I know that Dickens' tended to write the "big, baggy monster" type of novel, but this one seemed much bigger and baggier than other Dickens' I have read. You are introduced to characters briefly who leave the novel for chapters at a time, but then much later come back into the story, sometimes in significant ways for the plot. When we first meet Mr. Merdle, he seems like a tangential character (the husband of a woman Fanny and Amy Dorrit meet), but he gets a whole chapter to himself about his very high, significant position in society (due to his wealth), and his complete unease among the people of "society"-- although later, of course, he plays a pretty significant role in the story. The book follows mostly the story of "Little" Dorrit, or Amy- a young woman who was born in the debtor's prison at Marshalsea, where her father has lived her entire life; and also Arthur Clenham, who takes an interest in Little Dorrit.
