Not my favourite Dickens by a long shot. The Nell portions were difficult to get through, but the Kit/Swiveller sections were not too bad. I didn't really like the contrast set up between angelic Nell and the Marchioness, dutifully caring for their men, on the one side and uppity, nasty Sally Brass on the other. (Not to say I didn't like the Marchioness, but why couldn't we have a "manly" woman who was also a good, moral character?) And the grandfather? What an asshole. I (view spoiler)[couldn't wait until he died (hide spoiler)]. Unfortunately, this story was spoiled for me by someone blurting out the ending on a forum (yes, I know that it is well-known, but I had managed to go through life without knowing). (view spoiler)[The ending, with Nell's death and all was really annoying--not only because we were led to hope for a happier one (at least a final goodbye between she and Kit would've been nice)--but I was quite sick with the whole "oh, she's up in heaven with the angels where she belongs" and "deaths like this are actually good, because living people act more virtuous as a consequence" bullshit after the first couple of sentences. Oh, can I put aside my disdain for the Christian mythos and pretend that in the world Dickens created Nells go quietly to their rest in heaven? Maybe, just maybe. But still, even in his world, bereaved fathers and husbands are just as likely to become gambling addicts who ruin their families, than paragons of virtue and moral rectitude. (hide spoiler)]