Nicholas Nickleby (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Does anyone not know the basic plot of any Dickens' novel? Perhaps not, but just in case: when Nicholas Nickleby's father dies, he, his sister Kate and his mother are thrown upon the mercy of their miserly uncle Ralph in London. At first all of them are taken in by their uncle, however gruff his manners, and it is through him that Nicholas is hired by Wackford Squeers as his assistant at Dotheboys Hall, a Yorkshire school for young boys while Kate is hired out to the dressmaker Mrs. Mantalini. Once at Dotheboys Hall, Nicholas is soon so disgusted by the treatment meted out to the boys that he escapes together with one of them, the simple-minded Smike. Nicholas is determined to make his own way in the world but the odds are heavily stacked against him...

I read this book immediately after having read The Pickwick Papers (Wordsworth Classics) and Oliver Twist (Penguin Classics), and now, having finished it, I can only say (or cry out loud!) what an unrivalled storyteller I more and more find Dickens to be. Are there no shortcomings then? By all means there are, perhaps - and this is a familiar shortcoming held against Dickens to which he himself strongly objected - most of all how improbable or contrived the plot at times is. True enough, at a certain point for instance Wackford Squeers accidentally runs into the runaway Smike in London (what are the odds? In 1831, according to Wikipedia, 1,655,000 people were living in London) but then again, this book has such other qualities that one is very soon past caring!

First of all, as perhaps in any Dickens' novel, there is a truly astonishing cast of characters. All of these - from the charming Cheeryble brothers to the equally detestable Wackford Squeers, the horrible miser Arthur Gride or the delightful Newman Noggs - do not change in the slightest throughout the story. They are as flat as can be, governed by one character trait and run on rails as fixed as any high-speed train. Did that in any way lessen my pleasure? Definitely not, on the contrary! It is quite amazing how Dickens' imagination can conjure up such a host of both larger-than-life and simultaneously very believable characters, and they are a source of endless delight. The one exception is Nicholas himself, who evolves from a well-meaning but impetuous youth into a more stolid adult.

Secondly, however improbable the plot at times may be, Dickens - by alternating chapters between the adventures of Nicholas and the machinations of Ralph Nickleby to thwart him - keeps your interest going throughout, always wandering what'll happen next. On top of that, Dickens - as in 'Oliver Twist' - shows himself a master of creating an atmosphere and setting a mood. It's quite astounding how he can transport you from tragic or dramatic scenes (to our 21st century eyes perhaps 'melodramatic') to episodes of sheer fun and humour. In the Dotheboys Hall-chapters for instance he manages to make you both laugh out loud with his hilarious descriptions of Wackford Squeers (and his family) and make you feel deeply revolted - as Dickens himself obviously felt - by the inhuman practices at this kind of boys' schools.

Thirdly, and this is perhaps to some a mixed blessing, there is from the very start and throughout the story a sense that everything will turn out right for (most of) the principal 'good' characters. We may consciously know that this is a far cry from reality, but at the same time (and perhaps precisely because of that knowledge) it is somehow very gratifying to enter a fictional world where - despite setbacks - good will prevail, honesty is rewarded, and cruelty and vice punished. Here as in other novels Dickens is that curious mix of a (post)romantic and a stolid Victorian: true (romantic) love triumphs, even between characters of different social standing, whereas at the same time quintessentially Victorian values such as hard work and perseverance are extolled.

All in all, I immensely enjoyed this novel (long as it may be at close to 800 pages) and immediately upon finishing it started Barnaby Rudge (Oxford World's Classics)!

This was Dickens' third novel and was an instant hit when it first appeared serialized. When Nicholas' father dies he has to become the head of the family and provide for his mother and sister. With his description of the school he is sent to you get the same powerful imagery as that in the poor house in Oliver Twist. However, whereas Oliver is more bleaker this is a comic novel, being a social satire. Nickleby gets into all kinds of scrapes, there are some short tales incorporated into the main body of the novel and it is hard to put this down, indeed this is one of my favourite Dickens novels.

In some ways you could consider this a comic David Copperfield, as it is about the journey from childhood to becoming a man and trying to make something of yourself, with all the setbacks and help that you would normally associate with life. Sometimes this has been criticised for its lack of character depth, but whilst reading it you don't really notice that as you are so absorbed in the tale. With a host of characters and lots of things happening this is a book for anyone who loves a good read.