It took me over a month to read this novel or should I say study this novel. Charles Dickens is either the greatest writer of all time or the greatest magazine editor that ever lived. I slowly read (and studied) 20 pages or so a day with some breaks spending time with my acrylic painting hobby. It’s not that I eschewed my daily chore, but one has to understand with Dickens you must go at a snail’s pace or chance missing his meaning. I’ll let you read the first paragraph of page 183, chapter 18, “There are many lives of much pain, hardship, and suffering, which, having no stirring interest for any but those who lead them, are disregarded by persons who do not want thought or feeling, but who pamper their compassion and need high stimulants to rouse it.” Now, if you read that at a normal pace, you will not understand what he just wrote. You must reread much of his novel before reading on or risk discerning his thoughts. Coupled with seemingly hundreds of characters (it was actually 40+) knowing that one of these early minor or major characters (some were comically abhorrent) will surely appear near the end of the story to completely vex you because you didn’t pay proper attention to him/her. Most of Dickens’s novels were originally monthly or weekly serial publications before being published into book form. The adventures of Nicholas Nickleby was Dickens’s third novel, written while still writing Oliver Twist. Poverty was always the main theme in his novels, Dickens himself witnessed his father being sent to Debtor’s Prison causing the twelve-year-old Charles to bounce from place to place which led Dickens to believe “the rigors of life were unfairly borne by the poor.” (Wikipedia). “Masses of the illiterate poor would individually pay a halfpenny to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of reader.” (Wikipedia). Alright, enough about Dickens, what’s the story about? I’m glad you asked.
BTW, before I give you a brief rundown of the story, I want to apprise you of how Dickens tells a story (at least in my 1944 illustrated copy). He writes a little blurb about what’s going to happen in italics before the chapter starts, such as, in chapter XII, he previews it with, “Whereby the reader will be enabled to trace the further course of Miss Fanny Squeer’s love and to ascertain whether it ran smoothly or otherwise.” Anyway, I thought those little interpolations before each chapter were refreshing. Before I tell you about the story, I need to give you an example of the author’s amazing descriptive ability (I promise my synopsis is coming shortly). On page 383, chapter XXXV, our protagonist, Nicholas Nickleby meets Mr. Charles Cheeryble, twin brother of Ned, “He was a sturdy old fellow in a broad-skirted blue coat, made pretty large, to fit easily, and with no particular waist; his bulky legs clothed in drab breeches and high gaiters, and his head protected by a low-crowned broad-brimmed white hat, such as a wealthy grazier might wear. He wore his coat buttoned, and his dimpled double-chin rested in the folds of a white neckerchief-not one of your stiff-starched apoplectic cravats, but a good, easy, old-fashioned white neckcloth that a man might go to bed in and be none the worse for. But what principally attracted the attention of Nicholas, was the old gentleman’s eye,-never was such a clear, twinkling, honest, merry, happy eye, as that. And there he stood, looking a little upward, with one hand thrust into the breast of his coat, and the other playing with his old-fashioned gold watch-chain: his head thrown a little on one side, and his hat a little more on one side of his head (but that was evidently accidental; not his ordinary way of wearing it), with such a pleasant smile playing about his mouth, and such a comical expression of mingled slyness, simplicity, kind-heartedness, and good-humor, lighting up his jolly old face, that Nicholas would have been content to have stood there, and looked at him until evening, and to have forgotten, meanwhile, that there was a thing as a soured mind or a crabbed countenance to be met within the whole wide world.” Wow, now you know why many people think Dickens was paid by the word (not true). Notice the heavy use of adjectives and long sentences.
Nicholas Nickleby’s father lost everything in the stock market and dies thereafter. Mrs. Nickleby, Nicholas, and his sister, Kate, go to London to seek rescue from the wealthy and devious, Uncle Ralph Nickleby, their only relative. Ralph grudgingly puts them up in an abandoned house he owns after the Nicklebys had a short stay at kindly miniature painting artist, Mrs. LaCreevy’s home. Nineteen-year-old Nicholas asks for help in finding employment. Ralph hates Nicholas and gets him a low-paying job as a teaching assistant to the repulsive Wackford Squeers, who runs the school Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire. Squeers and his wife are mean to the boys who live there. Squeers keeps most of the money the parents give him and he beats and starves the boys regularly. He especially picks on a boy named Smike. (are Dickens character names special or what?). One day while Squeers is beating up Smike for nothing, Nicholas loses his composure and pummels Mr. Squeers. Nicholas flees with Smike to London not knowing what Squeers is going to tell his uncle. Mrs. Squeers says, “I hate him worse than poison.” Meanwhile, Ralph gets Kate a low-paying job at Madame Mantalini’s fashionable milliner shop. She is initially liked by her boss, Miss Knag until the customers want to deal with Kate only because of her good looks. Now Miss Knag hates Kate and schemes to get rid of her. Newman Noggs, who clerks for Ralph Nickleby, takes Young Nicholas under his wing and provides shelter for Nicholas at the Kenwigs’ home while he’s on the run from Squeers. He also finds Nicholas a new job teaching the four young Kenwigs children French. (Nicholas changes his last name to Johnson). Noggs, once successful himself, is now a drunk who despises his boss, Ralph. In the meantime, Ralph asks Kate to host a dinner party at his house for clients of nobility and wealth. He just wants a pretty face around to enhance his business prospects and it works as everybody there tries to get close to Kate. This rattles a country girl like Kate and she bursts into tears and runs out of the room pursued by the dominating Sir Mulberry Hawk and his friend, Lord Fredrick Verisopht. Uncle finally gets a coach for Kate and she leaves in tears.
I’m going to end my review of the story now because it’s about ready to take off like a runaway train and I want you to enjoy all the ensuing happenings. There are many adventures and miss adventures for the Nicklebys and their conglomeration of good and bad characters yet to be touched on, you have had only a taste of this marvelous novel. It’s a tough read not just only because of the 711 pages, but because of Dickens’s grandiose writing style which was prevalent during his times. Also, occasional bouts of Mr. John Browdie speaking with an accent, such as, “And she wur coaxin’, and coaxin’, and wheedlin’ a’ the blessed wa’. Wa’at didst thou let yon chap mak’ oop tiv’ee for? Says I. ‘I deedn’t John, says she, a squeedgin my arm. ‘You deedn’t ?’ says I. ‘Noa,’ says she, a squeedgin of me agean.” Boy, Hemingway sure simplified things in the 1920s. All kidding aside, Nicholas Nickleby is an important read and should be savored like a fine wine.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: On June 8th, 1870, Charles Dickens suffered a stroke and died at his home. He was only 58 years old. He was working on an unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dan Simmons (a great writer) wrote a wonderful novel, Drood, in 2009. It is hypnotizing story about Dickens narrated by his real-life friend and author, Wilkie Collins (The Woman in White).
Amazon writes, “Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author’s last years and may provide the key to Dickens’s final unfinished work.”
If you have time (you should make room), Drood and The Woman in White are two of my all-time favorite novels (surely in the top ten). Both novels are over 700 pages each but worth reading.
