The Old Curiosity Shop : BBC (BBC Radio Presents)

Rating:
Summary: Immerse Yourself in This Haunting Work
Review: (I should note I read this novel without the benefit of the Penguin or World's Classics notes.)

This might turn out to be a novel to read in its entirety once, and later to read with a little skimming here and there. There are numerous sequences with the capering, grimacing, grinning, over-the-top villain Quilp or with the rather intense narrative of the flight of Little Nell that have much imaginative power, but some of the passages about Kit or Dick are a bit tedious. For me the book was certainly worth one complete reading at least.

Rating:
Summary: Arrogant to proclaim, but this is truly perfect, pure
Review: ...reading delight. Whenever I get depressed or feel like I can't start another book, I re-read some passages of this book written by Charles Dickens. It is one of the best books written in English. Intentionally syrupy and over-sweet, Dickens writes so perfectly as to make the reader wonder how anyone could ever write so gorgeously. If you pass this one up, you're cheating yourself. I couldn't put the book down. It's a rare and special novel that keeps me in bed over the weekend reading from dawn to sleep.

Rating:
Summary: the death of little nell
Review: Charles Dickens's 1840-1 novel, "The Old Curiosity Shop," is an emotionally draining, melancholic, melodramatic, and often super bizarre, even surreal novel. Dickens takes on, as usual, a number of social issues, including child abuse, child labour, gambling addiction, and the inadequacy of the legal system (again, as usual). Centering around the fatiguing wanderings of young Nell Trent and her grandfather, "The Old Curiosity Shop" offers a stark dichotomy between the country and the city in terms of moral virtues, and gives us a quest for the seemingly forever fading good life. A life of ease is a difficult pursuit, surely, but no more so than in this novel.

"The Old Curiosity Shop" begins as Little Nell, almost 14 years old, makes her way through the dark alleys of London back to her aged grandfather's old curiosity shop (hence the name). Her grandfather absolutely doats upon Nell, and all of his misguided energies - he is a totally reckless gambler - are devoted to providing for her future wellbeing. Their peace is constantly threatened by one of Dickens's most insistently evil characters, the dwarf Daniel Quilp, who is a loan shark among other things. When Quilp finds out (though he is nearly omnipresent, in spirit, if not in person throughout the novel, and prides himself on his piercing awareness) that Nell's grandfather has gambled away all of Quilp's loans to him, Quilp takes possession of the old curiosity shop, and one morning, seeking a new life of freedom in the country, Nell and her grandfather run off. Believing the grandfather to have a pile of untapped wealth secreted away somewhere, Quilp enacts a number of schemes to track and trap them, which gets us into the main action of the novel - Nell's wanderings and Quilp's pursuit.

The Old Curiosity Shop itself is really only a symbol, as it isn't in the action of the novel for very long - it seems to represent the decaying past of the future, if that makes any sense. It is the future decay of the city in the hearts of Nell and her grandfather as they seek the ever elusive peace and quiet of the open country. Perhaps foreshadowing the dark, cramped, undulating bits within Mr. Venus's shop in "Our Mutual Friend," here, the curiosities are largely encountered out in the world. The astonishing mass of humanity that Nell and her increasingly mentally-enfeebled grandfather encounter on their Tennysonian quest toward the western horizon are the curiosities in this book. Good, evil, and ambivalent, the people who populate the curiosity shop that is the world of the novel are a strange lot. Dickens was seemingly always at his best with his minor characters - here we get the magnificently rendered Dick Swiveller (who may be considered a protagonist), the faithful Kit Nubbles, the difficult pony Whiskers, the abused wife Mrs. Quilp, the Marchioness, Mrs. Jarley the wax-work owner, the misanthropist Tom Codlin and his partner Short Trotters the puppet-show masters, and a cast of dancing dogs are some of the most important and impressive of the minor characters.

Dickens is very good at melancholy and melodrama, but "The Old Curiosity Shop" takes all that to almost an absurd extreme. Having a very young teenage girl practically leading her dotard grandfather on foot aimlessly through trial, pursuit, and outrageous physical privations - it is a formula tailor-made for a festival of crying. The treatment the nameless (how's that for abuse?) Marchioness receives at the hands of her mistress, Sally Brass, is likewise one of the most reprehensible situations I've ever encountered in literature, as well as one of the most fascinating. Dickens uses setting in this novel to enhance the drama of the situations - though the novel moves steadily from London to within sight of Wales, few of the points between have names - most are simply types of crowded, dirty cities, humble hovels, roadside inns, and the pastoral settings themselves seem simply to be taken from a primer on idylls. This allows Dickens to play out his dramas on interchangeable sets, and gives Quilp's relentless pursuit an intensity underscored by the fact that we are never sure where we are. In "The Old Curiosity Shop," melodrama is always teetering on the brink of either blissful dream or outright nightmare.

