Dodger is a tosher – a sewer scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London.
Everyone who is nobody knows Dodger. Anyone who is anybody doesn’t.
But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, suddenly everybody wants to know him.
And Dodger’s tale of skulduggery, dark plans and even darker deeds begins…
Sir Terry Pratchett is most famous for his Discworld series, which is already running 39 books, and although I have given these books a fair chance I just never could quite get into them. When the chance arose to review Dodger, a stand-alone young-adult book, I just had to give it another shot. From the short synopsis I didn’t really know what I was in for, but it turned out to be unique, fresh and gave me a sense of urgency to finish it.
Dodger takes place in London during the reign of Queen Victoria, focusing on a time when the majority of inhabitants were poverty stricken. Several historical figures make an appearance in Dodger, including Charles Dickens, Robert Peel and Henry Mayhew. Using this realistic setting of poverty stricken London gives more weight to the story, but the essence of the story centers around Dodger, a young boy orphaned off who now lives as a right ol’ tosher.
It is the character of Dodger that truly brings the book to life. We first get to meet Dodger after he emerges from a manhole to save a young lady’s life. We get to see him as a scoundrel, immediately going on the defensive when surrounded by citizens and police officers who just want to see what all the commotion is about. This was nicely shown by the dialogue that followed, which helped to again emphasize the early 1800’s setting. When this encounter hits the newspapers, Dodger finds himself having to deal with a completely different life. After this point you see his character taking a great developmental leap in terms of growing up, looking after the people he cares about, learning to see the good in people, but also becoming bolder when dealing with thugs. It is a “coming of age” story, and also a “rags to riches” story. Dodger’s philosophies were also a great enjoyment for me to read about. For example:
Even worse, he was being spied on. Plain-clothed policemen!
There ought to be a law against it; everybody said so – it was, well, it was unfair. After all, seeing policemen around kept you honest, didn’t it? If they were going to lurk around like ordinary people they were basically asking you to commit crimes, weren’t they? It was entirely unfair in Dodger’s opinion.
Excerpt from Dodger p255-256.
This is just one example, but it illustrates why Dodger is such a loveable character – his philosophy portrays young-boy innocence combined with “street-smarts”, protectiveness and surviving.
When I first started reading Dodger, I assumed that the story would revolve around Dodger and his adventures around London as a tosher. But to my pleasant surprise, there is much more to this story. The story often took a number of turns, keeping things interesting and showcasing what a great lad Dodger is. We get to see Dodger trying to right a wrong, trying to track down villains that are beating up young girls, and much more. It is these actions that reveal the true heart of Dodger
Although the whole story was great, I was especially pleased with the ending – it had a real “and they lived happily ever after” kind of feeling. When I finished the last paragraph, an image immediately sprung to my mind of Dodger leaping all over Paris with jewellery in hand, just like a cartoon thief. Great stuff!
All in all Dodger is an amazing book and I am more than happy that I picked up this book. It creates a great display of historical London, contrasting the above ground cleanliness against the below ground filthy and often-times rotten sewers. Add in a lively set of support characters, funny dialogue, great action, and finish it all off with Dodger, one of the most lovable characters that I have read about.
Thanks to Random House Children’s Books for kindly providing me with a review copy.