Nicholas Nickleby
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4.4 • 109 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Nicholas Nickleby; or, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens' third novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This unabridged audio edition of Dickens's classic novel of poverty, effort, and persistence puts the emphasis on unabridged, clocking in at nearly 40 hours but dedicated listeners will be rewarded with an engaging and entertaining reading from narrator David Horovitch. In Victorian England, Nicholas Nickleby finds himself penniless after the death of his father. Assisted by his cold and parsimonious uncle, Ralph, Nicholas undergoes an array of trials and adventures working as a teacher and actor before finally succeeding in providing for his family. Horovitch wisely doesn't attempt to update or revise the author's familiar world. Instead, he reads with a careful tenor and subtly shaded array of voices that perfectly capture Dickens's prose and characters. Harrumphing and stuttering and tittering, Horovitch turns in a winning performance that fans of the author are sure to enjoy.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful storytelling
Mr Dickens tells a wonderful tale of young Nicholas, a nice, honourable, well brought up young man and his kid sister who is also jolly decent. Their widowed mother is cut from the same cloth as Mrs Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, self-obsessed and way too verbose. They fall on hard times and throw themselves at the mercy of greedy Uncle Ralph. He is obsessed with money. Nicholas gets a job with pantomime villain Wackford Squeers at Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire, where the boys are starved and beaten. And so it goes on, at a breathless pace, from comedy to tragedy, until the conspiracies unravel and everybody gets their just desserts in a satisfying outcome.
This book lies, in tone, somewhere between The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. It has the larger than life characters in contrived situations as in Pickwick and the social deprivation as portrayed in Oliver Twist. The plot has a lot of coincidences and convenient last minute interventions but the story is beautifully constructed and it is a thoroughly good read. Wholly recommended.
A Enjoyable Classic Dickens Novel
‘ Nicholas Nickleby’ is the third novel by Charles Dickens and was originally published as a serial from 1838-1839. The book centres around the life and fortunes and misfortunes of Nicholas Nickleby who needs to support his mother and sister following his father’s death.
This is the fifth Charles Dickens book I have read and unlike some of the others I have read, I did not know the story of Nicholas Nickleby. I will be honest it took me a while to get into this book but when I did I really enjoyed it. There are some lovable and non lovable characters in this book. I will be honest I really loved the character of Smike, such a honest, trustworthy and fragile character. Spoiler alert: I found it really sad when Smike died.
I do recommend this book but as with a lot of classical writers it wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. One thing I will say in all Charles Dickens I have read, in moments of humour, the humour Charles Dickens gives stands even now, in which characters like Mrs Nickleby show, it’s not laugh out loud but enough for a chuckle.