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Rating: 
Summary: Complex, richly drawn, psychologically accurate characters
Review: A previously posted review asks: "How can readers accept that a woman's happiness can be achieved either through living to make men happy OR through living according to one's conscience? Surely one of these characters deserves the author's condemnation yet neither clearly receives it." It is sad when a reader is so intent on pigeonholing complex, richly drawn characters into narrow politically correct categories that he or she misses out on joys of a wonderful novel like this. Florence is denied her father's love, blames herself, and strives harder for it. This is a psychologically accurate portrait of what such a child would do, not an example of "living to make men happy" that Dickens should have condemned or praised. Likewise as to Edith's "living according to her conscience," although in fact she fails to live according to her conscience, and hates herself for it. And another previously posted review says that "the ending is wonderful, and Dickens ties up the numerous subplots with the most delightful precision." I found the final 100 pages the only bad part of the book, as Dickens artificially ties up matters that he had no need to tie up; he should have ended the book sooner. But this is my favorite Dickens novel so far.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Fast 800 Pages.
Review: Although this novel is 800 pages long, it is so well constructed that you do not notice how long it is. Careful reading of this enables you to see that Dickens had this novel very carefully thought out from the start. Characters such as Paul Dombey, Florence, and little Paul are very well drawn and very convincing. I can not overestimate the grace in which Dickens balances suspense, good and bad omens, comic relief, and powerful images. The reconciliation scene between Florence and her father is a scene of such rare and exquisite beauty. (even to me an English Major) Along with "David Copperfield" (1850), "Bleak House" (1853), and "Hard Times" (1854), this is a phenomenal masterpiece beyond expectations.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Story, Touching Plot, Adorable Characters
Review: First and foremost, this is the first story that has been truly able to touch the part of my brain that is concerned with love and affections (functions mistakenly assigned to the heart in former times). The touching and tragically-ended relationship between the young girl Florence and her brother left me sleepless and haunted for many nights. Mr. Dombey's coldness towards his daughter Florence made me pity the little girl and their eventual reconciliation and mutual love made me quite delighted, though I was still haunted by the earlier parts of the book when I reached the end.Secondly, I have found myself to be quite in love with Florence. Even though she is a fictional character, her innocence and love and affection for everyone who is kind to her has won me over. If only Florence could come to life, travel through time to the twenty-first century, and arrive in my household, I would love her forever as my sister. I am quite jealous of Walter Gay indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Best Dickens Ever
Review: I was not overly thrilled with Dickens' previous novel Martin Chezzlewit, despite those amazing American scenes. That was a transitional work - where Dickens was going can be seen quite clearly in Dombey and Son. In Dombey and Son we have the biting satire (the title being the biggest black joke of all) and the more expansive social criticism of Dickens' later work. Dombey is a proud business man and wants an heir. What he does to his children is chilling and his second marriage becomes its own nightmare. Dombey is also where Dickens starts using an overriding symbol for his longer works - here the railroads as a symbol of progress and brute force. The plot is surprisingly linear for such a long Dickens novel - it lacks the myriad of subplots that his other novels have. The going is slow at times but the psychology gets deeper and more intricate as you continue. This novel is too often overlooked but it is a fine work of the author's early maturity. It points the way to Dickens' two best novels which immediately follow - David Copperfield and Bleak House.
Rating:
Summary: one of dickens' best
Review: If you love Dickens, you'll like this book. If you're not committed to the work and style of Boz, you may have a hard time getting through it. It gets off to a very slow start; it wears its didactic aims more prominently on its sleeve than most of Dickens' novels do (the preceding novel, Martin Chuzzlewit, having been a study of the perils of greed, this one is likewise a study on self-destroying pride.) Its heroine is so self-sacrificing, uncomplaining, sweet and forgiving that a modern reader is likely to feel the impulse to throttle her more than once. I found it the least satisfying of the dozen Dickens novels I've read, and have rounded its three and a half stars up rather than down, in honor of all the other good stuff he's produced. All that being said, the book contains plenty of rewards for the persevering. Dombie's daughter, the over-gentle Florence, is more than made up for by a string of sharply drawn women who are nobody's wallflowers: the peppery Susan Nipper, the fearsome landlady Mac Stinger, and the magnificent second Mrs. Dombey, whose inflexible, bent pride puts steel to her husband's flint as the story gains headway halfway through. The plotting is intricate and tight, the peeks into Victorian hypocrisies (never far removed from our own) are trenchant, and we are treated to what is possibly the most riveting death scene in the whole oeuvre, which Dickens chose to present from the decedent's point of view in a stream of consciousness passage as remarkable for its technical daring as its sentimentality. Throw in the superbly menacing, dentally impeccable villain, Mr Carker, and a rogue's gallery of lesser despicables from the streetwise dunce Chicken, to the blustering toady Joe Bagstock, to the second Mrs. Dombey's outrageous tin magnolia of a mother, and it's a book you'd be happy to stumble across in the cabin some snowbound weekend. The Oxford World Classics edition has an extremely useful set of notes, which includes in full Dickens' initial outline of the work.
