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bupdaddy's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe how good this free audiobook version is. A little research shows that the reader is a professional actor, whose goal is to make audio version of every Dickens novel, either as altruism or to get her foot in the door of audio recording, or both.
Subtitled "A Tale of the Riots of Eighty." I didn't even know there had been riots of '80, being a Yankee fixated on the war that was going on here at the time.
Anyway, it's a good thick Victorian novel, with some of Dickens' funniest characters and observations. And it's free, and this woman will read it to you. What more do you people want!?
Subtitled "A Tale of the Riots of Eighty." I didn't even know there had been riots of '80, being a Yankee fixated on the war that was going on here at the time.
Anyway, it's a good thick Victorian novel, with some of Dickens' funniest characters and observations. And it's free, and this woman will read it to you. What more do you people want!?
littletaiko's review
4.0
This book has everything - murder, romance, riots, humor, drama. I didn't know much about this book before reading it, so my expectations were low. I really enjoyed the characters and will remember some if them fondly. Am I the only one who liked Hugh, in spite if myself?
chelseavk's review
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.5
I love Dickens writing, but struggled with a lack of main characters (or far to many to really register any as a main character)
eta's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.25
musicdeepdive's review
3.0
Dickens' most generic novel yet, a foray into historical fiction that tries too hard to create a compelling narrative (and news flash: it doesn't succeed).
youreadtoomuch's review against another edition
3.0
“The birds were all at roost, the daisies on the green had closed their fairy hoods, the honeysuckle twining round the porch exhaled its perfume in a twofold degree, as though it lost its coyness at that silent time and loved to shed its fragrance on the night; the ivy scarcely stirred its deep green leaves. How tranquil, and how beautiful it was!”
This quote perfectly summarizes how blissfully unaware I was about the riots that were to come in the 1780s because it wasn’t until I was really into the book did any semblance of dissent begin to stir in my mind.
Barnaby Rudge is definitely a slow paced book starting five years before the actual riots take place. It introduces you nicely to all the characters that are to play an important role during the riots. Each of these characters also distinctly remembers a murder of years past that has burdened certain characters throughout their lives and now once again as this ghost has come back to haunt them. Unlike its title suggest, Barnaby Rudge – the character, isn’t a central character though he does rouse sympathy throughout the whole book due to his mental illness and his vulnerability to being led astray by those of crueler natures. Other than that every character is quite a mischief and memorable in their own way. Very well done.
What this book does nicely is give everyone a happy ending, I would have never guessed that of Charles Dickens. Would only recommend to people who enjoy this type of literature (I guess it doesn’t really fall under classics, but it’s somewhere near there.) Other than that it was not my cup of tea. So long that it bored me, the parts of interest were mainly at the end when you discover who certain characters really are (delightful plot twists here and there) but otherwise not a book inside my little circle of interests.
This is just an aside, the romances weren’t major plot points which I really enjoyed but the book did take some dramatic turns regarding threatened abuse of women. Safe to say, none of the women were harmed beyond that of a terrible experience to be had and saved just in the nick of time and then the consequences of those nights are not really ever mentioned.
This quote perfectly summarizes how blissfully unaware I was about the riots that were to come in the 1780s because it wasn’t until I was really into the book did any semblance of dissent begin to stir in my mind.
Barnaby Rudge is definitely a slow paced book starting five years before the actual riots take place. It introduces you nicely to all the characters that are to play an important role during the riots. Each of these characters also distinctly remembers a murder of years past that has burdened certain characters throughout their lives and now once again as this ghost has come back to haunt them. Unlike its title suggest, Barnaby Rudge – the character, isn’t a central character though he does rouse sympathy throughout the whole book due to his mental illness and his vulnerability to being led astray by those of crueler natures. Other than that every character is quite a mischief and memorable in their own way. Very well done.
What this book does nicely is give everyone a happy ending, I would have never guessed that of Charles Dickens. Would only recommend to people who enjoy this type of literature (I guess it doesn’t really fall under classics, but it’s somewhere near there.) Other than that it was not my cup of tea. So long that it bored me, the parts of interest were mainly at the end when you discover who certain characters really are (delightful plot twists here and there) but otherwise not a book inside my little circle of interests.
This is just an aside, the romances weren’t major plot points which I really enjoyed but the book did take some dramatic turns regarding threatened abuse of women. Safe to say, none of the women were harmed beyond that of a terrible experience to be had and saved just in the nick of time and then the consequences of those nights are not really ever mentioned.
gjmaupin's review
3.0
The well known Dutch author.
Not my favorite Dickens, but I have to say I found a lot of overlap in this tale of a religious politician who was foolish and naive enough to let his PR be done by the violent, the selfish and the developmentally disabled. Cup of tea?
Not my favorite Dickens, but I have to say I found a lot of overlap in this tale of a religious politician who was foolish and naive enough to let his PR be done by the violent, the selfish and the developmentally disabled. Cup of tea?
lindseysparks's review
1.0
Dear god I'm glad that's finally over. Is thos how most people feel reading any Dickens??? This was a mess. The first 200 pages were awful. Even everyone who likes this seems to admit those pages drag. Then it finally got more interesting, but by then I'd forgotten who half of the people were and why I should care. So it dragged again. Then there was a time jump and and actual plot appeared! Too bad I still didn't remember most of the characters. The scenes of the riot were riveting, but confusing. This may have all been me because of forgetting people, but it was hard to figure out what was going on and why people were doing certain things. There were just too many forgettable characters and the storylines weren't compelling enough. I feel like there was more desperation here than in his other books. There are flashes of brilliance but as a whole it was not an enjoyable read.