers began to find much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including Our Mutual Friend. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was, in fact, experimenting with structure, and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers were mea... Learn more at Wikipedia ↗

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* Approximate time based on 331,663 words ÷ 200 words-per-minute average reading speed