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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb,
By M. Dowden (London, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Little Dorrit (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
From its first publication in book form after the serialisation, Little Dorrit has always proved to be a good seller. So why has this book always been so popular? For whole segments Amy 'Little' Dorrit does not even appear. The novel covers so much more than the title implies.
Little Dorrit is born in the Marshalsea, where her father is imprisoned for debt. Eventually he is released at the end of book one, when he comes into an inheritance. For Mr Dorrit this leads to paranoia that people are talking behind his back or laughing at him due to his former poverty. Poor little Dorrit finds it difficult to change her ways and is still a ministering angel to all and sundry. What really stands out in this book are the locations, as the story travels from London through France, Switzerland and Italy. This is the most widespread geographically of any of Dickens' novels. Also this book probably has the most sub-plots of any Dickens novel, with mention of murder and smuggling, to actual acts of corruption and suicide, to love, marriages and death. Mrs Clennam tries to keep a family secret buried but is being blackmailed, and is her house haunted or is there a more rational explanation? As to be expected with Dickens there are some great characters and some good comedy. Anyone who has ever had any dealings with govermental departments can really appreciate the Circumloction Office, and its practices. A few of the illustrations in this book are some of the very best to appear in any of his novels. This is a must read book, that with so many things going on throughout will keep you absorbed for hours, and that you will want to read again.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, well cast Dickens adaptation,
By
This review is from: Little Dorrit (BBC Audio) (Audio CD)
Having recently tried to follow the BBC TV adaptation on various nights,as if it were part of an obstacle course, it is much easier to follow the main lines of the plot in this version. Dickens' novels don't fillet easily, but this adaptation, for the ears only, has all the atmosphere and characterisation that one could wish. The BBC have much experience in such adaptations and with Ian McKellen's authoritative narrator one never feels lost. Both adaptations omit the reasons for the spooky noises in the house, but to get that and much else, you have to read the original novel, to which this is an excellent painless enjoyable primer. Good sound.Little Dorrit (BBC Radio Collection)
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dickens at what he does best!,
This review is from: Little Dorrit (Wordsworth Classics) (Paperback)
Little Dorrit is a prime example of Dickens' weighty descriptive style and his genius for observation and characterisation. It also, perhaps unusually for Dickens, has a semi-coherent story line.
The book chronicles the respective fortunes of the title heroine, a young women caring for her incarcerated father in the Marshalsea Prison, and Mr Arthur Clennam, a kindly businessman returned lately from the east, who becomes obsessed with the idea that his father was responsible for the Dorrit families woes. An entrie host of characters, good and bad, amusing and obnoxious, accompany the main protagonists on their mysteriously intertwined journeys. The only fault I can find is with the tale's finale, when it seems Dickens grows tired of the story, not actually having a great twist for the climax, and bumps off many of his characters before ending with a rather predictable chocolate tin finish. However, your sense of achievment at having penetrated deeper into the world of Dickens, meeting memorable heroes and villains will probably overcome any misgivings on this score. The scene where Mr Pancks cuts the patriarch's hair is pure genius and the petulant Mr Dorrit, Flora Casby and her objectionable Aunt are another constant stream of entertainment. Apart from the moral that money will not buy you happiness, Dickens also used this book to launch a scathing criticism against the government and society of the time, represented by the infamous Circumlocution Office and a certain affluent couple named Merdle. An excellent read for all those who have a reasonable grasp of the English language or have enjoyed other Dickens books.
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