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Review
“There’s no writing against such power as this—one has no chance.”—William Makepeace Thackeray
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
"Penguin Classics" give you the best possible editions of Charles Dickens' novels, including all the original illustrations, useful and informative introductions, the definitive, accurate text as it was meant to be published, a chronology of Dickens' life and notes that fill in the background to the book. To Paul Dombey, business is all and money can do anything. He runs his family life as he runs his firm: coldly, calculatingly and commercially. The only person he cares for is his little son, while his motherless daughter Florence craves affection from her unloving father, who sees her only as a 'base coin that couldn't be invested'. As Dombey's callousness extends to others - from his defiant second wife Edith to Florence's admirer Walter Gay - he sows the seeds of his own destruction. Can this heartless businessman be redeemed? A compelling depiction of a man imprisoned by his own pride, "Dombey and Son" (1848) explores the devastating effects of emotional deprivation on a dysfunctional family and on society as a whole.
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First Sentence
Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the great arm-chair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were a Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the great arm-chair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were a Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great,
By A Customer
This review is from: Penguin Classics Dombey And Son (Paperback)
The inexplicably neglected 'Dombey and Son' is a stunning masterpiece of 19th century fiction. The invention and bravura of Dickens' use of language is astounding. Coupled with that is a wonderful insight into the introduction of the railways in Victorian England and the often oppressive, alienating powers of a rampant Capitalist system that forces itself above the values of family and personal relationships. In 'Dombey and Son', the dangers of equating business partnerships with social ones are vividly revealed. Coupled with all of this is the presentation of one of Dickens' most compellingly vile villans: Carker. You could call this book, and the ones that come after it, "Dickens' with Teeth" and it is 'Dombey and Son' that inaugurates this development in Dickens' writing. Read it. It's wonderful.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Volcanic passions given voice,
By fusionofhorizons (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dombey and Son (Paperback)
I didn't expect to love this novel. Having previously read only _Tale of Two Cities_ from Dickens' works, I expected the forces of security, order, affection and moral imagination to dominate again, and of course, they do win out in _Dombey and Son_. However, Dickens' overlong tale of an indomitably driven capitalist and his alienation from his children does not shy away from giving due attention to powerful contradictions and volcanic voices of dissent. As Paul Dombey attempts with increasing energy to force everyone around him to comply with the demands of domestic and economic respectability, his wife, children, and friends increasingly undermine him. Most striking are the figures of Edith, whose titanic dissent totally thrilled me, and James Carker, who exposes the internal contradictions of "family values" and capitalism. Dombey's daughter Florence, who he attempts mightily to ignore and devalue in favour of his son, is ultimately vindicated: Dombey must finally give her due justice as a human being (although Florence's dogged loyalty and inexplicable affection for her father seriously irked me!). Dickens provides some astonishingly powerful passages, especially the description of the railway as it thunders mechanized order through the city and countryside, and its association with Dombey's single-minded capitalism. Working-class characters are represented with neither dignity nor justice. However, the book is a great read, and highly recommended, even if you dislike Dickens' politics.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Dickens Ever,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dombey And Son (Paperback)
This is one of the best Dickens novels I have ever read. The character of Florence is so beautifully developed, and while I was reading, I got the sense that Dickens himself was in love with Florence. There's also that sense of mystery, in the dealings of Mrs. Brown and Alice, and their hatred of Mr. Carker. This book is full of surprises, and I was kept riveted to every single page. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone, and one that I will be reading again and again.
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