Dombey and Son (original 1848; edition 2003)

4 1/2 stars is what I'd like to give... Very Dickensian, which I love, with a large cast of characters & trials and tribulations ending with punishment for the wicked and virtue rewarded. ( )

4 1/2 stars is what I'd like to give... Very Dickensian, which I love, with a large cast of characters & trials and tribulations ending with punishment for the wicked and virtue rewarded. ( )

Memorable for the passage in which Dickens gives vent to his belief that industrialisation is dehumanising his society. He uses the story of a man so absorbed by the nature of business and trade that he renders all human interaction as an exchange. In this novel Dickens wants 'to take the rooftops off' expose the consequences of the rapid development of manufacturing. He brilliantly makes the train an engine of destruction yet is clearly mesmerised by it. Some wonderful passages and not too many of his usual digressions. ( )

This is a beautiful edition of a classic for a book collector. The hardcover book has design details on front, back boards and spine. Color plate frontispiece, facing page and ten more throughout book. Each chapter also has a line drawing to left of chapter title. A wonderful way to enjoy a beloved author. Book slips into a box.

Dickens' seventh major work, and about half-way through his life's works (which I am reading/re-reading in his 200th anniversary year).

While earlier works have a "boys own annual" feel to them, this is a more mature and complex book. While Dickens still annoys with his fantastic coincidences to bring his artificial plots together, in this book there are some interesting and developed characters. Florence, who feels it is somehow her fault that her father doesn't love her, has a modern feel. A comment passed about Dombey, who is obsessively proud, is informative: "Vices are sometimes virtues taken to excess".

I find it interesting that in his works, Dickens has multiple examples of strong, loving, brother-sister relationships, but almost no happy married couples of any depth. I wonder what this tells of his own background?

Darwin continues his social themes, in this work he often highlights the "depravity" deplored by the upper class is often a result of the blighted environment of the poorer peoples. He also points out that the same "depravity" has different consequences in different social stratas - the upper class can effectively sell daughters into a moneyed marriage, while the same process is called prostitution further down the social scale.

I see in Wikipedia that an early critic faulted the plot structure, saying that the death of Dombey Junior was effectively the end of the story, but I didn't find that fault. It was clear that Florence was going to be the hero - would she become the surrogate son? Would she be successful in some other way? Would there be a future marriage and further son? Many possibilities.

The book is L O N G, as usual. And Dickens tests his readers. A Mr Morfin re-appears on page 681. How many readers recall his last appearance on page 175?? I could only do so courtesy of the word search function in ebooks.

The book also has the usual complement of comic characters who regularly appear and regularly use the same "gags" for the same laughs: Capt Cuttle using nonsense nautical jargon; Major Bagstock endlessly referring to himself in the third person, and many other formulaic characters. It would seem that these were popular and sold the monthly parts. :)

So, a good book, with many of the usual flaws of Dickens, balanced by some vibrant writing. Read February 2012. ( )