Reviews

The Old Curiosity Shop: A Tale by Charles Dickens

bkclermont's review against another edition

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Couldn’t get into it. The style of writing, as to be expected, was Victorian English and I found myself not enjoying the experience.

sraev19's review

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2.5

Skip the first half of the novel. You won’t miss much. Dickens doesn’t come to the meat of the story until over halfway through, where the action turns lively, the characters develop and deepen, and the narrative marches forward with direction. Until then, Dickens flounders about, and the reading of it is a painful going.

The Old Curiosity Shop was first published as a serial, and according to the introduction of my Penguin edition, Dickens wrote each weekly installment just before it was published. This rush to throw together a story explains the wandering feel to the first half of the novel.

For example, a first-person narrator opens the first three chapters to “introduc[e] these personages to the reader” and then bows out so that the main characters can “speak and act for themselves” (p.35). In truth, Dickens had decided by that point that the narrator would not suit his story, and he excuses him in quick order.

Dickens has a tendency to spend time with characters who have a passing role in the story. Paragraphs to pages go by detailing interesting traits and backgrounds of characters who never appear again after those descriptions. While these characters may add richness to the setting, they end up cluttering the story as pointless tangents.

Skip all this in the first half, though, and the novel is okay. Dickens writes with a surprising wit and beauty at times and a narrative voice that colours the prose with personality. His outrageous characters live on exaggeration and yet move with simple motivations. Even an independent-minded pony brings great delight and charm to the story.

Perhaps if Dickens’d had the time to plan out The Old Curiosity Shop before serializing it, the novel would be shorter, sharper, and more focused. I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit. As it stands, the lively second half of the story doesn't quite redeem its dull and confused counterpart. I can't help but feel relief that it's over.

andreakvegh's review

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

persimmons's review

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slow-paced

2.0

maisiesmom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny medium-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

3.25

rohitremeshhello's review

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A saga of well intentioned proportions. Little Nell is a striking character and the world of the Old Curiosity Shop revolves around her. We see little of Nell compared to other characters.

catharmonica's review

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challenging dark funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mary_sh's review against another edition

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4.0

"La bottega dell'antiquario", che potrebbe forse definirsi un romanzo “picaresco”, vede come protagonisti una bambina, Nell, e suo nonno che, vedendosi costretti a lasciare la casa e la città di origine per motivi di debiti decidono di intraprendere un viaggio e di “vagabondare” per le periferie e le campagne inglesi. Nel loro cammino incontreranno tutta una serie di personaggi particolari che li aiuteranno o ostacoleranno in vari modi.
Anche qui, come in altri romanzi di Dickens, emerge il tema sociale, nell’elevare di spirito i personaggi economicamente più poveri.

Pregi:
- Romanzo corale, in cui i molteplici personaggi sono ben descritti.
- La scrittura ironica di Dickens.
- Caratteristica tipica dei feuilleton, le vicende si susseguono a un ritmo abbastanza incalzante con diversi colpi di scena, se così si possono definire.
- Personaggio migliore: Dick Swiveller, l’unico di cui mi interessasse veramente come sarebbe proseguita la sua vicenda e cosa gli sarebbe successo.

Difetti (agli occhi di un lettore moderno, da contestualizzare all’epoca della scrittura del romanzo):
- i personaggi sono dei tipi, quindi bianchi o neri, buoni o cattivi e tali restano per tutta la narrazione. Nell è la tipica protagonista dickensiana, bambina purissima e piissima che non ha mai un pensiero negativo nei confronti di niente e di nessuno.
- Eccessiva commiserazione
- Questo difetto lo attribuisco all’edizione che ho letto io, che è una vecchia edizione della Bur che ha la caratteristica molto fastidiosa di avere tutti i nomi tradotti in italiano

lattelibrarian's review against another edition

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4.0

I don't know how I always end up reading Dickens during winter break, but I do.  It's become a sort of unexpected tradition.  

In all honesty, this is perhaps the most confusing of all 3 books of his I've read, though that may largely be due to the fact that I was travelling quite a lot and read this in strange, large spurts at a time.  Do with that what you will.

However, the tale of Little Nell as a social critique is powerful and to the point.  Little girls are expected to be happy even in poverty, and they're constantly in positions--especially in the Victorian era--of naivete, misunderstanding, and powerlessness.  They're at the mercy of the men around them, and that in itself is a tragedy, even if the men are evil, even if the men are loving and kind.  

Also most poignant to me is how Mr. Quilp treats Mrs. Quilp.  He's certainly a terrible, dastardly man, but the  way he treats his wife, even by Victorian standards I'm sure, is something beyond me.  There's mental stress, manipulation, emotional distress, physical discomfort.  This book goes to great lengths to show how unworthy Mr. Quilp is of anything good that comes his way.

Overall, this was quite an interesting book, one filled with lots of commentary, imagery, and hope.

Review cross-listed here!

johannaf's review

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4.0

I've been undertaking a reading challenge this year, and one of the categories was a book that intimidated me. I'd purchased this book a while ago, as I always felt I should read a Dickens. I didn't know anything about the story or the characters, so no misconceptions (I'd never even heard of it!) and the title alone appealed. However, it then sat on my shelf for ages, until this challenge came along.

For a book that I thought was intimidating, I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the story (or yarn as I described it to a friend), meeting all the characters and watching the various aspects of their lives unfold.

After "living" with the characters for so long, I was disappointed in the ending. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this and felt a bit deflated. Otherwise, I'm really glad I stumbled across this book, and never having read Dickens before, or knowing anything about this story - I did genuinely enjoy it and didn't find it as intimidating as I thought it would!