Reviews

Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens

isobelline's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.5

The first mature Dickens

This is the novel that, to me, signifies the start of a new period in Dickens' writing. It is more psychological, more attentive to its characters and more introspective. So why didn't I like it that much?

Florence. Florence is why this book didn't click with me. I know that this is very common with Dickens' female characters but Jesus Christ is she a doormat. And what hurts the most is that she could have been a great character - a neglected girl, forgotten and unloved, desperate for her father's affection. Her loveless childhood should have left some sort of a mark on her, should have affected her somehow. But she's too virtuous, too good, too quick to forgive her jerk of a father and I don't believe for a second that years of neglect didn't embitter her even a slightest bit. I just don't believe it. This is actually a thing that I notice in a lot of Dickens' other novels - characters who should have been crushed by what they went through retaining their virtue and their positive outlook on life. 

Anyway, I liked it at the start but quickly got bored with it. Eh.

P.S.: this features probably the most gruesome villain death scene in Dickens. So far, at least.

tobi_lee's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.0

mary_juleyre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wilde_read's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a fine recording by Frederick Davidson. What a talented narrator he was! He tackled all of the voices of this Dicken's classic superbly. 
As for the story, I got bored with the characters in the romantic relationship in the end and couldn't wait for it to resolve finally. The step-mother left me wondering if her character was really fully developed in this novel. Overall, the cast of characters were diverse and entertaining as you would expect from Dickens. I did enjoy it and hunger for more readings by Davidson.

davidabrams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jlewis's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

Slowly working my way through Dickens (a chapter a day) and the jury’s still out on whether or not I’m finding it a pleasure or a chore. There are some very long passages, sometimes amounting to almost whole chapters, where nothing happens other than Dickens embarking on long descriptions or reflections, which I found rather heavy-going. But there is a good mix of engaging, compelling, villainous and deeply-flawed characters, which keeps the story moving.  Aspects of the plot, as always with Dickens, stretch credulity to breaking-point.  On the whole, good enough for me to decide to carry on with my Dickens journey. 

lexiemoon321's review against another edition

4.0

This was phenomenal! The way Dickens made his characters here made me feel extreme emotions from extreme anger to sadness to happiness. Also, the message that Dickens was telling was quite interesting; my theory is that Dickens was trying to talk about how pride can destroy us all and ruin relationships. I would so recommend it!

andriella's review against another edition

funny reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

hannah850's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

msrichardsreads89's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced