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mcastello13 's review for:
Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is always the joy for me to read Dickens, and especially a new-to-me piece of his work. This was such a wonderful read, even though it does touch on some very dark subjects and it doesn’t feel as strong as some of his later work. And of course, no other Dickens novel can compare to David Copperfield, my favorite book of all time.
There is so much to think about in this novel and I’m sure I can’t fully and adequately express it all now. But a few things that really stood out to me were the great humor throughout the book, and yet, at the same time, the moments that would’ve fit right into our current #metoo movement. I’m not sure why, but I was a little shocked at how relevant some of these moments of men harassing and even assaulting women felt. Perhaps it’s in part because I’m also reading a book about Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, but the treatment of women and Dickens’s ability to empathize with them is probably the most salient and memorable aspect of this novel for me.
After years of reading his work, I begin to wish that I had started reading Dickens chronologically from the start. As it is, I have read his works in a very mixed up way, but that of course has not at all dampened my enjoyment of it. It is interesting to see how this novel slots in between the others of the same time period, and of course how his work matures over time. This one feels a bit like a cross between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. And it contains some of the most wonderful and colorful Dickensian characters, some of whom I believe we see reflected in other, later creations. Mr. Crummels especially stands out to me as a proto-Mr. Macawbers, (who is perhaps my favorite Dickens character ever) so It was especially wonderful to see you this earlier incarnation of him.
I could go on and say a lot more about this book and how much I enjoyed my experience of reading it, but this review might start to become quite as long as the book itself. I’ll just end by saying I can’t wait to read this again in years to come, and to also continue my journey of reading all of Dickens’s work.
There is so much to think about in this novel and I’m sure I can’t fully and adequately express it all now. But a few things that really stood out to me were the great humor throughout the book, and yet, at the same time, the moments that would’ve fit right into our current #metoo movement. I’m not sure why, but I was a little shocked at how relevant some of these moments of men harassing and even assaulting women felt. Perhaps it’s in part because I’m also reading a book about Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, but the treatment of women and Dickens’s ability to empathize with them is probably the most salient and memorable aspect of this novel for me.
After years of reading his work, I begin to wish that I had started reading Dickens chronologically from the start. As it is, I have read his works in a very mixed up way, but that of course has not at all dampened my enjoyment of it. It is interesting to see how this novel slots in between the others of the same time period, and of course how his work matures over time. This one feels a bit like a cross between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. And it contains some of the most wonderful and colorful Dickensian characters, some of whom I believe we see reflected in other, later creations. Mr. Crummels especially stands out to me as a proto-Mr. Macawbers, (who is perhaps my favorite Dickens character ever) so It was especially wonderful to see you this earlier incarnation of him.
I could go on and say a lot more about this book and how much I enjoyed my experience of reading it, but this review might start to become quite as long as the book itself. I’ll just end by saying I can’t wait to read this again in years to come, and to also continue my journey of reading all of Dickens’s work.