First a disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of Charles Dickens. Great Expectations is the only novel of his I’ve read, and countless stage and screen adaptations of his greatest hits have left me with limited tolerance for his earnestly striving young men, pert heroines, etiolated Pecksniffs and apple-cheeked Fezziwigs.
Dickens spoofs leave me even colder because they are just too easy. His authorial voice is so distinct, his characters so close to caricature, the plots so familiar. All any would-be pasticheur has to do is make up some silly names, assemble a cut-and-past-plot and insert some jokes about poverty and Victorian prudery. Bish bosh, job done.
