"The Pickwick Papers" was Charles Dickens' first novel, and the tenth of his that I read. My expectations were low - I have very dark memories of trying to read it twenty years ago, and never getting past the first couple of pages, and a co-worker confirmed that impression. However, ten months and books in, I didn't let myself get deterred and really, "The Pickwick Papers"? Is a fun book.

If there is anything I've learned while reading Dickens it's that the best way to approach his books is in the way they were published. I read it in the parts it appeared in magazine form, and if you have the time, that is always the way I would do it. There are less chances of getting overwhelmed, and you can appreciate the way he uses the space and cliffhangers (those more in later books, though).

"The Pickwick Papers" doesn't have one big plot as such, and if you expect a "proper novel" you're going to be disappointed - it's more stories linked by a loose overall "arch" (or, if you will, "excuse"). It has a feel of "making it up as he went along" to it, but not in a bad way. It's funny, and fun to read, and also very English. It's not, perhaps, the book I would suggest if you only want to read one book by Dickens, but in my personal ranking it's right up there with "Nicholas Nickleby".

(At this moment, "Bleak House" and "Great Expectations" are at the top, followed closely by "David Copperfield", then "Nicholas Nickleby" and "The Pickwick Papers". After that, it's a bit of a muddle, but "Oliver Twist" is the one I enjoyed least so far.)