The one problem I have with this Penguin edition, as with several others, especially of Dickens's works, is that the editorial notes, helpful and exhaustive as they are, have a disturbing tendency to give away key plot elements, sometimes hundreds of pages before they occur. Best, when reading the Penguin, especially for the first time, to refrain as much as possible from the explanatory notes. Otherwise, this is Dickens, and the novel itself is remarkable.

Rating:
Summary: Gets off to a rough start but still a good novel
Review: Dickens wrote a lot of great books under installments, but this one really could have used a re-write. Some of his characters change chapter by chapter (Kit Nubbles can barely read in one chapter and is seen writing a letter in another) and the beginning is an absolute mess. This novel (along with Barnaby Rudge) is started as being told by a member of a storytellers group, but then that approach is abandoned completely.

When Dickens eventually does find his footing, the novel gets a lot better. His characters are wonderful as always. Nell meets a sad end, but is one of Dickens' better protagonists (well he did prefer his daughters to his sons...). Quilp is incredibly creepy, and the romance between Dick Swiveller and the Marchioness is incredibly sweet and fun. Not one of Dickens better novels, but the Old Curiosity Shop still has a lot to offer. And on the ending... I didn't cry, but I didn't exactly laugh either (guess I have a "heart of stone" if Oscar Wilde has anything to say about it).

Rating:
Summary: Tear Jerker, Victorian Style
Review: Every night grandfather slips out ...for what purpose? How Daniel Quilp would like to know. For Quilp, a prototype of Fagin, has fronted Grandfather money and grandfather has lost it all. Poor Nell. How she suffers. The two are evicted from their home and shop and take to the highways and byways of Merry Olde England, pursued by Quilp who would like to see them tossed in the debtor's prison. Those who hate the old stories with the 'happily ever after ending' will find relief here. The ending is a bit sappy and sad.

Rating:
Summary: A Tad Dark and Let-Downish
Review: I just finished it. I read this book because I like Dickens and his way with the English language. I personally think that the reviews which are written on the back cover and elsewhere do it a disservice because they let you know that the primary character, so sweet and deserving of a happy conclusion, dies in the end, which can negatively charge one's mind concerning it from the beginning. That's what happened to me.

As another reader/reviewer mentioned, I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction to Dickens, and I would definitely not use it as a bedtime story. However, except for the fact that Dickens spends way too much time expounding on death and graves and other dark subjects, the book does have its colorful characters and interesting places. As a literary work, I think it's great. If you like Dickens-esque English and characters, you won't be disappointed. The story, though, will have to confront your own opinion.

Rating:
Summary: I love the characters in this book!
Review: I loved this book for its characters, especially Little Nell. In fact, when I think of Dickens and his work, Little Nell is the character that comes to mind. She so embodies everything that he wrote about in all his wonderful books. The plot in this book is a little simpler than some of his plots. It centres around Little Nell and her grandfather's search throughout the roads and fields of England for a home where they can live happily and comfortably. The book has been accused of being "schmaltzy" and perhaps it is, but the ending is actually quite sad. It's a heartwarming book, and I think a good introductory book to Dickens and his works. Read this one, and then try tackling some of the other, more complex ones. That's my advice.

Rating:
Summary: Another Character Gallery from Dickens
Review: The Old Curiosity Shop certainly displays the hallmarks of the unstructured, free-flowing make-it-up-as-you-go-along type of story characteristic of Dickens's early novels. Indeed, it is rather generous to call it a story, and it's difficult now to understand the sensation it caused when it was first published. However, if a page-turning plot was all there was to it, very few of Dickens's novels would be readable at all. As ever with Dickens, the pleasure in reading this book comes from the comedy, diversity and richness of the characters, as well as the sheer mastery of the English language which came so naturally to him.

The central characters are old Trent, his granddaughter Nell, the moneylender Daniel Quilp, young Kit and the wonderful Richard Swiveller. Of these, the spotlessly pure Nell and the irredeemably evil Quilp are the moral opposites around which the book revolves, old Trent is rather a pathetic figure, while Kit's sturdy progress from poverty to respectability makes for happier reading. However, it is the moral journey of Swiveller, which perhaps reflects the geographic journey undertaken by Nell and her grandfather, which is the real joy of this book. He enters the book in the guise of a rogue, involved in dubious intrigues with Nell's no-good brother and also with the repulsive Quilp. However, from the time that Quilp gets him a job as a clerk in the office of Samson Brass and his sister, the awful Miss Brass, Swiveller's basic decency and natural good humour begin to reveal themselves, and his soliloquies and dialogue provide many hilarious moments from that point on. The Dick Swiveller who subsequently meets up with the hapless young girl kept prisoner by Miss Brass is funny, considerate, charming and kind, and a long way from the doubtful type of character that he at first appears to be.

