Our Mutual Friend
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'The great poet of the city. He was created by London'
--Peter Ackroyd
Adrian Poole writes in his introduction to this new edition, 'In its vast scope and perilous ambitions it has much in common with Bleak House and Little Dorrit, but its manner is more stealthy, on edge, enigmatic'.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
--Peter Ackroyd
Adrian Poole writes in his introduction to this new edition, 'In its vast scope and perilous ambitions it has much in common with Bleak House and Little Dorrit, but its manner is more stealthy, on edge, enigmatic'.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last complete novel, gives one of his most comprehensive and penetrating accounts of Victorian society. Its vision of a culture stifled by materialistic values emerges not just through its central narratives, but through its apparently incidental characters and scenes. The chief of its several plots centres on John Harmon who returns to England as his father's heir. He is believed drowned under suspicious circumstances - a situation convenient to his wish for anonymity until he can evaluate Bella Wilfer whom he must marry to secure his inheritance. The story is filled with colourful characters and incidents - the faded aristocrats and parvenus gathered at the Veneering's dinner table, Betty Higden and her terror of the workhouse and the greedy plottings of Silas Wegg.
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First Sentence
IN THESE TIMES OF OURS, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge, which is of iron, and London Bridge, which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
IN THESE TIMES OF OURS, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge, which is of iron, and London Bridge, which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was quite simply dazzled by this book and zoomed my way through it in a few days. I wanted more, even after this race through its nearly 900 pages, taken in by the breathtaking scope not only to be found in the diversity and credibilty of even the most eccentric characterisations, such as Wegg or Podsnap, something only to be expected from Dickens, but by the moral flux of so many situations and in the thoughts of the likes of Mrs. Lammle or Bella Wilfer. The cruel satire encarnated in the figure Mrs. Wilfer alone had me laughing out loud and the Society scenes around the Veneering's table are so marvellously observed that they had me wondering how on earth Dickens could have had a friend left in Victorian 'polite society'! Brilliant. The river-shore scenes are amongst the most wonderfully atmospheric I've come across in his work: one wonders again what manner of 'field work' Dickens did to to depict this strangely amphibious half-world and it's population. The tone of the prose, too, was in marked contrast to the only very slightly earlier Great Expectations; greater in breadth of style and scale, with far sharper social criticism and biting humour. In fact, it's the humour, and its very darkness, which I felt most stood out in this tour-de-force. Yes, it's a whopping great book: yes it might take you time to get through, and yes again, the very wealth of its style, the range of personalities, settings, motives and dilemas will inevitably mean that one's attention becomes selective. Yet this only means the challenge is greater and, for this reader anyway, the rewards higher. I really loved it, and would encouarge anyone who's enjoyed a Dickens to have a bash.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to admit that of all Dickens' novels this is probably the one that I have read the most. This was his last completed novel and he shows an amazing insight into society and its workings, as well as psychological analysis. It also has some of the darkest humour of any of his novels.
When a body is fished out of the Thames it is presumed to be that of John Harmon, a beneficiary under the Harmon will, providing he marries a certain woman. With John Harmon out of the picture the Boffins' inherit and really are at a loss what to do with their inheritance. Mr Boffin wishes to learn to read and is imposed upon by one scallywag.
There is a lot to take in here, and of course there are the brilliant characters that only Dickens could invent. Of course there is quite a convoluted plot as with all Dickens' works, but remember this was originally published serially in parts and you had to have a 'hook' to get readers to buy the next installment. But mainly the novel is about the role money plays in society, and about rebirth. This is probably the most sophisticated of all his works and may help to give a glimpse into how his last unfinished novel may have proceeded.
When a body is fished out of the Thames it is presumed to be that of John Harmon, a beneficiary under the Harmon will, providing he marries a certain woman. With John Harmon out of the picture the Boffins' inherit and really are at a loss what to do with their inheritance. Mr Boffin wishes to learn to read and is imposed upon by one scallywag.
There is a lot to take in here, and of course there are the brilliant characters that only Dickens could invent. Of course there is quite a convoluted plot as with all Dickens' works, but remember this was originally published serially in parts and you had to have a 'hook' to get readers to buy the next installment. But mainly the novel is about the role money plays in society, and about rebirth. This is probably the most sophisticated of all his works and may help to give a glimpse into how his last unfinished novel may have proceeded.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged
grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or
twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter.
