Oscar Wilde allegedly said, "You would need to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the death of little Nell."

Well, I didn't laugh, but I didn't cry either. I don't love Dickens' "angel" characters. Someone who is too good is boring. Also, how in the heck did they get that way? Agnes and Esther and Nell all have horrible childhoods and are surrounded by despicable people. (At least Agnes and Nell have someone that loves them, but is it enough? How in the world do they grow up never thinking an unkind thought or speaking an unkind word? No one I know turns out like that, even in the best of circumstances.

Nell was sweet, and I didn't wish death on her, but she was kind of boring. The other characters in the book, however, were not boring. The evil Quilp was pretty scary and even kept me up a couple of nights. I really liked Dick Swiveller a lot, and rooted for him from the beginning. You don't see many characters like that from Dickens--someone who isn't all bad, but not really very good either, but then has a few life experiences that change him and make him want to be better. And when that change doesn't turn him into a goody-goody who never makes a bad decision in his life, well, even better.

Overall I liked it, but not my favorite from Dickens. As always, I loved the tidy wrap-up at the end, where everyone gets what's coming to them.