Reviews

Dickens must have had a lot of dealings with rather nasty relatives and others in his life, as I have never read any story by him that was not full of despicable characters. This story, though a little lighter than most of his work, was no exception. I shall steer clear of his writings in the future because they are full of plot that has nothing to do with the progression of the story and, if I may put it bluntly, his stories are YAWNERS.

jillkahnwald's review against another edition

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2.0

I am not sure I can describe the plot of this book, because it is not very strong. It concerns Nicholas Nickleby's various jobs and encounters as he comes of age, and how he and his sister suffer under their wicked uncle Ralph. Eventually everyone lives happily ever after, as all Dickens novels end...but to what purpose? It is difficult to relate to the characters and this is one of the less universally relatable Dickens novels. It seems as if Dickens did not even know what to do with a few of the characters, and some of them served little purpose. They disappear from the story and then come back for a scene just to close out their history, but they should not have been there in the first place. The novel is full of extraneous scenes as well, and feels disjointed.

maisiesmom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

novelideea's review against another edition

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

5.0

steven_nobody's review against another edition

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4.0

The most horrible opening chapter of any novel save for Sense and Sensibility. Otherwise excellent melodrama. This was Dicken's third novel, and you can tell he is still learning the art. He excels in the duel chapter, and I love reading about duels for some reason.

bibliotequeish's review against another edition

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4.0

In classic Dickens we see the good guys fail and fall, get kicked down and scraped back up. I definitely have to be in a good mood to read these books because if I’m in a bad mood…. They can be downright depressing.

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