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zurpel's review against another edition
5.0
I’m slowly but steadily falling in love with Charles Dickens’ work. Nicholas Nickleby is a wonderful story about how poverty and hardship can make you happier than a fortune. The book focuses on the Nickleby family, living in 19th century England. After the death of his father Nicholas, his sister and mother are appealing to Nicholas’ uncle Ralph Nickleby. Ralph is a made man without any recognizable conscience. In answer to this appeal Ralph sends Nicholas as assistant teacher to a boarding school under the direction of a man who is just as greedy and conscience-lacking as Ralph himself.
I’m not going deeper into the plot, because this is one of the rare books I read recently that actually made me want to read on to find out what would happen next. For once I was not sitting there thinking “oh, it’ll turn out OK in the end … they might be in a fix now, but of course he’ll save the day by some heroic deed”. Charles Dickens managed to write a vivid narrative that makes it easy for the reader to imagine themselves in 19th century England. He also draws great characters, and even though Ralph and his companions might sometimes seem slightly stereotypical, I actually experienced even them as round characters with more depth than the first impression might suggest.
My favourable impression of this book is strengthened by the audiobook, read by Simon Vance. He does a wonderful job of reading this book and giving every character his individual voice without overdoing it.
I’m not going deeper into the plot, because this is one of the rare books I read recently that actually made me want to read on to find out what would happen next. For once I was not sitting there thinking “oh, it’ll turn out OK in the end … they might be in a fix now, but of course he’ll save the day by some heroic deed”. Charles Dickens managed to write a vivid narrative that makes it easy for the reader to imagine themselves in 19th century England. He also draws great characters, and even though Ralph and his companions might sometimes seem slightly stereotypical, I actually experienced even them as round characters with more depth than the first impression might suggest.
My favourable impression of this book is strengthened by the audiobook, read by Simon Vance. He does a wonderful job of reading this book and giving every character his individual voice without overdoing it.
bellsb00ksandwritings's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful book with a wonderful story. It made me laugh and it made me cry, but most of all it made me fall in love with the kindhearted gentleman that Nicholas is.
This book reminded me once again why Dickens is one of my favourites.
This book reminded me once again why Dickens is one of my favourites.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
4.0
Very Dickensian. The poor are poor, the rich are heartless, the children are sickly, and the people with guttural names are evil. Really, if you meet someone named Wackford Squeers and don't know he's monstrous from his name alone, it's best you not be unsupervised.
Mil Nicholson, the narrator, rocks my audiobook world.
Mil Nicholson, the narrator, rocks my audiobook world.
rc90041's review against another edition
3.0
Not worth the effort. Much of it was a slog. Not nearly as memorable as the better works of Dickens. Useful for the depiction of the cruelty of the Dotheby Boys Hall and the horrific Mr. Squire, who I imagine was part of the inspiration for the schoolmaster in Pink Floyd's The Wall. But generally a bore, disjointed, and not nearly rich enough to justify the tremendous effort required to get through the nearly 900 pages.
paperbacksandpines's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book as part of Katie from Books and Things's Mega Dickens readalong.
Although I had not agreed that Dickens was unnecessarily long winded before, I really changed my mind when I read this book. This has to be the era when he waw getting paid by the world and why write in seven words when 37 words would put mlore in his pocket? I had to go back several times and reread sentences to figure out what they meant. Finding the subject and the verb in some sentences was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
As always, I love his characterizations and descriptions of characters. The plot, however, was meandering and too slow paced for me.
I'm not sure if it was just me or not but I felt that Dickens's use of pathos with Smike was a bit over the top, intended to pull on readers' heartstrings in an overly sentimental kind of way. Like a Hallmark movie. But maybe that's just me and I'm overly jaded.
I also felt that Dickens's portrayal of women wasn't too my liking. If women aren't sexually appealing, they seem to be beneath his notice. The descriptions of women in this book either judge them by their beauty or their empty headedness. The women in this book felt one dimensional to me, only defined by their marital status and/or their ability to produce children.
For these reasons, I just wasn't that impressed with this story or the main characters all that much.
Although I had not agreed that Dickens was unnecessarily long winded before, I really changed my mind when I read this book. This has to be the era when he waw getting paid by the world and why write in seven words when 37 words would put mlore in his pocket? I had to go back several times and reread sentences to figure out what they meant. Finding the subject and the verb in some sentences was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
As always, I love his characterizations and descriptions of characters. The plot, however, was meandering and too slow paced for me.
I'm not sure if it was just me or not but I felt that Dickens's use of pathos with Smike was a bit over the top, intended to pull on readers' heartstrings in an overly sentimental kind of way. Like a Hallmark movie. But maybe that's just me and I'm overly jaded.
I also felt that Dickens's portrayal of women wasn't too my liking. If women aren't sexually appealing, they seem to be beneath his notice. The descriptions of women in this book either judge them by their beauty or their empty headedness. The women in this book felt one dimensional to me, only defined by their marital status and/or their ability to produce children.
For these reasons, I just wasn't that impressed with this story or the main characters all that much.
naomileunis's review against another edition
2.0
Ik denk dat ik zo stilletjes aan kan zeggen dat Charles Dickens niet echt voor mij is.