Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Oliver Twist Readalong Sign-ups AND Giveaway.

I am pleased to announce that we will be reading Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist for our February readalong here at A Literary Odyssey. This novel beat out "Romeo and Juliet" during the voting session, and in a way, I'm kind of glad.

While I am not a huge fan of Dickens, I am excited to tackle another of his novels with a bunch of you. If you are questioning whether this is a novel you want to give a try, here is a summary from Goodreads.com,

"One of Dickens’s most popular novels, Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan who dares to say, "Please, sir, I want some more." After escaping from the dark and dismal workhouse where he was born, Oliver finds himself on the mean streets of Victorian-era London and is unwittingly recruited into a scabrous gang of scheming urchins. In this band of petty thieves Oliver encounters the extraordinary and vibrant characters who have captured readers’ imaginations for more than 150 years: the loathsome Fagin, the beautiful and tragic Nancy, the crafty Artful Dodger, and perhaps one of the greatest villains of all time—the terrifying Bill Sikes.

Rife with Dickens’s disturbing descriptions of street life, the novel is buoyed by the purity of the orphan Oliver. Though he is treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, his pious innocence leads him at last to salvation—and the shocking discovery of his true identity."


It sounds fascinating, doesn't it?

Here is the reading schedule I have planned out, based on the edition I own (I will be reading from the Penguin cloth bound classic, which has 455 pages divided into three books)
. I should note that because the book is divided into three "books" I decided to do three posting periods. If there is huge public outcry against this, I will change it.
  • Post 1 will go up on February 8th (Tuesday) and will cover Book 1 (roughly 180 pages-the longest section)
  • Post 2 will go up on February 17th (Thursday) and will cover Book 2 (roughly 120 pages)
  • Post 3 will go up on February 28th (Monday) and will cover Book 3 (roughly 140 pages)
That morning I will put up a post with my thoughts and feelings about the section we're posting on. If you are participating, all you have to do is leave a comment with a link to your post so I can link them up here! I do not require participants to go read everyone else's post, but it is always encouraged! After all, the point of a readalong is to see what everyone else makes of the same book and discuss it.

Everyone who completes the readalong will receive something from me in the mail (a surprise!) and a hearty congratulations!

WAIT!!! THERE IS MORE!!!!

As of January 16, 2011, the GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED as a winner was chosen.

In addition to having sign-ups, I am also GIVING away a copy of this book. Really? How did this happen? Well, my generous and wonderful parents purchased the rest of the Penguin clothbounds for me as a Christmas gift. My mom accidentally ordered an extra copy. So yes, I have a glorious Penguin clothbound of Oliver Twist for one of you.

Here's the deal. I would really like to give this book to someone who wants to participate in the readalong. So, if you are interested, you have until Sunday at NOON to enter to win (I want to make sure I can get it mailed out to you ASAP). All you need to do is comment to sign up for the readalong and let me know you're interested in winning this beauty! I should also point out that I can only ship to someone living in the U.S.

I would also appreciate it if you would spread the word on your blog and/or Twitter about this readalong, so we can get as many participants as we can!

If you are signing up for the readalong, comment and let me know so I can link to your blog!

Participants:
Adam
Kristi
Eclectic Indulgence
Bookworm1858
Jillian
Karenlibrarian
mel u
L.L. (No link to blog!)
kassy
readwriteandlive
Willa
Katy F.
Cindy
Annette
Aimee
terri-maree
tasseled
fleurfisher
Zoe
Darlyn
Alison
Staci (I know you said you were a maybe, but I left you on here, just in case)

34 comments:

  1. That's so generous and awesome of you. I'm in Canada so I'm not entering the giveaway/signing up at this moment, I'm going to wait a little longer and make sure I actually finish The Woman in White on time first!

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  2. I love Dickens, but I've yet to read this one - so I will definitely be joining the read-a-long. Thanks for hosting!

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  3. Count me in on the readalong! I'm super excited. I'm in the UK, so don't worry about me for the giveaway! Very generous of you though. I posted about it on my blog.

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  4. Provided War & Peace does not kill me, I'm in. Sign me up for both the read-along and the giveaway. Thanks!

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  5. I'm very excited about reading Oliver Twist as I've only seen several film adaptations without ever cracking the cover of the book; this will be the perfect motivation! I already have my copy, so I won't be entering the giveaway.

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  6. Hi Allie! I'm in for this readalong, and would LOVE a clothbound copy. You're so generous. :-)

    I wish I had time for all your readalongs!!