Rating: 
Summary: Dombey and...Daughter
Review: On the birth of one of Dickens sons, he voiced his disappointment - he would of rather had another girl. The author made an overt and rather personal statement in this novel of one man's condemnation of a daughter and obsession over a son. Florence is an idyllic child. Patient beyond belief, sheltered from the world, but abandonded and made to suffer her parent's emotional detachment and maniacal power. This character format - the young helpless, innocent, angellic girl - shows up time and time again in Dickens' novels (i.e. Nell in 'Curiosity Shop,' Agnes in 'David Copperfield'). Critics believe that the death of the author's younger sister, Mary Hogarth, had a lot to with it. Dickens adored her innocence and grieved her loss to excess. In fact, while mourning her death in the country, he missed a deadline for 'Pickwick Papers' - the only time he EVER missed a deadline. Another interesting fact: he took a ring from her finger moments after she passed and wore it always. * I visited the Dickens House Museum in London - it was not the favorite of his homes. Especially since it was where Mary died. 'Dombey' is important in other aspects. It was the first time Dickens ever made character/plot notes, and it signaled his departure from the more light-hearted novels such as 'Pickwick' and 'Nickleby.' He called his notes "mems," which was short for memorandum. The female characters make this an enjoyable read. They are continually in power and direct the plot. Dominant male figures are left powerless or romanced by them in the end. The women of 'Dombey' seek love, revenge, and freedom from varying constraints (i.e. domestic, societal). You need to hang in there - it can be a slow read - or as the tenacious Captain Cuttle would say 'Steady! Stand by!'(for this humor alone, the book is worth reading). For the truest fan of the 'inimitable' author it's a wonderful journey.
Rating:
Summary: Best Dickens Ever
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Touching story, adorable main character
Review: This is the first story that has been able to touch my "heart". The touching and heartbreakingly-ended relationship between the young girl Florence Dombey (the main character who was 7 years old in the beginning of the story and around 20 in the end) and her little brother Paul Dombey Jr. left me sleepless for many nights. Florence Dombey's eventual winning of her unaffectionate father's heart made me quite joyful, though I was still haunted and saddened by the earlier parts of the book. Moreover, Florence Dombey's affection for all who were kind to her has made me fall in love with her. I wish she could come to life, travel through time into the 21st century, and become my adopted sister. Oh, Floy, how I love you, how I love you, dear Floy! ("Floy" is Florence's nickname) I would definitely recommend this book to all who have a "heart", or more scientifically, a region in the brain that is sensitive and receptive to love and affection.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Place To Start
Review: Upon finishing Dombey and Son this morning, I thought back to the first Dickens work I ever read, which was David Copperfield, as a freshman in high school. Since then I have read many others, all with the same extensive cast of characters, side plots, etc.....
Except this one....which makes me question why it is not used as an introduction to the works of Dickens in school curriculums.
Dombey and Son, as a title, refers to the business which provides wealth, title, and position to Mr. Dombey, the aforementioned father. The 'son' refers to a succession of partners in that business, as well as an arrival at the opening of the book, which leads to the demise of Mrs. Dombey. But little Paul Dombey, sharing in his father's first and last names, joins an already present sibling in the world, his sister Florence.
Through the course of the novel, you realize that Dombey and Daughter are really the focus of this story....the fortunes and misfortunes that befall them both, the grievous neglect of one for the other, despite the efforts of the one neglected to reconcile...and a host of others that enter and exit from their lives.
But to recapture and jusitfy my initial point, this book is a marvelous starting point to read Dickens. It is far easier to keep track of the cast of the story, as it is more limited than other Dickens novels, while sharing the same length as most others. The story lines all really do feed into the central plot, and while the 'comedy' that I so enjoy in Dickens's prose is, admittedly, more limited here...it still is a highly enjoyable tale, and a great place to get your feet wet with one of history's best tale-weavers.
Although bittersweet and melancholy in tone, for the majority of the story, Dombey and Son holds up with Dickens's other novels as a true classic.
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