About this title: Dickens's huge, rambling novel tells the story of the Nickleby family after the death of the father, when the family is tyrannized by their nefarious Uncle Ralph. Nicholas becomes a schoolmaster at a brutal Yorkshire school run by the evil-hearted Wackford Squeers, who treats his young charges with neglectful brutality. Nicholas and the orphan boy, Smike, run away and join a troupe of traveling actors. Hearing that his sister Kate is in danger, Nicholas travels to London and foils his uncle's vile plans for her. The frail and saintly (if simpleminded) Smike dies, after which it is revealed ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Wildside Press
Date Published: 02/2004
ISBN-13:9780809597543ISBN:0809597543
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover., In like new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 624 p. read more
Binding: Audiobook Cassette
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Date Published: 06/2001
ISBN-13:9780786118779ISBN:0786118776
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. 14 cassettes. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 9/10/1998
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Fair. 0192836234 Ships from PA, 15-day return for any reason. Fast Shipping, thank you for your order. book is cocked Wear on corners and edges. read more
Edition: 2nd Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam, New York
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780553210866ISBN:0553210866
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Minor creasing to wraps. Soiling and edge wear. Light shelf wear. Solid reading copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Acceptable in Not Issued jacket. Solid copy. Spine and cover are creased and worn. Used stickers are on the back of the book. Some highlighting/underlining within text. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Very Good. 0192836234 Copy has been read but remains in nice & clean condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or high-lighting. Spine is tight; a clean read. Some shelf wear and tear to the cover. Interior of book is in great condition. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Very Good. 0192836234 Copy has been read but remains in nice & clean condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or high-lighting. Spine is tight; a clean read. Some shelf wear, staining, and wrinkling to the dust jacket and edges of the book. Interior of book is in great condition. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Good. 0192836234 Copy has been read but remains in good condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or high-lighting. Spine is tight; a clean read. Two 1 inch tears to the front cover. Some shelf wear and wrinkling to the dust jacket and edges of the book. Interior of book is in great condition. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192836236ISBN:0192836234
Description: Good. 0192836234 Copy has been read but remains in good condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or high-lighting. Spine is tight; a clean read. Shelf wear and tear to the cover. Some small tears to the cover. Interior of book is in very good condition. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Sorry, CD missing. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"Continuing with my foray into Dickens. I liked this one a lot -- more than Dombey and Son but not as much as David Copperfield. (Still, Nicholas, is really a more interesting character than David, who, as many others have pointed out, doesn't actually do all that much, unless you count wandering around Europe fitfully mopping his brow.) As in Dickens's other works, we meet a dizzying cast of characters, many of whom are hilarious, some of whom are annoyingly two-dimensional -- hello, Cheeryble brothers -- and some of whom are just plain exasperating -- I'm looking at you, Mrs. Nickleby -- but none of whom are dull. And you won't find a better villain than Wackford Squeers, the vile one-eyed schoolmaster.
A nostalgic footnote to this book: I'm afraid that even the book itself can't quite erase my memories of the unbelievably fabulous Royal Shakespeare Company production of this in the early 1980s (nine hours, but that's what you get when you dramatize a 930-page book with around 592 characters). Of course, though I'm dying to see it again now, it's not available on Netflix. Curse you, Netflix!"
"I stayed up late to finish this novel, and it was well worth the lack of sleep! Nicholas Nickleby is an engrossing and exciting read; full of some perfectly nasty, evil, and some very good-hearted characters. Also, I have to say that I had no idea that the conditions at the so-called "Yorkshire schools" were so incredibly deplorable. Yet for every moment of 'doom and gloom' in the novel, Dickens comes right back with the 'bright light' and 'flowers' of the better side of humanity.
The novel is fast-paced and relentless in its point and counter-point as our hero, Nicholas, goes from adventure to adventure making life better for his sister, Kate, his mother, and his wonderful circle of friends and companions, especially his beloved, Smike (one of Dickens' characters I refer to as 'Saints'). With each Dickens novel I read, I am becoming more and more appreciative of the term "Dickensian" and realize how few truly great writers have the ability to so fully engage the reader's intellect and emotions in the plot and characters of their novels. If it has been a few years, or you've never read this novel, I thoroughly recommend sitting down and immersing yourself in the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. You'll love every moment!"
