I have just read Moosekarloff's review of Dickens. What utter half -baked ill considered nonsense, if I may say. For me, and countless others, Dickens is the finest novelist in the English language. His charcterisations and depiction of London's nineteenth century social underclass, coupled with the injustices and deprivations and injustices these people had to suffer; coupled with his understanding and the intricate workings of the human mind - interlaced with a brilliant sense of observation and unsurpassed humour (Pickwick Papers,anyone?) mark him out as the greatest novelist in English literature. Dickens addressed almost every aspect that makes us human beings such complex and interesting characters - and with a wisdom and style that remains unmatched.