You’ve seen the movies. You probably had to spark-note a few chapters of Great Expectations back in high school just to pass a quiz. But honestly, picking up a 900-page Victorian doorstopper in 2026 feels like a massive commitment. Is it actually worth it?
Short answer: yeah. Long answer: only if you don't start with the boring stuff.
Most people think they should start with the "classics," but Dickens was basically the prestige TV writer of the 1800s. He wrote in cliffhangers. He killed off fan favorites. He was obsessed with the gritty, gross, and hilarious parts of London life. If you want to find charles dickens best books, you have to stop looking at them like homework and start looking at them like the soap operas they were meant to be.
The Heavyweight Champion: Why Bleak House Is Actually the Best
If you ask a literal professor what the best book is, they’ll almost certainly point to Bleak House. It’s huge. It’s dense. It’s also kinda terrifying.
The story revolves around a never-ending court case called Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. It’s been going on so long that the people involved have forgotten what it’s even about. Dickens uses this to absolutely tear apart the British legal system. But the real reason to read it? The atmosphere.
You’ve got spontaneous human combustion. You’ve got a detective named Inspector Bucket who is basically the grandfather of every TV cop you’ve ever loved. The book shifts between a sweeping, foggy third-person narrative and the very personal, almost diary-like voice of Esther Summerson.
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It’s a masterpiece of plotting. Everything connects. Every minor character who shows up for two pages in chapter ten matters by chapter sixty.
The Personal Favorite: David Copperfield
Dickens himself called this one his "favourite child." It’s easy to see why. It’s basically his autobiography with the names changed to protect the (not so) innocent.
We follow David from a miserable childhood—complete with a terrifying stepfather, Mr. Murdstone—to his eventual success as a writer. Along the way, you meet the Micawbers. Mr. Micawber is one of the greatest comedic characters ever written, always waiting for "something to turn up" while dodging creditors.
It’s a long read. It’s sentimental. But it feels deeply human in a way that some of his more "social protest" novels don't. You’re not just reading a book; you’re living a life.
The Charles Dickens Best Books for Beginners (Avoid the Slump)
Don't start with Bleak House. Seriously. You'll give up by page fifty when the fog starts getting too thick.
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If you’re new to this world, you want pace. You want stakes. You want A Tale of Two Cities.
- The Setting: London and Paris during the French Revolution.
- The Vibe: High-stakes spy thriller meets tragic romance.
- The Famous Part: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
- The Ending: If you don't cry, you might actually be a robot.
It’s much shorter than his other novels. It’s also less "funny" than typical Dickens, which makes it easier for modern readers who find Victorian humor a bit dry.
Then there’s Great Expectations. Most of us were forced to read this too young. Read it again now. Pip is kind of an idiot, but that’s the point. He’s a kid who gets a bunch of money and thinks it makes him better than his friends. It’s a brutal look at class, shame, and the weird, dusty house of Miss Havisham—the woman who was left at the altar and decided to let her wedding cake rot for decades.
The "Underrated" Gems You’re Missing
Everyone knows Oliver Twist. We get it. "Please, sir, I want some more." But have you looked at Our Mutual Friend?
It was his last finished novel. It’s weird. It’s dark. It starts with people pulling bodies out of the River Thames for money. It’s got a social climber named Bella Wilfer who is surprisingly modern and a villain who is genuinely creepy. Critics in the 1860s hated it. Critics today think it’s one of his most sophisticated works.
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And then there's Hard Times.
Short. Punchy. Mean. It’s a takedown of an education system that only cares about "Facts, facts, facts." If you’ve ever felt like just another cog in a corporate machine, this one will hit home. It’s not "fun" in the way The Pickwick Papers is, but it’s undeniably powerful.
How to Actually Finish a Dickens Novel in 2026
The secret to enjoying charles dickens best books is remembering how they were published. He didn't drop the whole book at once. He released them in monthly installments.
Basically, he was writing a TV show.
- Read one "part" at a time. Most modern editions show you where the original monthly breaks were. Stop there. Let it marinate for a week.
- Use an audiobook. Dickens wrote for the ear. He used to do sell-out tours where he’d act out the characters on stage. Hearing the different voices makes the "walls of text" much more manageable.
- Skip the descriptions if you have to. Look, the guy was paid by the word (sort of—it's a myth, but he definitely liked to ramble). If he’s spent three pages describing a doorknob, your brain is allowed to skim.
- Embrace the coincidence. People in Dickens novels always run into each other in a city of millions. It’s not "unrealistic"; it’s the style. It’s a fairy tale for adults.
Practical Next Steps for Your Reading List
If you're ready to dive in, don't just grab the first thing you see at the bookstore. Start with A Tale of Two Cities if you like drama, or Great Expectations if you want a psychological character study. Save Bleak House and Little Dorrit for when you’ve built up your "Victorian stamina."
Go find a version with the original Phiz or Cruikshank illustrations. Seeing what the characters were supposed to look like—the weird noses, the hunched backs—adds a layer of grotesque charm that modern covers usually miss. Check out the "Daily Dickens" communities on places like Reddit where people read one chapter a day together. It makes the 800-page climb feel like a walk in the park.
Don't worry about the "correct" interpretation. Dickens was a populist. He wanted you to laugh, cry, and get angry at the government. If you’re doing any of those three, you’re reading him exactly right.