The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with
the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his
waistband, kept an eager look out. He had no net, hook, or line,
and he could not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a
sitter, no paint, no inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty
boathook and a coil of rope, and he could not be a waterman; his
boat was too crazy and too small to take in cargo for delivery, and
he could not be a lighterman or river-carrier; there was no clue to
what he looked for, but he looked for something, with a most intent
and searching gaze. The tide, which had turned an hour before,
was running down, and his eyes watched every little race and eddy
in its broad sweep, as the boat made slight head-way against it, or
drove stern foremost before it, according as he directed his
daughter by a movement of his head. She watched his face as
earnestly as he watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look
there was a touch of dread or horror.
Dickens's last completed novel opens in a dark world. The Thames is indeed a river of death. The opening plays on our attempt to apprehend the purpose of such night wandering. And any attempt at logical resolution is defeated by denial. How many times do we assuage fear through rational enquiry?
Yet the solution to this dilemna is our worst fear: death and ignoble death at that; the male fisherman trawls the river for bodies; suicides and murder victims for financial gain. Gaffer Hexman is a river vulture who travels out each night with his daughter Lizzie;a girl with a pure face; a vulture 'married' to an angel.
I doubt Dickens wrote anything more nightmarishly pervasive: London's River Styx transporting lost creatures to Hades via Dickens' own Charon, yet mysteriously accompanied by Persephone, who is just as lost as those she has been forced to seek...
One of the best novels Dickens ever created. Unmissable, especially at night!
grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or
twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter.
The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with
the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his
waistband, kept an eager look out. He had no net, hook, or line,
and he could not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a
sitter, no paint, no inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty
boathook and a coil of rope, and he could not be a waterman; his
boat was too crazy and too small to take in cargo for delivery, and
he could not be a lighterman or river-carrier; there was no clue to
what he looked for, but he looked for something, with a most intent
and searching gaze. The tide, which had turned an hour before,
was running down, and his eyes watched every little race and eddy
in its broad sweep, as the boat made slight head-way against it, or
drove stern foremost before it, according as he directed his
daughter by a movement of his head. She watched his face as
earnestly as he watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look
there was a touch of dread or horror.
Dickens's last completed novel opens in a dark world. The Thames is indeed a river of death. The opening plays on our attempt to apprehend the purpose of such night wandering. And any attempt at logical resolution is defeated by denial. How many times do we assuage fear through rational enquiry?
Yet the solution to this dilemna is our worst fear: death and ignoble death at that; the male fisherman trawls the river for bodies; suicides and murder victims for financial gain. Gaffer Hexman is a river vulture who travels out each night with his daughter Lizzie;a girl with a pure face; a vulture 'married' to an angel.
I doubt Dickens wrote anything more nightmarishly pervasive: London's River Styx transporting lost creatures to Hades via Dickens' own Charon, yet mysteriously accompanied by Persephone, who is just as lost as those she has been forced to seek...
One of the best novels Dickens ever created. Unmissable, especially at night!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
review of "Our Mutual Friend"
I have not read this book yet. I bought it after listening to a beautiful dramatisation on radio 4 extra earlier this year. Read more
Published 1 month ago by vera
So that's what the fuss is about
I bought the print version of Our Mutual Friend because I was struggling to read such a long book on my eBook (it was our Book Club choice recently in an attempt to read a Dickens... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lit Chick
Gold dust beneath the mounds
What would I make of the first novel by Dickens that I have read for years? I was struck by how much it is Victorian soap-opera-cum-sitcom. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Antenna
Disappointing
With this, I have now read all of Dicken's novels, but this was a disappointment. This was partly because my previous read was " Little Dorrit", which I rate my favourite, but... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Donald Hughes
Brilliant
I am so glad I downloaded this. It's not a quick read but the story and the characters really come to life making it a fulfilling journey that I throughly enjoyed.
Published 9 months ago by Paul Hogarth
Super Book
To my mind this is one of Dickens' greatest books. The plot isn't always easy to follow, especially at first, but the characters are superbly drawn and, although there is sadness... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Squiggle
Our Mutual Friend
Working my way thorough Dickens' books again (as I seem to do every few years), I started with Barnaby Rudge, and moved on to Our Mutual Friend. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Keen Reader
Loved this one!
Our Mutual Friend opens with Gaffer Hexam and his daughter Lizzie discovering a dead body in the Thames. Read more
Published 16 months ago by H. Skinner
'By the sweat of my brow'
Just a word about the Kindle edition: there are frequent typo errors that could do with ironing out, mainly missing quotation marks at the beginning of dialogue. Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. J. H. Thorn
Dickens engages with sexual love and desire and their consequences
It is very interesting to read the various reviews here on Amazon of this novel which I suspect along with "Dombey and Son" is not one of the most widely enjoyed and popular of... Read more
Published 17 months ago by M. Raynes
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