![]() I do not say that being born in a workhouse is a good thing. And they would have been the most concise and faithful specimen of biography ever written. ![]() Or, if they had, they would have been a couple of pages. Would it bear any name at all? If it had died it is more than probable that these memoirs would never have appeared. The day and date I need not trouble myself to repeat.īut for days after birth (into this world of sorrow and trouble), it was doubtful whether the child would live. Makes it easier to read on mobile devices.Īmong other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons I will refrain from mentioning, there is one common to most towns - a workhouse. And-like James Patterson and many other modern novelists rigorously do-I did some paragraphing. I broke up the three extra-long sentences. ![]() How might the readability be tweaked? I rewrote a bit (but only a bit). (Note: For post-grads who prefer math: the opener includes 93.2% very hard to read words.)Īt risk of offending book lovers worldwide-I began to tinker with this opener using Hemingway Editor. But even a post-grad who is studying Great Books might need a couple of rereads. The Oliver Twist opener ranks at a Post-graduate (Poor) level on readability. I’m afraid Hemingway went wild with his red pen! Out of a total of 261 words, the app flags 243 words-as very hard to read. ![]() And the sentences tend to wander on and on, sometimes making for a difficult read.įor example, here are the opening three (3) sentences of Oliver Twist.ĬHAPTER 1: TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTHĪmong other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse and in this workhouse was born on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.įor a long time after it was ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble, by the parish surgeon, it remained a matter of considerable doubt whether the child would survive to bear any name at all in which case it is somewhat more than probable that these memoirs would never have appeared or, if they had, that being comprised within a couple of pages, they would have possessed the inestimable merit of being the most concise and faithful specimen of biography, extant in the literature of any age or country.Īlthough I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a human being, I do mean to say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver Twist that could by possibility have occurred. And some of his language can sound stilted to the 21st century ear. Charles Dickens is-of course-a literary colossus. ![]()
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