A Simple Creed

In this abridged retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist, a young boy, unfairly punished for defending his mother's honor, escapes an abusive apprenticeship and flees to London where he is befriended by gang of petty thieves and prostitutes. Things turn dangerous when his friends betray him.


'These men,' explained Nancy, 'dishonourable as they are, conduct business upon the strictest of confidences. Any violation of their simple creed is punished by the worst violence. Oliver knows too much which puts all of us, myself included, at considerable risk. He is not trusted to keep our secrets which puts him in great danger.'


'He is safe here,' assured Mr. Brownlow.


'No, he's not,' said Nancy. 'They are vile and dangerous men. Send him away from here, some place safe, least till Sikes' blood cools and Fagin's fears subside.'


From the afterword by Trevor Schindeler:
Revising a much-loved novel is inherently controversial, but there are times when it can revive a classic. I was about to 'recommend' that my teenage children read Oliver Twist, when I decided that it would be wise for me to first reread it myself. As expected, I found it to be a beautifully written and engaging novel until about halfway through when, to my surprise, it turned pedantic and dull.


There are, in my opinion, three problems with Oliver Twist. First of all, the book is notoriously anti-Semitic. Secondly, Oliver is a surprisingly passive, often tearful, character who is seldom the author of his own destiny. Thirdly, the plot revolves around Oliver's illegitimate birth, and much of the book is taken up by his step-brother Monk and the self-righteous Maylie family. Young readers today would not appreciate the cruel social consequences of being an unwed mother in Victorian England.


As Oliver Twist is now in the public domain, I decided to revise it. It was a fairly simple matter to remove the anti-Semitism and to transform Oliver into a stronger character. Extracting Monk, the Maylie family, and the plot in which they are entwined was a rather more challenging, but an entirely enjoyable endeavour. Every chapter and almost every page required careful revision to create a new story line.


Essentially, I set out to preserve everything that makes Oliver Twist fun and adventurous, and take out everything that is objectionable or tedious. The revised book is twenty-five percent shorter than the original and, I trust, a better read.