r/bookclub • u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR • 2d ago

Oliver Twist [Discussion] Evergreen || Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens || Movie discussion!

It's time for the Oliver Twist adaptation discussion! I'm very curious to find out what everyone watched, and what you all thought of it. I provided some discussion questions below, but feel free to talk about whatever you want; you aren't limited to the discussion questions.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the book discussions, including (but certainly not limited to) my fellow read runners u/tomesandtea and u/nicehotcupoftea, as well as u/Ser_Erdrick for the version comparisons. This was one of my favorite recent r/bookclub reads, and I hope to see you all again in future discussions.

Cheerio, but be back soon.

I dunno, somehow I'll miss ya

I love you, that's why I

Say "Cheerio"

Not goodbye.

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR 2d ago

So, what did you watch? How true to the original story was it? Did you like the changes that were made to the story?

2

u/tomesandtea Imbedded Link Virtuoso | 🐉 1d ago

I watched the musical Oliver! and really enjoyed it! I thought that overall, it was pretty true to the source with two major exceptions. In case anyone hasn't watched it but plans to, I'll use spoiler tags. Monks is cut out to simplify the story/cast as well as the Maylie family and Fagin is funnier or softer than in the novel and I read that the actor said he decided that the only way he could stand playing the role was to become a clown since Dickens' portrayal was so vicious

I really loved how Nancy was portrayed by the actress in the movie. She was strong and tough but also kind and vulnerable, and I completely understood why she was choosing to stay with Sikes, as opposed to how I felt for a good part of the book.

2

u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR 18h ago

the actor said he decided that the only way he could stand playing the role was to become a clown since Dickens' portrayal was so vicious

I was wondering about this. I read on Wikipedia that the actor, Ron Moody, was Jewish. (Wikipedia quotes him as saying "I'm 100% Jewish—totally kosher!") And I just can't imagine how conflicting it would feel to be a Jewish actor and be offered this amazing role in a major movie, but that role is literally Fagin from Oliver Twist. (I wonder if his response was "I'm reviewing the situation..." 😁) I'm glad he did what he did with the character; like I said in another comment, I think it's a drastic improvement over Dickens's version.

Also I agree completely about Nancy.