Nicholas Nickleby tells the story of Nicholas and his family
and friends. His father dies and he must now support his mother and sister,
Kate. They travel to London to seek the help of his father’s brother Ralph.
This does not go quite as planned because Ralph is not a nice person and only
cares about money and himself. Things do not get off to a good start when they
accept Ralph’s advice and help and only encounter vile people. When they
surrender themselves to fate events take a turn for the better and they meet
merchants and philanthropists the Cheeryble twins, Charles and Ned. They help
the Nicklebys and their lives get much better. Thanks to the Cheerybles the
Nicklebys don’t need to rely on Ralph and Nicholas and his sister even find
themselves spouses. It’s a happy ending for most that deserve it and an unhappy
one for most of those who don’t.
All the characters are well rounded and it feels as if you
know them and know how they’re going to react to something before they do. It’s
obvious which characters you’re supposed to like and which ones you aren’t and
for the majority of them, this was exactly how I felt. I didn’t connect with
any of the characters really as they were all a bit plain. Really, we needed
the villains to mix things up a bit. I found myself taking against Mrs
Nickleby. She is very self-centred and always needs to be the centre of
attention, much like Mrs Bennet in Pride & Prejudice. There are a lot of
minor characters and may be there mostly to break up the tension and provide
some comic relief. None of them stood out for me, they were all just a bit
boring.
The plot of the book dragged a bit for me. We didn’t really
need to know the fates of all the minor characters. I do enjoy Dickens’
storytelling but, not knowing an awful lot of history, can’t tell which bits
are social commentary and which are pure fiction. This is Dickens’ first novel where
romance features heavily and it’s not easy to do and avoid offending people.
It’s a sensitive subject, especially back then. The end result feels a bit
Shakespearean to me; all the characters end up getting married and you can tell
who Nicholas and Kate are going to marry. At some points I found it a bit
confusing, when Ralph was conspiring against people but I think as long as you
got the gist it was okay. It was a nice story and leaves you with a bittersweet
feeling.
I love a bit of Victorian England which is possibly why I
like Dickens so much. His descriptions of places let you picture them and feel
the atmosphere. I certainly wouldn’t want to live there but spending a couple
of weeks there via a book is about right. London life hasn’t really changed in
two hundred years; it’s still chaotic and on top of itself but somehow gets by.
Dickens London is smaller and more manageable so is slightly easier to get your
head around where everything is. The centre of London is overcrowded with whole
families living in a couple of rooms. When Nicholas moves to the outskirts he
gets to live in a nice cottage, which I like.
I didn’t like this book as much as the other two I’ve read
but still enjoyed it. I think some of it may be due to Dickens trying a new
genre and working out how to tell the story as he wants to. For me the ending
made up for parts of the book that were difficult to get through. Although
you’re supposed to route for Nicholas, I found myself wanting things to turn
out for Kate Nickleby. She has to put up with so much from her mother, her
uncle and men wanting to court her that she has no interest in. When Frank
appeared I was hopeful for her future. I found myself drawn into their lives
and wanting the best for them. Even if Mrs Nickleby annoyed the hell out of me.
Overall rating 4 out of 5.
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