Oliver Twist

A long, episodic classic with a few chapters that stay with you: the bowl, Fagin's den, Nancy's choice and Sikes's flight. Oliver himself is more acted on than acting, and the comic workhouse chapters are the fun part. Four out of five (draft). Read it if: you want the full story behind the famous bowl scene; you like crime-and-redemption plots with a hidden-parentage twist; you enjoy sharp, funny narration about officials and hypocrites. Skip it if: you want a fast, modern pace: the book is about 158,000 words; you dislike coincidence-driven plots; the narrator's repeated label for fagin will make the book hard to read for you.

Our ending explained covers the final chapters in full, with spoilers. Oliver Twist ending explained: who Monks is, Oliver's real parents, what happens to Nancy, Sikes and Fagin, and what Oliver inherits. Full spoilers. Oliver Twist Ending Explained →

Oliver Twist summary, chapter by chapter, asking one question: who has Oliver now? The parish, an undertaker, Fagin, Mr. Brownlow, Sikes, the Maylies. Full spoilers. Oliver Twist Summary: Who Has Oliver Now, Chapter by Chapter →

Oliver Twist follows a boy born in a workhouse who is passed from the parish to an undertaker, a gang of London thieves, a kind old gentleman and a country household. It is by Charles Dickens, and the Gutenberg title page adds the subtitle The Parish Boy's Progress.

The Project Gutenberg text, ebook number 730, has 53 chapters. By our count the chapters hold about 158,000 words, not counting the license.

In chapter 2. The workhouse boys are starving on thin gruel, one of them has to ask for more, and it falls to Oliver.

The beadle, Mr. Bumble, names the workhouse orphans in alphabetical order. The last was an S, so this one was a T, and he became Twist (chapter 2).