Martin Chuzzlewit (1844)

Probably this novel (apparently Dickens' favorite) deserves 3 1/2 stars. Certainly, the last quarter of this measures up to his best but, unfortunately, I can't say the same for the first 75%. I did appreciate Dickens' satire of Americans (Martin the younger is a victim of someone selling him worthless land in a scheme reminiscent of selling the Brooklyn Bridge).

Maybe I'm just suffering from reading too much Dickens in a short stretch of time, having read Dombey and Son, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities (audiobook), A Christmas Carol, several other short stories and poems, in addition to this book, in the past 35 days.
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Probably this novel (apparently Dickens' favorite) deserves 3 1/2 stars. Certainly, the last quarter of this measures up to his best but, unfortunately, I can't say the same for the first 75%. I did appreciate Dickens' satire of Americans (Martin the younger is a victim of someone selling him worthless land in a scheme reminiscent of selling the Brooklyn Bridge).

Maybe I'm just suffering from reading too much Dickens in a short stretch of time, having read Dombey and Son, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities (audiobook), A Christmas Carol, several other short stories and poems, in addition to this book, in the past 35 days.
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My first Dickens book...and I was hooked. I never would have guessed it, but I LOVED this book. Many nights I was up way too late because I just couldn't put it down. Dickens, of course, masterfully develops the characters until they are practically in the room with you. The story unfolds in rambling but quite pleasing way. By the time it is finished, all of the characters are quite exposed for who (and what) they really are and justice is done up as only Dickens can do it. ( )

This is Dickens' sixth major work, written when he was 31/32 years old. His writing skills are visibly improving, the characters are better developed and the plot structure is sound. But the reliance on coincidence and plot twists is typically Dickens. The book starts well, introducing the key characters gradually, developing them as the book proceeds. For the first time, the major villain (Pecksniff) is a rounded, believable creation. The major hero (Pinch) is also well developed, but just a little too good to be entirely credible. The seemingly obligatory comic character (Mrs Gamp) makes too many appearances and stays on the scene too long for my taste.
The book was written after Dickens' first trip to the USA and he is humourously critical of much of the pretension he found there. He must have lost audience support in the US as a result, because the edition I read had a postscript, written around the time of his second visit 20 years later, stating how much the place has improved! Dickens' takes a progressive position on slavery and excoriates the practice in the US. He also paints an interesting picture of the gentleman, young Martin Chuzzlewit, learning how to live a better life from his servant, Mark Tapley - not a common position for an author to take in this era.
A long book, at 786 pages, but as usual, I found myself drawn in to a real page turner in the last third of the work. Read February 2012. ( )

Much to my surprise, Martin Chuzzlewit turned out to be one of my favorite Dickens books, right behind Bleak House and Great Expectations. It's funnier than most of his books and features one of Dickens' best villains, Seth Pecksniff (what a name). I have just one more Dickens novel, Our Mutual Friend, to finish and I can say I completed Dickens' oeuvre. It has taken me only ten years to do it. ( )