Scan barcode
frankiefurter's review against another edition
having joined the ranks of the twelve people in the world who have actually made it through this book, i am pleased to report it a thoroughly enjoyable romp: an example of dickens’s early manic energy and excess at its finest. apart from being one of the funniest novels i’ve encountered (with a great deal of excellent satire on american life, the american press, and americans in general) it has something profound to say—beneath the often overwrought meditations on the corrupting influence of Self—on the immeasurable social value of being kind to strangers, and of keeping cheerful when things get rough. characteristically saccharine at times and far from flawless, but absolutely a worthwhile read regardless.
impla77's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Feels a bit scatterbrained due to there not being all that much focused on one character, but I enjoyed the prose even if it was a bit longwinded at points. I liked the satire on America as well
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder
ph1lb's review against another edition
4.0
This book kept my interest throughout and wpuld rate it as one of my favourite Dickens novels. I would have given it 5 stars but thought the ending was a bit rushed and left a few lose ends
lady_mair's review against another edition
4.0
If only Dickens had written his novels a bit more condensed... Still, this is one of my favorite casts of characters, so the audiobook was highly enjoyable.
cjdawn236's review against another edition
3.0
I had some trouble getting into this one. I think I enjoyed the last 150 pages or so more than the rest of the book. Not a bad read, but not one of my favorites.
thomouser's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
novellenovels's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
reasie's review against another edition
4.0
A lot more plotted than most Dickens... I quite liked all the dramatic irony, all the detestable villains and their protracted comeuppance.
Remarkable for its section excoriating America. So here is how we looked to Dickens: A race of people who are always rushing, eat too fast, mistake rudeness for frankness, and demand that every foreign visitor comment on how astonishingly enlightened and moral we are in our "freedom" -- while simultaneously owning slaves.
There's even a bit where a northern abolitionist family are shown negatively for, while they have the minimum decency to be against slavery, they have no sympathy for the afflicted slaves, saying "Oh but they are a ridiculous, funny people."
... Not flattering, but I can't fault C. D. on this caricature, though at least nowadays the slavery is illegal and fewer people chew tobacco.
The story features two female characters who are independently employed, one comedic and unsympathetic, a nurse, and another who is an innkeeper and manages the neat trick of being a female Dickens protagonist and not being a bland suffering paragon. I mean to say I love her.
SPOILERS HERE
I was irate that Mrs. Lupin's happy ending was off-camera.
Also I'm going to be angry forever that Tom Pinch and Mary don't end up together. He is infinitely better than Martin Chuzzlewit, Jr -- though I suppose it's really Mary's choice, isn't it?
Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr. was a great fun character... like what if Scrooge were a good guy all along?
And Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit were awful villains. Over the top dicks.
It's telling that so many people know that Jonas beats his poor wife and they all hate him for it but no one fucking does anything... the time period I guess. There's no concept of protecting women from husbands.
Remarkable for its section excoriating America. So here is how we looked to Dickens: A race of people who are always rushing, eat too fast, mistake rudeness for frankness, and demand that every foreign visitor comment on how astonishingly enlightened and moral we are in our "freedom" -- while simultaneously owning slaves.
There's even a bit where a northern abolitionist family are shown negatively for, while they have the minimum decency to be against slavery, they have no sympathy for the afflicted slaves, saying "Oh but they are a ridiculous, funny people."
... Not flattering, but I can't fault C. D. on this caricature, though at least nowadays the slavery is illegal and fewer people chew tobacco.
The story features two female characters who are independently employed, one comedic and unsympathetic, a nurse, and another who is an innkeeper and manages the neat trick of being a female Dickens protagonist and not being a bland suffering paragon. I mean to say I love her.
SPOILERS HERE
I was irate that Mrs. Lupin's happy ending was off-camera.
Also I'm going to be angry forever that Tom Pinch and Mary don't end up together. He is infinitely better than Martin Chuzzlewit, Jr -- though I suppose it's really Mary's choice, isn't it?
Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr. was a great fun character... like what if Scrooge were a good guy all along?
And Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit were awful villains. Over the top dicks.
It's telling that so many people know that Jonas beats his poor wife and they all hate him for it but no one fucking does anything... the time period I guess. There's no concept of protecting women from husbands.
maxwelldemay's review against another edition
5.0
2 / 4 : If you have time, read
[A bevy of relatives, hangers-on, and eccentrics, all of various virtue, crowd around the aging Martin Chuzzlewit, desirous of his fortune.]
Characters as quirky as ever, the self-thought grandiloquent architect Mr. Pecksniff and nightmare nurse, Sarah Gamp, shine through this unevenly plotted novel and throwaway ending.
The American tour, while a digression, is absolutely savage, showing the English author, as he was in his own country, more than able to lay bare, through lampoon, the darkest hypocrisies and impulses of the American experience.
[A bevy of relatives, hangers-on, and eccentrics, all of various virtue, crowd around the aging Martin Chuzzlewit, desirous of his fortune.]
Characters as quirky as ever, the self-thought grandiloquent architect Mr. Pecksniff and nightmare nurse, Sarah Gamp, shine through this unevenly plotted novel and throwaway ending.
The American tour, while a digression, is absolutely savage, showing the English author, as he was in his own country, more than able to lay bare, through lampoon, the darkest hypocrisies and impulses of the American experience.
raalux's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75