Nicholas Nickleby

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It's a hit!

Dickens never ceases to delight me - I totally acknowledge, right up front, that this is very much a question of taste - whilst Dickens' prowess as... (show more)

Dickens never ceases to delight me - I totally acknowledge, right up front, that this is very much a question of taste - whilst Dickens' prowess as a writer is apparent to all, his verbose prose and convoluted plots do take some acclimatising to and will not appeal to all readers. However, I'd encourage anyone to stick with their first foray into Dickens - there is a rich, intricately detailed world to discover - well worth the reading. As for Nickleby: not the finest Dickens novel I've read (I still hold that accolade for Two Cities), but very enjoyable reading - some very well-crafted characters, and the characteristic dramatic plot twists, and a penetrating exposé of the flaws and inequalities of Victorian society (so timelessly applicable, as they are so true to human nature - the story begins with the bursting of a stock-market bubble - how appropriate in these times!)

Give it a try; stick through the opening chapters - you won't regret it - always a pleasure to wrap yourself away in the imagination of the great Victorian master story-teller!
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GiveVictorian master-storyteller! it a try; stick with the first (show less)

 

 

by Michael Strickland

No, it's a flop!

Ahh, the virtue....ahh, the villiany. Ahh, the fluttering teary eyed women (my goodness they must have had to drink and drink to keep hydrated in ... (show more)

Ahh, the virtue....ahh, the villiany. Ahh, the fluttering teary eyed women (my goodness they must have had to drink and drink to keep hydrated in those days). Guessed it all, who ends up with who, except the little twist (at the end of a rope) at the end, does that mean he does have a heart, albeit a tiny one? But I still LOVE Dickens, reading David Copperfield now. (show less)

 

 

by Jeanette Christensen Martimo

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  I'm not really a Dickens fan. It was amusing to see how this was a picaresque tale, how episodic it really was. Everything just fit together too well, which was kind of obnoxious. The villains were nothing but villains, the heroes were nothing but heroes. Everything was black and white, and everything peaked at about the same time so that all the hundred plotlines were resolved and the good end up getting what they deserve, and the bad end up dying. That being said, I was amused that Dickens ... (show more)

  I'm not really a Dickens fan. It was amusing to see how this was a picaresque tale, how episodic it really was. Everything just fit together too well, which was kind of obnoxious. The villains were nothing but villains, the heroes were nothing but heroes. Everything was black and white, and everything peaked at about the same time so that all the hundred plotlines were resolved and the good end up getting what they deserve, and the bad end up dying. That being said, I was amused that Dickens was able to keep the stories together like that, and use such a wonderful and high diction, for this particular novel.

  To be honest though, I doubt I would have been able to get through this book or even understand some of what was happening if I hadn't seen the last film made of it back in 2001 with Jamie Bell as Smike (the only character that perhaps merits some discussion). (show less)

   

   

  by Salvatore Ruggiero on Sep 28, 2009 at 01:28PM

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  In Nicholas Nickleby we find Dickens consolidating his approach begun in his two previous novels, returning to some of the humor found in Pickwick while continuing the social criticism begun in Oliver Twist. The focus is on boys' boarding schools in Yorkshire which were notorious for their poor conditions. Early in 1838 Dickens visited the schools in Yorkshire accompanied by his illustrator Hablot Browne and Dickens used some of his experiences in his novel. With Nicholas Nickleby comes Dick... (show more)

  In Nicholas Nickleby we find Dickens consolidating his approach begun in his two previous novels, returning to some of the humor found in Pickwick while continuing the social criticism begun in Oliver Twist. The focus is on boys' boarding schools in Yorkshire which were notorious for their poor conditions. Early in 1838 Dickens visited the schools in Yorkshire accompanied by his illustrator Hablot Browne and Dickens used some of his experiences in his novel. With Nicholas Nickleby comes Dickens first attempt using a young man as his protagonist and incorporating the bildungsroman style into the novel along with the picaresque approach that was so effective in Pickwick Papers. The novel begins with Nicholas and his sister Kate and their mother destitute upon the death of their father. Turning to their uncle, Ralph Nickleby, they find a man comparable to Dicken's later creation, Marley, (whose ghost will torment Scrooge). Nicholas is sent to Mr. Wackford Squeer's Academy, Dotheboys Hall where he assists Mr. Squeers. His education is immediate and jolting to his refined character.
  Some of Dickens' main themes the theater. It is a passion of Dickens and that passion is quite evident in this novel. Once Nicholas has left the "boys' school" run by the Squeers he soon takes up with a theater troupe. He is successful translating plays from French into English and doing some acting. This leads me to the theme of illusion and reality. There are examples of this in almost every chapter. In the first scenes of the novel we see Nicholas' family lose their modest wealth when his father's investments are more illusory than real. Nicholas' mother turns to her brother-in-law for help upon the death of her husband only to find any notion of family bonds is also an illusion. Of course the "school" where Nicholas is posted by his uncle Ralph is an utter illusion, much to the detriment of the boys confined therein. As we read further in the novel we find that characters are more likely to not be what they first seem to be; finally, it is somewhat ironic that Nicholas would find himself in a theater troupe learning the profession of creating illusions for a paying audience.

  The number of characters seems to grow geometrically as is typical in most of Dicken's novels, but most of the characters introduced so far are interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. Nicholas' growth and education (this novel is a bildungsroman of sorts) is the most interesting aspect of the novel for this reader. But I wonder what it would be like to have the story told from the point of view of his sister Kate? The city of London is very much a character in the novel with Dickens sharing his love for this city more than once probably drawing on the experiences he had on the long walks that he often took (cf. pp. 390 & 446, and 2) the narrator includes brief comments on the state of novel-writing itself (p. 345).

  Nicholas Nickleby ends well for Nicholas and his sister Kate. Along with their mother they can look forward to a much brighter future than the one that they faced as the novel began. In creating this 'happy' ending Dickens left many of the most eccentric comic characters by the wayside, gone are the Crummles and Miss Knagg along with other minor characters left by the wayside. Whether this is a flaw in the novel (perhaps) or not the last section of the story does move rapidly to tie up loose ends and provide answers to the more intricate mysteries of relations among the characters. For the details of these answers I suggest you read the novel.

  In spite of its seeming lack of structure, a claim which is belied by the strong arcs of both Nicholas' education in life and Ralph Nickleby's search for rewards for his greed and miserliness, the novel is Dickens' first success in the genre (his previous three books being journalistic and picaresque treats, but not novels). One theme that is embodied in this novel is expressed by Newman Noggs as Nicholas despairs that the schemes of Ralph and Arthur Gride will defeat him, his family and Madeline Bray (his one true love). Newman responds with what may be considered the main theme of the novel:

  'Hope to the last,' said Newman, clapping him on the back. 'Always hope, that's a dear boy. Never leave off hoping, it don't answer. Don't leave a stone unturned. It's always something to know know you've done the most you could. But don't leave off hoping, or it's of no use doing anything. Hope, hope to the last!'
  - p. 641, Nicholas Nickleby

  As I reader you have hope for the good in Nicholas and Newman and John Browdie with the support of the Cherryble brothers; and, you have hope that the evil of Ralph Nickleby, Gride and Squeers will receive justice. You hope to the last. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Aug 23, 2009 at 02:00PM

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