Death and Mr. Pickwick Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Charles Dickens' Illustrators and our BookBrowse Review of Death and Mr. Pickwick.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How was your reading enhanced by the frame story of Mr. Inbelicate and Inscriptino? How did your theories about their identities and motivations shift throughout the novel?
2. What did you learn about nineteenth-century Britain's publishing industry, which produced so many classics? What has been lost and gained as television serials have replaced serial fiction?
3. As you read about Robert Seymour's career, from his apprenticeship with Vaughan to his rivalry with Cruikshank, what did you discover about the world of illustrators? How does Seymour negotiate the difference between commercial art and fine art?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Picador. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.