Dombey and Son
-
-
4.6 • 64 Ratings
-
Publisher Description
The story concerns Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company of the book's title, whose dream is to have a son to continue his business. The book begins when his son is born, and Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth. Following the advice of Mrs Louisa Chick, his sister, Dombey employs a wet nurse named Mrs Richards (Toodle). Dombey already has a daughter, Florence, whom he neglects.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This dark study of pride is a pivotal if unappreciated work in Dickens's oeuvre. Dickens focuses on the Dombey family, eschewing his idiosyncratic panoramic scope and ensemble casts. David Timson is a dream casting; he endows each character with depth, personality and pathos, again displaying why he is a perennial favorite in audio narration. This abridgment offers about one-third of the full text, which will serve the casual listener well without burdening their wallet or commandeering the listening schedule.
Customer Reviews
Dombey and Son
It's dickens isn't it and who could give fewer than five glowing stars?
Long but not bad
A long book. The story of how a man's position in society and his need for a son and heir to inherit his business lead him to lose sight of the important things in life. He ignores his daughter and she grows up to be saintly and beautiful. There's a lesson to be learned there. Mrs Dombey dies and Mr Dombey gets another wife who is like a female version of him, proud and distant. He is not a happy bunny. Some of the things that happen in the book stretch credibility. Some threads seem to be lost along the way. There are the usual cartoon characters with funny ways of speaking, and at the end everybody finds their proper niche. After meeting each of the many characters, it's fairly obvious how their lives will pan out and with whom they will end up. No real surprises after the first 200 pages. Still, I enjoyed it.