"This is pretty much a standard Dickens novel. Naive Nicholas and his kind sister have to make their way in the world despite their annoying mother and malevolent Uncle Ralph. As always their are some great supporting characters. Dickens also takes the opportunity to get up on his social criticism soapbox when describing the horrors of Yorkshire schools. While very funny and enjoyable, I would highly recommend this book to someone who loves Dickens, but if you're not sure he is for you, I'd wait on this one and start with Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist."
"In Nicholas Nickleby we find Dickens consolidating his approach begun in his two previous novels, returning to some of the humor found in Pickwick while continuing the social criticism begun in Oliver Twist. The focus is on boys' boarding schools in Yorkshire which were notorious for their poor conditions. Early in 1838 Dickens visited the schools in Yorkshire accompanied by his illustrator Hablot Browne and Dickens used some of his experiences in his novel. With Nicholas Nickleby comes Dickens first attempt using a young man as his protagonist and incorporating the bildungsroman style into the novel along with the picaresque approach that was so effective in Pickwick Papers. The novel begins with Nicholas and his sister Kate and their mother destitute upon the death of their father. Turning to their uncle, Ralph Nickleby, they find a man comparable to Dicken's later creation, Marley, (whose ghost will torment Scrooge). Nicholas is sent to Mr. Wackford Squeer's Academy, Dotheboys Hall where he assists Mr. Squeers. His education is immediate and jolting to his refined character. Some of Dickens' main themes the theater. It is a passion of Dickens and that passion is quite evident in this novel. Once Nicholas has left the "boys' school" run by the Squeers he soon takes up with a theater troupe. He is successful translating plays from French into English and doing some acting. This leads me to the theme of illusion and reality. There are examples of this in almost every chapter. In the first scenes of the novel we see Nicholas' family lose their modest wealth when his father's investments are more illusory than real. Nicholas' mother turns to her brother-in-law for help upon the death of her husband only to find any notion of family bonds is also an illusion. Of course the "school" where Nicholas is posted by his uncle Ralph is an utter illusion, much to the detriment of the boys confined therein. As we read further in the novel we find that characters are more likely to not be what they first seem to be; finally, it is somewhat ironic that Nicholas would find himself in a theater troupe learning the profession of creating illusions for a paying audience.
The number of characters seems to grow geometrically as is typical in most of Dicken's novels, but most of the characters introduced so far are interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. Nicholas' growth and education (this novel is a bildungsroman of sorts) is the most interesting aspect of the novel for this reader. But I wonder what it would be like to have the story told from the point of view of his sister Kate? The city of London is very much a character in the novel with Dickens sharing his love for this city more than once probably drawing on the experiences he had on the long walks that he often took (cf. pp. 390 & 446, and 2) the narrator includes brief comments on the state of novel-writing itself (p. 345).
Nicholas Nickleby ends well for Nicholas and his sister Kate. Along with their mother they can look forward to a much brighter future than the one that they faced as the novel began. In creating this 'happy' ending Dickens left many of the most eccentric comic characters by the wayside, gone are the Crummles and Miss Knagg along with other minor characters left by the wayside. Whether this is a flaw in the novel (perhaps) or not the last section of the story does move rapidly to tie up loose ends and provide answers to the more intricate mysteries of relations among the characters. For the details of these answers I suggest you read the novel.
In spite of its seeming lack of structure, a claim which is belied by the strong arcs of both Nicholas' education in life and Ralph Nickleby's search for rewards for his greed and miserliness, the novel is Dickens' first success in the genre (his previous three books being journalistic and picaresque treats, but not novels). One theme that is embodied in this novel is expressed by Newman Noggs as Nicholas despairs that the schemes of Ralph and Arthur Gride will defeat him, his family and Madeline Bray (his one true love). Newman responds with what may be considered the main theme of the novel:
'Hope to the last,' said Newman, clapping him on the back. 'Always hope, that's a dear boy. Never leave off hoping, it don't answer. Don't leave a stone unturned. It's always something to know know you've done the most you could. But don't leave off hoping, or it's of no use doing anything. Hope, hope to the last!' - p. 641, Nicholas Nickleby
As I reader you have hope for the good in Nicholas and Newman and John Browdie with the support of the Cherryble brothers; and, you have hope that the evil of Ralph Nickleby, Gride and Squeers will receive justice. You hope to the last."
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