A Review of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby was serialised between 1838 and 1839. It is almost 900 pages long and comprises 65 chapters. Charles Dickens was 26 years old when it was released - his third novel, following on from The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. One further statistic of note is that the bus ride from Tollesbury to Maldon that I undertake each day for work lasts almost exactly a Nicholas Nickleby chapter. As such, given that it was originally published as a long running serial, I feel that little bus journey contributed greatly to me finishing only my second Charles Dickens novel.

Anyway - on with the review!

The novel, as you would expect, follows the eponymous hero in various encounters that shape both his own future and that of those he comes to love and befriend. He is opposed all the way by his dastardly money-lending Uncle Ralph who enlists the help of various unbecoming fellows, including the wicked schoolmaster Wackford Squeers and the old lecher Arthur Gride, in his attempts to thwart the young upstart in his quest to see goodness triumph. If you throw into the mix the vaudevillian Crummles family, a mad old man with very small clothes who throws vegetables over the fence in order to woo Nicholas' mother and two angelic old twins called the Cheerybles - oh and not to mention the foppish Lord Verisopht and the drunken hidden hero of the novel, Newman Noggs - then it is quite clear that this is no tedious novel.

Nicholas Nickleby is pure entertainment from start to finish.

Ironically the character that I did not really take to was Nicholas himself. He is rather one dimensional in his unstinting goodness and somewhat irritating in the way he imposes his morality on others. His actions though are wonderful, particularly the way he cares for young Smike, that tragic young boy whom he extricates from the clutches of the villainous Wackford Squeers. It is the characters of lesser morals, such as Ralph Nickleby, Arthur Gride and the aforementioned Wackford Squeers, who really do make the novel throb. Wonderful as the Cheeryble Twins are, it is the dark deeds of the villainous that really shows the author at his best. He rails against the rich and the powerful, those who take advantage of their status, their gender and their profession. The descriptions of the school where Nicholas encounters Smike is one of the most harrowing I have read in any novel. The small episode towards the end where Nicholas cares for his ailing young friend is touching beyond words.

Interspersed with the blistering social commentary is a story of love and devotion, of people struggling to the point where all they have to rely on is each other and a fundamental belief that all will come good in the end.

Finally, I will repeat some of the statistics from earlier. Nicholas Nickleby was written by a 26 year old man 175 years ago and it is almost 900 pages long - impressive at every turn. It is certainly as relevant today as ever it was and has served over the last few months to make my little bus journeys entirely wonderful!

A Review of Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

For someone whose favourite literary period is the 19th Century, I have a confession to make. I am 43 years old (young!) and Barnaby Rudge is the first Charles Dickens novel I have ever been able to finish. I had previously made attempts on Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and Hard Times and never got passed more than a couple of chapters in any one of them. Perhaps it was due to having hitherto had many great expectations and more than a few hard times? Who knows?!

When I saw that The Complete Works of Charles Dickens was available on Kindle for less that £2.00 I downloaded it and was then left with the decision as to which of his novels I should try first. I went for Barnaby Rudge as I liked the name. Simple as that. I knew nothing about the book, not even, as it transpired, the length of it. That's one of the negative points of reading a book on Kindle - particularly when it is part of a collection. It was only after reading it for a month or so that I decided to check out the length in paperback - 744 pages. For one who had decided to regularly read and post reviews I guess a novel of such length was not a good choice. But by that time, it was too late to stop reading, not least because I was absolutely in love with the book.

So where to begin? Barnaby Rudge was apparently scheduled to be Dickens' first published novel but due to various issues including a change of publisher it was originally published in weekly installments from February 1841 to November 1841 in a magazine he edited called Master Humphrey's Clock. By all accounts it is not renowned as being one of his best and there have only been two attempts to dramatise it - once in a 1915 silent movie and again in an early 1960's TV serialisation. To be honest, had I known of these facts before, I would still have chosen it to be the first of his novels I would read all the way through. I do love an underdog!

For me, the novel felt like I was engaged in three different art forms. The first third is like wandering around an art gallery, taking in the scenes, observing a time where the world was slower, less intense. The second is like watching an action film - fast paced, frantic, disturbing and entirely enthralling. The final third is akin to watching a series of vignettes on stage - the resolution of each of the many plot strands. This one man audience applauded and left the theatre sighing and fulfilled.

The central theme of the novel is how people cope when faced with emotional conflict - whether that be thwarted love, a lusting for a higher station in life, a desire for money or a desire for power. The first third of the novel sets up the conflicts and the central third imposes the incredible anarchy initiated (somewhat unknowingly it must be said) by Lord Gordon's attempts to rail against the Papist Act of 1778. Each of the main characters are caught up in the riots and each is changed by the way they decide to react to them. As you would expect, there are heroes and villains, deceit, wonder and disaster. The description of the riots is absolutely stunning and I could not help but think of the riots in London last year. Over 200 years separates each event yet Charles Dickens' account far exceeds anything I read in any newspaper a year ago. I was moved, appalled and entirely dumbstruck by the connection. I defy anyone not to react in a similar way.

The structure of Barnaby Rudge reminded me of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (1862) - the extensive scenes depicting the Battle of Waterloo substituting the Gordon Riots; and the character of Miggs was very redolent of Miss Clack in The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins. Other than A Tale of Two Cities, Barnaby Rudge was the only novel Charles Dickens wrote that wasn't set in the 19th Century and there is a feeling of nostalgia in it that perhaps is hard to feel about his 19th Century novels. I have recently begun reading Nicholas Nickleby so I can certainly attest to the fact that his anger against the education system, capitalism and greed is certainly not depicted with any form of sentiment!

So overall, having read Barnaby Rudge, I am full of awe, admiration, joy and humility. William Blake is my ultimate literary hero - Charles Dickens, even after having just read one of his novels (a largely forgotten one at that) is already running him a close second.