Dickens

Just got back from vacation. I read "The Old Curiousity Shop" by Dickens, but mistakenly bought an abridged version at a book sale. It was an engaging story with a bit of bathos toward the end, but with some excellent characters, especially Dick Swiveller, the Marchioness and Sally Brass. The evil dwarf Quilp was a bit too much and Nell, of course, was a bit too good to be true. I hate abridged books. I don't think I can even say I read it, since there was a good bit missing. It was rather like watching a foreign movie without subtitles since sometimes motivations and relationships were not clear. Plus with Dickens, the incidental and descriptive parts are often the best. I also regret not trying to see the actual shop when I was in London, but couldn't get there, nor to his house, though I did see his grave in the poet's corner at Westminster Abbey.