Nicholas Nickleby

by Charles Dickens

Book Overview

Our hero confronts a large and varied cast, including Wackford Squeers, the fantastic ogre of a schoolmaster, and Vincent Crummles, the grandiloquent ham actor, on his comic and satirical adventures up and down the country. Punishing wickedness, befriending the helpless, strutting the stage, and falling in love, Nicholas shares some of his creator's energy and earnestness as he faces the pressing issues of early Victorian society.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192545086
• ISBN13: 9780192545084
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 864 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 4.9" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

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Nicholas Nickleby: A Raucous Romp through Merrye Olde England!

Nicholas Nickleby was written in 1838-39 by Charles Dickens riding the crest of his monumental success from writing Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. The lengthy novel is filled with memorble characters, an exciting plot and the incredible genius of England's greatest novelists. The story concerns the adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (the least interesting character in the book!, his sister Kate and his fatuous and longwinded mother the widow Mrs. Nickleby. Nicholas works for a time in the infamous Dotheboys Hall for boys in Yorkshire. The schoolmaster is the evil Wackford Squeers, his odious wife and his ugly daughter Fanny who becomes infatuated with Nicholas. it is here that we meet the pathetic mentally challenged lad Smike who is assisted by Nicholas and along with him leaves the horrid school. One of the most hilarious parts of the book deals with the time NN spent with the Vincent Crummles theatrical company. Dickens loved the theatre and loved to act in amateur theatricals. Katle Nickleby is employed at the Madame Mantalini milliery shop and becomes a companion to a wealthy and ridiculous woman. She is pursued romantically by the scoundrel Sir Mulberry Hawk. Dickens draws a vivid portrait of corrupt evil in the wicked uncle Ralph Nickleby a usurer whose wiles and schemes for fortune pull the many threads of the plot into a well woven plot that has a crackerjack ending as secrets are revealed and all ends well for the Nickleby family. This is still in many ways an work of growth for the budding novelists. It resembles a picaresque novel of the eighteenth century in following Nicholas and Kate through many scenes and situations. The genius of the novel lies in Dickens peerless ability to draw memorable characters that will live in the reader's mind long after the complicated plot machinations are forgotten. The Penguin Edition is excellently edited with copious notes and a learned introduction. The original illustrations by Hablot K. Browne are also included (Phiz). This is a pageturner which will entertain you for hours. It is a good novel to begin with if you have not read Dickens. The Dickens world is filled with all those marvelous characters which shall live as long as literature. Great.

Nicholas Nickleby

This book is best, out of all the Dickens books. If you should just read one of Dicken's, it should be this one.This captures all of the suspense that he creates in any of his books. I reccomend this boook to anyone who is looking for a long and satisfying read.

Quintessential Dickens - satire, comedy, social commentary!

Fresh from his success on "Oliver Twist" as a political satirist of note, Dickens turns his sights toward the abuse of Yorkshire schools - a national disgrace - in which children were effectively abandoned for a fee. Neglect, physical abuse, malnourishment, cold, and ill health were endemic. This political attack becomes the setting for an expansive tale of the Nickleby family and their ongoing struggle against the evil of their uncle Ralph. The usual collection of sub-plots, comedy and Dickensian characters rounds out a lengthy but fulfilling read that nobody will be sorry they started. Paul Weiss

One of the most entertaining novels ever

I read criticisms of this book that it is not one of Dickens' best. For me, it is up there with Great Expectations and David Copperfield as one of his most enjoyable novels (A Christmas Carol is a short story).The social axe that Dickens had to grind in this story is man's injustice to children. Modern readers my feel that his depiction of Dotheboys Academy is too melodramatic. Alas, unfortunately, it was all too real. Charles Dickens helped create a world where we can't believe that such things happen. Dickens even tell us in an introduction that several Yorkshire schoolmasters were sure that Wackford Squeers was based on them and threatened legal action.The plot of Nicholas Nickleby is a miracle of invention. It is nothing more than a series of adventures, in which Nicholas tries to make his way in the world, separate himself from his evil uncle, and try to provide for his mother and sister.There are no unintersting characters in Dickens. Each one is almost a charicature. This book contains some of his funniest characters.To say this is a melodrama is not an insult. This is melodrama at its best. Its a long book, but a fast read.