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bookaneer 's review for:
Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens
*minor spoilers alert*
I have read at least five novels by Dickens and only two of them with a rather different formula compared with the others, namely “Great Expectations” and “The Christmas Books”. Nicholas Nickleby, unfortunately, is included in the "standard" category.
Similarities with “David Copperfield” can be felt, although of course Nicholas Nickleby is not an extensive bildungsroman. However, again it's about the life struggle of a young lad in facing the hard life in London during the 19th century. Unlike David, Nicholas was luckier, since although he was poor and with no father, he still had his mom and a sister.
Nicholas' story was started when his father died and his family were forced to asked for help from their uncle, Ralph Nickleby. Ralph was a successful businessmen known for his hard attitude and a bit an antisocial. He was not softened when he met his nephew & niece. In fact, his first encounter with Nicholas made them sworn enemies.
In urgent need for money, Nicholas received his uncle's offer to work as a headmaster's assistant in a school for boys in Yorkshire. Kate, his sister, received the offer to work in a clothing store owned by the Mantalinis. Both jobs ended in disaster. The Dotheboys school turned out to be a tormenting place for its pupils, and Nicholas finally ran away after a fight with the evil and greedy headmaster, Mr. Squeers.
Meanwhile, Kate was depressed not only because of her job, but also because her uncle was involved in a sinister scheme to marry her with Sir Mulberry Hawk, a rude and vulgar nobleman. Poor Kate, her naive and ignorant (and stupid) mother did not understand that her daughter was in a severe misery and she even pushed Kate to receive the marriage proposal.
Back to Nicholas. In his journey, he met with a bunch of theater actors led by the eccentric Crummles family. Desperate in finding jobs, he decided to join the group and tried his luck in becoming an actor...and succeeded. However, since he heard from the his uncle's weird yet kindhearted servant, Mr. Noggs, that Kate was in a deep trouble, he bade the theater farewell and rushed to London to rescue her sister. What I love about Nicholas is that he had the courage to face the evil people and he did not hesitate to use force without losing his gentleman attitude.
Anyway, the lives of Nicholas and Kate were getting better, especially when Nicholas found a new job as a clerk in a company owned by the Cheeryble twins. Nevertheless, Nicholas faced another problem, this time in his love life. A girl he fell in love to at the first sight (yikes), Madeline Bray, was going to be forced into a marriage with an old slimy sneaky man. The marriage was arranged by none other than...*drums rolled* Ralph Nickleby. Surprise surprise. Although Ralph did not aware that the girl had a connection with Nicholas, still I became more irritated with so many coincidences in this novel. There's always an event when a character happened to be involved with another character, and that happens repeatedly. How could the vast area of London & Yorkshire held a plot in which all the characters were connected? Almost unlikely if not impossible.
Dickens, I think, was sometimes too generic in making his plot. His main and foremost strength is with the characters. Not the leading characters of course, but the supporting cast. In this novel for instance, the characters of Mr. Noggs, Mr. Crummles, Miss La Creevy, are more interesting than the titular character. The same thing applies to "David Copperfield", where I found that Mr. Micawber, Steerforth and Mrs. Trotwood to be more appealing.
So, am I satisfied after reading this novel? Well, between yes and no. No because the coincidence factor and rather forced plot. Yes because of a reason which is hard to explain, hahaha....Er, maybe because of Dickens' storytelling finesse could make me kept on reading and imagine how the characters interacted. Or maybe because I've always loved reading classics novels like this one. I will not hesitate to read other Dickens' works. Bleak House, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Pickwick Papers, Hard Times…Bloody hell, there are still so many of them!
I have read at least five novels by Dickens and only two of them with a rather different formula compared with the others, namely “Great Expectations” and “The Christmas Books”. Nicholas Nickleby, unfortunately, is included in the "standard" category.
Similarities with “David Copperfield” can be felt, although of course Nicholas Nickleby is not an extensive bildungsroman. However, again it's about the life struggle of a young lad in facing the hard life in London during the 19th century. Unlike David, Nicholas was luckier, since although he was poor and with no father, he still had his mom and a sister.
Nicholas' story was started when his father died and his family were forced to asked for help from their uncle, Ralph Nickleby. Ralph was a successful businessmen known for his hard attitude and a bit an antisocial. He was not softened when he met his nephew & niece. In fact, his first encounter with Nicholas made them sworn enemies.
In urgent need for money, Nicholas received his uncle's offer to work as a headmaster's assistant in a school for boys in Yorkshire. Kate, his sister, received the offer to work in a clothing store owned by the Mantalinis. Both jobs ended in disaster. The Dotheboys school turned out to be a tormenting place for its pupils, and Nicholas finally ran away after a fight with the evil and greedy headmaster, Mr. Squeers.
Meanwhile, Kate was depressed not only because of her job, but also because her uncle was involved in a sinister scheme to marry her with Sir Mulberry Hawk, a rude and vulgar nobleman. Poor Kate, her naive and ignorant (and stupid) mother did not understand that her daughter was in a severe misery and she even pushed Kate to receive the marriage proposal.
Back to Nicholas. In his journey, he met with a bunch of theater actors led by the eccentric Crummles family. Desperate in finding jobs, he decided to join the group and tried his luck in becoming an actor...and succeeded. However, since he heard from the his uncle's weird yet kindhearted servant, Mr. Noggs, that Kate was in a deep trouble, he bade the theater farewell and rushed to London to rescue her sister. What I love about Nicholas is that he had the courage to face the evil people and he did not hesitate to use force without losing his gentleman attitude.
Anyway, the lives of Nicholas and Kate were getting better, especially when Nicholas found a new job as a clerk in a company owned by the Cheeryble twins. Nevertheless, Nicholas faced another problem, this time in his love life. A girl he fell in love to at the first sight (yikes), Madeline Bray, was going to be forced into a marriage with an old slimy sneaky man. The marriage was arranged by none other than...*drums rolled* Ralph Nickleby. Surprise surprise. Although Ralph did not aware that the girl had a connection with Nicholas, still I became more irritated with so many coincidences in this novel. There's always an event when a character happened to be involved with another character, and that happens repeatedly. How could the vast area of London & Yorkshire held a plot in which all the characters were connected? Almost unlikely if not impossible.
Dickens, I think, was sometimes too generic in making his plot. His main and foremost strength is with the characters. Not the leading characters of course, but the supporting cast. In this novel for instance, the characters of Mr. Noggs, Mr. Crummles, Miss La Creevy, are more interesting than the titular character. The same thing applies to "David Copperfield", where I found that Mr. Micawber, Steerforth and Mrs. Trotwood to be more appealing.
So, am I satisfied after reading this novel? Well, between yes and no. No because the coincidence factor and rather forced plot. Yes because of a reason which is hard to explain, hahaha....Er, maybe because of Dickens' storytelling finesse could make me kept on reading and imagine how the characters interacted. Or maybe because I've always loved reading classics novels like this one. I will not hesitate to read other Dickens' works. Bleak House, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Pickwick Papers, Hard Times…Bloody hell, there are still so many of them!