curlygeek04's reviews
342 reviews

 

Fagin the Thief, as you might expect, is a retelling of the Oliver Twist story from the perspective of its villain, Jacob Fagin. I haven’t actually read Oliver Twist, though I’ve wanted to for many years.  Dickens’ depiction of Fagin is considered one of the most antisemitic characterizations in literature (Dickens later removed his many negative references to Jews in this book). Epstein’s book addresses this problem, portraying Fagin as a complex character who is not wholly sympathetic but also not evil.

It begins in 1838, as Fagin is working with the Artful Dodger and meets Oliver, but then it goes back about 50 years to when Fagin is a young child, growing up with his mother, Leah, in a poor Jewish neighborhood. Fagin is clever and ambitious, too clever to be satisfied with the drudgery and antisemitism of daily life. He’s an outcast even in his neighborhood because his father was hanged as a thief. He first joins a gang of bullies, then he discovers his skill at picking pockets.

Fagin isn’t a good person, but he’s also not a bad one. He steals but he doesn’t hurt anyone, wishing mainly to be left alone. And when he sees a child who’s in danger of starving or being arrested, he takes them in and teaches them to survive on the streets of London. Epstein incorporates many of the characters from Oliver Twist: Nancy, Bet, Bill Sikes, Bullseye, the Artful Dodger, Toby and Charley. Bill Sikes is a key character in the story, and Epstein spends much time exploring the friendship between the two men and contrasting their characters. I loved the rich character development in this book. Bill Sikes is terrifying, and Fagin struggles with the world’s open hatred of him, and he is shaped by the antisemitism he encounters daily. There’s little reason for him to be a law-abiding citizen when he is despised just for the way he looks. Fagin describes himself as selfish, but Epstein portrays him in such a way that Fagin’s perception of himself is mostly inaccurate.

This is a dark read, and a slow-moving one at times, but I felt deeply immersed in Fagin’s world.