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Title: Barnaby Rudge (Oxford World's Classics) by Charles Dickens, Jon Mee, Iain McCalman, Clive Hurst ISBN: 0-19-284056-8 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Want a good riot?
Comment: Dickens' first historical fiction, "Barnaby Rudge" is not a big favorite either with Dickens fans or with critics, largely because of its curious lack of the divinely memorable characters for which Dickens is usually known. (There are some good characters, but not the all-star cast we come to expect from the master.) Be this as it may, there's no denying that the buildup and eruption of the Gordon riots in London offer us some of Dickens' most compelling writing. Once the riots finally begin, they sweep us along in a torrent of demonic energy that is suitably appalling to the reader. For this reason, "Barnaby Rudge" is certainly worth reading. Even "A Tale of Two Cities" does not conjure the same breathless chaos as "Rudge" does. Also, though it is one of Dickens' earlier books, it has much more evidence of structured planning than do more improvised works such as "Pickwick Papers" and "The Old Curiosity Shop." Dickens would not truly master the art of creating a well-rounded novel in serial installments until "Dombey and Son," but he is clearly on the right track here.
Rating: 4
Summary: Dickens' Other Historical Novel
Comment: When one says "Charles Dickens" and "historical novel" in the same sentence, the immediate impression is of the French Revolution adventure "A Tale of Two Cities". But Dickens wrote another historical novel 18 years before, in 1841, the complex and colorful "Barnaby Rudge", set during London's anti-Papal riots of June 1780, when there was a reaction against the Catholic influence in Parliament. Populated by a large cast and activated by a plot of intrigue and danger, it is one of the best of Dickens in his early period. In fact, it is perhaps Dickens' most under-rated work. As usual with Dickens, the characters find themselves in a labyrinth of relationships. Sir John Chester is an impoverished habitué who tells his handsome son he expects the young man to insure the family fortune in the time-honored tradition of decadent nobility: by marrying money. "With regard to our circumstances, Ned, you may set your mind at rest upon that score. They are desperate." His son is appalled, the more so as he is in love with Emma, the daughter of a country gentleman, Geoffrey Haredale, Sir John's moral opposite. Running parallel to this love story is that of Joe Willet, the good-hearted son of John Willet, the proprietor of the Maypole Inn, where much of the action takes place. Joe is courting the daughter of Gabriel Varden, an honest, hard-working locksmith, a proletarian hero. (Originally he was the book's title character.) Gabriel's daughter Dolly, Joe's inamorata, is one of those human cookies so adored by Victorian England. (All through the 19th Century articles of clothing were named after her: the Dolly Varden bonnet, the Dolly Varden cape, etc.) Touching these families is Barnaby Rudge himself, a strange, simple-minded boy whose naïveté leads him into joining the rebellion led by the Protestant radical Lord George Gordon, who also appears as a minor character. Barnaby's constant companion is a talking raven; their conversations sound like vaudeville routines. His mother hides one of those dark family mysteries Dickens used so suspensefully in "Oliver Twist"; and this theme is reflected in Sir John Chester's secret: he is the illegitimate father of ... the story's least likely character. The novel is filled with Dickensian trademarks: ironic drama, an odd sense of humor, and, of course, strong sentimentality. With the bloody Gordon riots as a climax, "Barnaby Rudge", elaborate and absorbing, is an impressive predecessor to Dickens' better-known tale of the Reign of Terror.
Rating: 4
Summary: Highly Overlooked
Comment: This book is probably the most overlooked of Dickens' major efforts. It lacks the silly slapstick and joy of Pickwick Papers, and is missing the biting social commentary (at least not as biting) of Little Dorrit and Hard Times. Also, it is always listed in the "about the author" section as being somewhat of a commercial letdown at the time.
The truth is that it is a great book. It has enough silliness to let you know that it is Dickens, but is accompanied by a good bit of darkness. In fact, it's almost macabre at times.
In the end, this is a great story from a master storyteller. Isn't this the true benchmark of a classic? For all the ingenius stylism of "The Sound and the Fury" would we love it half as much (if at all) if the styling didn't accent a most captivating tale? Well, "Barnaby Rudge" is just that....a thoroughly captivating tale in the classic Dickens style.
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Title: The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Patricia Ingham ISBN: 0140436146 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Nicholas Nickleby (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Mark Ford, Hablot Knight Browne ISBN: 0140435123 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (New Oxford Illustrated Dickens) by Charles Dickens ISBN: 0192545167 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Little Dorrit (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Stephen Wall, Helen Small ISBN: 0140434925 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Our Mutual Friend (PENGUIN CLASSICS) by Charles Dickens, Adrian Poole ISBN: 0140434976 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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