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  7. How nice of you! I have joined you in the collection of these lovely book editions. I would LOVE a copy of this, but probably won't be onboard with the read-along. I'm reading Tale of Two Cities this month for a libray book club. I've only read his Christmas Carol and don't know if I want to read two of his books back to back. ;)

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  8. I've read OT several times, it's one of my favorite Dickens. I'd love to participate and please throw my name in for the giveaway! I'll definitely mention it on my blog. Do you have a button?

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  9. I read all of the Dickens novels in as written sequence maybe 15 years ago-I have been wanting to read some again lately so I will be joining the Dickens read along-no need to enter me in the contest as I am in The Philippines

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  10. I would like to join in for the readalong! I was going to read Great Expectations for a classics challenge, but I'm pretty scared to get into Dickens because I haven't had a good time in the past, so I think maybe I'll do better if I have some positive peer pressure. And oh please do enter me for the contest - I love those lovely clothbound editions. I'll tweet about your giveaway as well. Thanks for hosting!

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  11. I remember playing a huge play , a part of Oliver Twist when I was young. it'll be nice to reread and reintroduce to Dickens! :P

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  12. I am actually reading Oliver Twist right now for my Dickens Capstone course, so I can't exactly "readalong," but can I still participate with posting my thoughts on my blog and all that?

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  13. ps. great blog I have just added your blog to my blog roll :-)

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  14. OK, sign me up for this readalong as well. I want to read at least one Dickens book this year, and it might as well be this one! :) I've never read Oliver Twist before. And I'd love to be entered for the pretty copy you've got there. :)

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  15. I will also read along with your group Allie. I do not need to be put into the drawing though. Good luck to all those who are.

    Love, Mom

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  16. Another book I've been meaning to read! sign me up for both the readalong and the giveaway!

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  17. I would love to take part in the reading/giveaway.
    http://impressionsinink.blogspot.com

    Thank you.

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  18. I thought that Oliver Twist was one of Dicken's more fun books. I've already read it, or I would join in. No need to enter me in the giveaway.

    However, I did give you an award over at my blog, so if you want to check it out, here is the link:
    http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/2011/01/long-overdue.html

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  19. Hi Allie,

    I am having so much fun with The Woman in White challenge that I will sign up for this one too. Don't enter me in the giveaway though, as I live in Australia.

    - Aimee
    http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/poisoned-apples-blog/

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  20. I am definitely joining in for Oliver Twist, it will be my first Dickens :)

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  21. Would love to join the readalong. I remember being forced to read Oliver Twist for my English class around grade 6 or 7, and I loathed it. I would love to give the book another chance, now that the decision is purely voluntary. I'm very curious about the outcome!

    Not participating in giveaway as I live in Canada.

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  22. Okay, I've decided to do it- sign me up!

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  23. This is great idea. Please sign me up for the readalong. :)

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  24. I haven't read Oliver Twist since I was at school. I loved it then and I'll definitely be reading along and hoping I enjoy it as much as an adult.

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  25. I'm just letting you know there's an extra "http" when you try to click the link from the image for this readalong so it doesn't work right :) excited for this though, especially now that I have my ebook reader with free classics.

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  26. I would love to join in the readalong...please sign me up...

    http://bookpsmith.blogspot.com/

    Thank you for hosting:)

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  27. hope I'm not to late to join in:-)
    take care,
    Alison
    http://threads-alison.blogspot.com

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  28. As a side note I went to mark these days down and the days of the week you've listed don't seem to correspond to the calender day... I am wondering which one is incorrect (ie: Feb 10th and 19th are not a Monday and a Wednesday)

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  29. I tried to find this out on my own but not having any luck...my edition of OT doesn't divide the chapters into three books...could you let me know which chapters are in each of the books? Thank you:)

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  30. You won't have to sign me up after all...it is taking me alot longer than I thought it would to finish Little Dorrit. I had hoped to to be done by the end of January so I could start reading OT on the first of Feb and keep up with the postings but it looks like that won't happen:( Thank you for offering and I hope to join in on another one.

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  31. Please sign me up for your read along. My sign up post can be found here:

    http://gofosharon.blogspot.com/2011/01/oliver-twist-read-along.html

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  32. Thank you for including my name:) Thanks to the cold weather we are having here, I had a lot of time to read over the past couple days. Finished Little Dorrit yesterday and starting OT today...yea!

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  33. Oh dash it all! I have no willpower. I'm a few days late but please sign me up.

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