Barnaby Rudge

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Summary: Don't start here, but don't stop till you've read this
Review: Barnaby Rudge is an early Dickens novel, his first historical novel, of the Gordon riots of 1780, about fifty years before his time. The book is a mere 634 pages, that is, two thirds as long as Copperfield but a 100 pages longer than The Old Curiosity Shop. One of Dickens' strong points is atmosphere, and this novel is one of his best in that department. His description of the Maypole Inn and its proprietor, slow John, is marvelous. Much of the book describes the riots and their effect on various characters. Barnaby himself is an idiot, but such an excellent character for all that. The villians actually have good qualities in this book. And by the way, the Raven Grip is supposedly the model for Poe's raven. I would not start reading Dickens with Barnaby, but even though it's not as well known as ten other of his novels, I can highly recommend if you like other Dickens to give this book a read. I intend to reread it in my next round of Dickens rereading.

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Summary: Another sample of Dickensian Grotesquerie
Review: Let me open with a quote from the book:

"On the skull of one drunken lad -- not twenty, by his looks -- who lay upon the ground with a bottle to his mouth, the lead from the roof came streaming down in a shower of liquid fire, white hot; melting his head like wax."

You think Edgar Allen Poe to be the king of horror? Meet the author who far surpasses him in making flesh creep and cringe, in this book more than most. In Barnaby Rudge, Dickens portrays the Gordon Riots, a violent anti-Catholic outburst in London in 1780, supposedly started by the opposition by Lord Gordon to some acts in Parliament which would've relieved some of the burdens of Catholic citizens: the right to directly inherit property and the right to educate their children in England. As usual, Dickens ignores the political pressures, likely brought about by the French allying themselves with the Americans in their colonial war, which would've stirred up suspicions of Anglo-Catholics being in league with the French.

In any case, I can see why this book has never matched the popularity of "A Tale of Two Cities", as there is no possibility for heroes in scenes of mob violence. Even those who refuse to cooperate with the rioters can do little more than resist. Locksmith Gabriel Varden, being forcibly brought to Newgate prison, refuses to pick the lock for the masses of rowdy men intending to free their comrades and anyone else locked inside; however, his resistence means little as the mob decides to burn down the door instead. Mr. Haredale is often defiant, but he can do little more than beat a retreat when faced by hundreds of belligerent men. None of this "'Tis a far, far better thing..." kind of statement which can be made.

Ignore the plot lines. They are cursory, even for Dickens. They are there merely to set up the characters and their own personal motivations so one can see what happens to them when all order dissolves. I could see why the English of Dickens' day may have not wanted to read this book -- it was far too scary, especially as Dickens portraying the fuel to the rioters' fire being the primal urges to destruction and looting. Though there was then (in 1841) a better policing force and better prisons, there still was the unbearable poverty and dissipation alive in London. Then, as now, there were plenty ripe to take advantage of any opportunity to set fire to the town. Think the actions in here too far-fetched for even these times? Consider the fires, destruction, and looting that start in any modern city, once rioters have been given an opening.

People are crushed underfoot, men are consumed by the very fires they had set, and decent people stand by because they are powerless in the face of the massive wave of violence. Dickens shirks not one detail. If you're thinking of a quaint Victorian period piece, for crying out loud, don't read this book! Go read Pickwick Papers or Old Curiosity Shop. However, if you enjoy this kind of disaster, by all means, read Barnaby Rudge (or might I suggest Hard Times, which has some pretty horrific deaths).

Rating:
Summary: Highly Overlooked
Review: 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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Summary: An action-packed historical novel
Review: This is a well paced and fast-moving historical novel set during the anti-popery riots in London in 1780. Although not as grippingly exciting as Dicken's other historical novel, A Tale Of Two Cities, there is plenty of drama here to sustain the reader's interest.

The fictional characters are well woven into the historical setting, and the portrayal of these characters gives the book some of its best comic moments, from the suave Edward Chester, to the vengeful Simon Tappertit, to the spiteful Miss Miggs, to the devious hangman, Dennis. The hero of the book is Gabriel Varden, whom Dickens repeatedly describes, rather clumsily, as "the honest locksmith". Varden has to suffer constant friction in his own household between himself, his wife, his apprentice and his maid, and this agitation reflects the agitation of the masses in the streets.

One of the best features of the book is the way it successfully carries a number of plot lines. The main one of these concerns a murder committed many years previously for which no-one has been convicted. There are several other sub-plots such as the tension between the Catholic Haredale and the Protestant Chester, Joe Willet's love for Varden's daughter, the comical scheming of the apprentice locksmith against his master and the presence of a shadowy stranger who pursues Barnaby Rudge's mother. Some elements of the plot fizzle out a bit too easily towards the end, such as the attempt to kidnap Haredale's daughter, but the overall effect of the book is very satisfying.

This is one of Dicken's least remembered novels, but I think it is well worth reading and an excellent introduction to his work.

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Summary: What a mess
Review: This recording is perhaps one of the worst I have ever encountered. I admit to having only listened to it for few minutes before giving up, but what a mess of an effort. I am sure that when this was originally broadcast there must have been a narrator. Here it is merely a series of voices and it makes things very difficult indeed. There are also some rather rural accents featured on this recording, making it extremely difficult for an American to follow. This is a well-intended, but ultimately a mess of an attempt to render one of the novels of Dickens into drama. The whole thing seems like someone brought a tape recorder down to the pub on a Friday night and hoped for magic to take place.

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Summary: Dickens' Other Historical Novel
Review: 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.