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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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.
bryce_is_a_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
Charles Dicken's Simple Jack: The riot scenes are superlative everything else is startlingly indifferent.
ipreferquiet's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the many different characters; their personalities were well expressed by the talented Mil Nicholson in her Librivox reading. I liked Dickens' use of sarcasm and lighter humour. I didn't like his long descriptions of just about anything in the scene. (The description of all the facets of the gray British weather could take up several minutes.) The story as a whole was more a history lesson about London's riots in 1780 than a suspenseful plot. I still don't understand what happened around the murder, a dangling carrot with which the book started out.
flightyrachel's review against another edition
I now know a lot more than I want to about the Gordon riots. This was a real trudge. And there wasn't enough of Grip the Raven in it.
charlotekerstenauthor's review against another edition
Barnaby Rudge is the worst Dickens novel by miles and I say that as someone who has read all of them, including Martin Chuzzlewit and The Old Curiosity Shop. More like........................Barnaby Trudge, am I right?
austenheroineinprogress's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
whippycleric's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
As I gradually work through Dickens this was my 4th novel, and one I had only heard of in passing when compared the the well known others. It surprises me how little known this one is given that in my opining, it's much better than Oliver Twist, and at least somewhat better than Great Expectations. The biggest downside to this book is the slow pace of the first half, somewhat lacking in plot and focusing heavily on character development. Given the breath, and depth, of the characters in this novel though it was kind of necessary to have this long build up to the riots. My other favourite Dickens novel is A Take if Two Cities, this being another historical revolution setting it's unsurprising I enjoyed it so much,the big difference being I'd never heard of the Gordon riots before making it all the more interesting. I still have a lot of Dickens to go but this will surely be one of the highlights