The book proceeds along two different narrative lines; one which charts the progress of Nell and her grandfather on their long journey, and the other revolving around Swiveller, Quilp and Kit, and to a lesser extent the families of these latter two, as well as "the single gentleman" and the little girl memorably christened "The Marchioness" by Swiveller. One of the big faults I found with this dual structure is that the characters of one plot line have no contact with those in the other plot line for most of the novel, and it is left to the Quilp, Swiveller and Kit to act out most of the drama. Nell and her grandfather spend most of their time journeying through various scenes of early nineteenth century life in England. Nonetheless these all make for enjoyable reading. One particular scene where Nell and her grandfather sleep beside a furnace in the company of a wretched man who watches the flames is particularly memorable.

All in all, it's not exactly a page-turner, and the ending is not a happy one. I would not recommend this book as an introduction to Dickens, and is best read by people, like myself, who have already decided that anything by Dickens is worth reading. Also it focuses less on London than many Dickens novels, and gives an interesting view of rural, village and town life outside London in those times.

Rating:
Summary: Dickens characters still work, but don't be in a hurry!
Review: The only pleasure greater than discovering a new book
is rediscovering an old friend you haven't read for a while.
Many years ago I read all of Charles Dickens novels, but I
recently had occasion to re-read The Old Curiosity Shop, and
it is just as good as I remembered it the first time.

The story, like most of his plots, depends a great deal
on coincidences, so you have to suspend your scepticism to
enjoy it. Dickens begins by introducing us to one of the
most innocent little girls in literature, Little Nell, and
to her most unhappy grand-father. Quickly we discover that
instead of the old man taking care of the child, she is the
one responsible. We then meet one of Dickens' great villains
- the evil, corrupt, mean, and nasty Quilp - a man, if that
term can be used, who has absolutely no redeeming qualities,
one who finds pleasure in inflicting pain on all he meets.

Thinking that the old man has secret riches, Quilp
advances him money to support his gambling habit.
Unfortunately Nell's grandfather never wins, and the debt
grows ever larger. Finally Quilp forecloses on the curiosity
shop that the old man owns (thus the name of the book) and
tries to keep the two captive in order to discover the money
that he still believes is hidden somewhere. While the
household is asleep, however, Nell and her grandfather
escape and begin wandering across England in a search for
sanctuary.

On that journey, Dickens introduces us to a series of
minor characters who either befriend or try to take
advantage of our heroine. He's in no hurry to continue the
main story, so just sit back and enjoy the vivid
characterizations that are typical of any good Dickens
novel.

In the meantime, we follow the adventures of young Kit,
a boy who was one of Nell's best friends until Quilp turned
her grandfather against him. Here we find one of Dickens'
favorite sub-plots, the poor but honest boy who supports his
widowed mother and younger brother. Thanks to his honesty,
Kit finds a good position, but then evil Quilp enters the
picture and has him arrested as a thief!

Of course, we have the kind and mysterious elderly
gentlemen who take an interest in Kit and Nell for reasons
that we don't fully understand until the end of the book. We
are certain, however, that they will help ensure that
justice prevails in the end.

This is not a book for those in a hurry. Dickens tells
his stories in a meandering fashion, and the stops along the
way are just as important for your enjoyment as the journey itself. That can be frustrating at time, especially as you enter the second half and are anxious to see how things turn out. I try never to cheat by reading the end of a book before I finish, but it is tempting with Dickens. At times I wanted to tell him, "I don't want to meet anyone else; tell me what happens to Nell and Kit!" But I know the side journeys will prove rewarding, so I just have to be patient. Anyway, I am in better shape than his first readers; he wrote in weekly installments, so
they had to wait!

If you have and enjoyed other Dickens' novels, you will enjoy this one as well. If this is your first time (or perhaps the first time since you were in high school), you are in for a treat.

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST EDITION OF THIS BOOK
Review: This edition of the Old Curiosity Shop is outstanding. It contains all the original illustrations drawn for the book, very helpful footnotes, a chronology of Dickens's life, etc. The book takes the reader on a wild journey through the English countryside with Little Nell, an angelic girl, and her troublesome grandfather, and features a host of amusing characters as only Dickens can draw them. While it was being written in serial form, it was so popular that sailors returning to port in England were known to shout to people on shore to ask what was going on with Little Nell. Today, however, you can miss some of Dickens's nuance and humor if you don't have good footnotes to turn to. The notes in this book explain obscure terms, references to contemporary popular culture, places where the action occurs, etc. If you are going to read this book, this is the edition to buy.