Back صديقنا المشترك Arabic Our Mutual Friend Catalan Náš společný přítel Czech Our Mutual Friend Welsh Unser gemeinsamer Freund German Our Mutual Friend Esperanto Nuestro común amigo Spanish دوست مشترکمان Persian L'Ami commun French Մեր ընդհանուր ընկերը Armenian
 Cover of serial No. 8, December 1864 | |
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Marcus Stone |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Chapman & Hall |
Publication date | Serialised 1864–65; book form 1865 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Great Expectations |
| Followed by | The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
| Text | Our Mutual Friend at Wikisource |
Our Mutual Friend, written in 1864–1865, 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 the book's character Bella Wilfer, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life".[1]
Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens's skill as a writer in general, but did not review this novel in detail. Some found the plot both too complex and not well laid out.[2] 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.[3] In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was, in fact, experimenting with structure,[4][5] and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers[6] were meant rather to be true representations of the Victorian working class and the key to understanding the structure of the society depicted by Dickens in the novel.[6][7]
- ^ Joseph Hillis Miller, Victorian Subjects. Duke University Press, 1991, p. 69.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
New Books 1865was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Wilson2007was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Reed200615was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hecimovich1995was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Nelson1970was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hecimovich966was invoked but never defined (see the help page).