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nancyadelman 's review for:
The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop: One of the worst-titled books in literature, but well-written, nonetheless. The curiosity shop is the setting of the book at the beginning, and for perhaps the first 20% of the book. For the remainder of the book, the various characters are on the move. As this is a Dickens' novel, you can probably guess that there are plenty of social issues scattered throughout. There is poverty, gambling, characters with grotesque physical deformities, and corruption. The story itself is well-written and has a unique plot.
Little Nell is a young girl (about 14) who lives with her grandfather in the curiosity shop. At night, he locks up the shop and goes out, leaving Nell locked up inside. Grandfather has a gambling problem and a problem with money as a result, which the landlord, Daniel Quilp (who is a dwarf) doesn't look too kindly upon. There are also a brother and sister lawyer duo that assist Quilp in being an all-around bad guy, and a 20-something year old ne'er do well who does a lot of drinking but who ends up being an important character. I rather enjoyed the story and it kept me engaged throughout. I think the emphasis on the deformities was rather over the top and heavy-handed. There are some 19th-century swearing, and free-flowing alcohol throughout.
Little Nell is a young girl (about 14) who lives with her grandfather in the curiosity shop. At night, he locks up the shop and goes out, leaving Nell locked up inside. Grandfather has a gambling problem and a problem with money as a result, which the landlord, Daniel Quilp (who is a dwarf) doesn't look too kindly upon. There are also a brother and sister lawyer duo that assist Quilp in being an all-around bad guy, and a 20-something year old ne'er do well who does a lot of drinking but who ends up being an important character. I rather enjoyed the story and it kept me engaged throughout. I think the emphasis on the deformities was rather over the top and heavy-handed. There are some 19th-century swearing, and free-flowing alcohol throughout.