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Book Review
Dec. 2nd, 2006 11:00 amNicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens
I really enjoyed Nicholas Nickleby. I guess I just didn't appreciate Dickens properly when I was younger, because I don't remember liking his writing nearly this much when had to read Great Expectations in high school. Also, I think that Dickens' reputation for being wordy is greatly exaggerated. Sure, he's wordy by the standards of contemporary writing, but when compared to other 19th century authors, he's not particularly verbose.
Oddly enough, the title character is actually not that interesting - Nicholas is a fairly standard 19th century Nice Guy. He seems to be more of catalyst for plot and a central axis around which the other characters move. This is not a problem, though, because Dickens does a brilliant job with the rest of the cast, from the serious characters (Ralph Nickleby, Newman Noggs) to the comic relief (Mr. Mantalini).
by Charles Dickens
I really enjoyed Nicholas Nickleby. I guess I just didn't appreciate Dickens properly when I was younger, because I don't remember liking his writing nearly this much when had to read Great Expectations in high school. Also, I think that Dickens' reputation for being wordy is greatly exaggerated. Sure, he's wordy by the standards of contemporary writing, but when compared to other 19th century authors, he's not particularly verbose.
Oddly enough, the title character is actually not that interesting - Nicholas is a fairly standard 19th century Nice Guy. He seems to be more of catalyst for plot and a central axis around which the other characters move. This is not a problem, though, because Dickens does a brilliant job with the rest of the cast, from the serious characters (Ralph Nickleby, Newman Noggs) to the comic relief (Mr. Mantalini).
