Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining to the last page, despite its length
Review: I had never read one of Dickens book before Nicholas Nickleby, though I had always wanted to. I particularly enjoyed this book because of Dicken's subtle sense of humor and colorful characters. It was easy to hate the villains such as Squeers or Ralph Nickleby, and laugh at the amusing chracters of Mr. Mantalini and John Brody(whom I found to be the funniest) Authenticity of personality and speech allows you to connect with the various chracters. Although he was probably the least complex, my favorite was Smike, the pitiful victim of the Yorkshire schools of the 1800s.
The one drawback was the size of this book. Dickens spent much time giving detail of many places and people (and did a good job of it), but we must draw the line somewhere. Just when one thinks enough words have been spent on one topic, it diverges into yet another irrevelant matter.
I'd recommend this book to almost anyone, unless you have a great fear of commitment. But the book has plenty of plot and satire to hold you to the end. I certainly was, but I don't think my librarian would believe me.
Rating: 
Summary: Early, limited Dickens
Review: I have nearly read all of Dickens's novels (after this one, there are only three that I have not read) so I suppose that it's time for reflection, both on this novel and on Dickens as an author.The first thing to say about this novel is that it is an early Dickens, and it shows: it's closer to "The Pickwick Papers" than to "Great Expectations" in that it's an essentially picaresque novel rather than a unified narrative. As such, it has the attendant drawbacks of that style of writing: thin main characters, upon which are hung a succession of other characters and incidents more or less germane to the main plot. The novel is famous for Dotheboy's Hall, and its tyrannical master, Wackford Squeers. And rightly so - these are the most well-written parts of the novel: unfortunately they occur within the first 200 pages. Thereafter, I found it was pretty standard Dickensian stuff - even the surprises at the end could be seen miles off for the Dickens veteran. As I have read more of Dickens, I've grown more irritated with this method of writing - it may have worked for Dickens's contemporary audiences, but page after page of two-dimensional charicatures engaging in whimsical "adventures" rarely stimulates my interest any more. In "Nicholas Nickleby", the acting troupe is a classic example of this, but there are others. This novel, in my opinion, is not his worst - so far "Little Dorrit" is tops in my list of Dickensian mind-scramblers. But I think that having read a wider variety of fiction, I'm becoming less and less tolerant of Dickens's style than I once was. I suppose that to do justice to any author, one has to bear in mind the context and times in which he or she was writing - not to do so would be (arguably) unjust. Yet, even taking those considerations into account, one either likes a novel or doesn't - it's all subjective. I think that this novel, like others of Dickens's, is an advertisement against authors writing by volume or quota rather than working to what is right for the particular story he or she wishes to tell. The central plot of "Nicholas Nickleby" is just not enough to sustain the length of the novel. One has to meander with Dickens into some fairly stagnant backwaters. Some readers of course love Dickens for this. I find it a bore, particularly as Dickens rarely has the descriptive power and insight to depict people other than on a most superficial level (this applies to women in particular, all of whom are either eccentric old maids or waife-like goddesses vulnerable to a sudden gust of wind - Little Nell in "The Old Curiosity Shop" is a savage indictment of this). I think that I will soldier on and finish the remaining novels I have yet to read, in the hope that there is better to come. But I am increasingly wondering at the high position Dickens continues to hold in English Literature - not that I would advocate rubbishing him - some of his works are superb - but surely a more balanced view of his limitations is needed.
Rating: 
Summary: Favorite book...ever.
Review: I have read quite a lot of the classics; "Les Miserables", "Sense and Sensibility", "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Three Musketeers", and so on. As great as all these books are, "Nicholas Nickleby" is honestly my favorite of them all. I have also read "Great Expectations" and "A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens. "...Cities" was excellent; Sidney Carton is one of the best fictional characters ever created. However, I was not so impressed with "...Expectations". I read this after I read "Nicholas Nickleby" and was dissapointed. I was simply not drawn into the "...Expectations" story as much as "Nicholas...". The characters were not as lively, vibrant. To me it is a shame that "...Expectations" is praised as such a classic, when many people have not even heard of, in my opinion, the superior "Nicholas Nicleby".
Rating:
Summary: Favorite book...ever.
Review: I have read quite a lot of the classics; "Les Miserables", "Sense and Sensibility", "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Three Musketeers", and so on. As great as all these books are, "Nicholas Nickleby" is honestly my favorite of them all. I have also read "Great Expectations" and "A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens. "...Cities" was excellent; Sidney Carton is one of the best fictional characters ever created. However, I was not so impressed with "...Expectations". I read this after I read "Nicholas Nickleby" and was dissapointed. I was simply not drawn into the "...Expectations" story as much as "Nicholas...". The characters were not as lively, vibrant. To me it is a shame that "...Expectations" is praised as such a classic, when many people have not even heard of, in my opinion, the superior "Nicholas Nicleby".
Rating:
Summary: One of the most entertaining novels ever
Review: I read criticisms of this book that it is not one of Dickens' best. For me, it is up there with Great Expectations and David Copperfield as one of his most enjoyable novels (A Christmas Carol is a short story). The social axe that Dickens had to grind in this story is man's injustice to children. Modern readers my feel that his depiction of Dotheboys Academy is too melodramatic. Alas, unfortunately, it was all too real. Charles Dickens helped create a world where we can't believe that such things happen. Dickens even tell us in an introduction that several Yorkshire schoolmasters were sure that Wackford Squeers was based on them and threatened legal action. The plot of Nicholas Nickleby is a miracle of invention. It is nothing more than a series of adventures, in which Nicholas tries to make his way in the world, separate himself from his evil uncle, and try to provide for his mother and sister. There are no unintersting characters in Dickens. Each one is almost a charicature. This book contains some of his funniest characters. To say this is a melodrama is not an insult. This is melodrama at its best. Its a long book, but a fast read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most entertaining novels ever
Review: I read criticisms of this book that it is not one of Dickens' best. For me, it is up there with Great Expectations and David Copperfield as one of his most enjoyable novels (A Christmas Carol is a short story). The social axe that Dickens had to grind in this story is man's injustice to children. Modern readers my feel that his depiction of Dotheboys Academy is too melodramatic. Alas, unfortunately, it was all too real. Charles Dickens helped create a world where we can't believe that such things happen. Dickens even tell us in an introduction that several Yorkshire schoolmasters were sure that Wackford Squeers was based on them and threatened legal action. The plot of Nicholas Nickleby is a miracle of invention. It is nothing more than a series of adventures, in which Nicholas tries to make his way in the world, separate himself from his evil uncle, and try to provide for his mother and sister. There are no unintersting characters in Dickens. Each one is almost a charicature. This book contains some of his funniest characters. To say this is a melodrama is not an insult. This is melodrama at its best. Its a long book, but a fast read.
Rating:
Summary: The Dickensian world
Review: I would say this is "David Copperfield"'s B-side. It is a typical Dickensian book: the life of the Nickleby family from the death of the father until they are rich and happy. One of the most important parts of the book is the study of the horrible boarding schools of Yorkshire, where Nicholas is sent. We can read the dirty intrigues of Uncle Ralph, the adventures of Nicholas and Smikes as travelling actors (a world Dickens came to know very well), the kindness of the brethren Cheeryble. Definitely, this is not one of Dickens's best novels, but nevertheless it is fun to read. The characters are good to sanctity or bad to abjection. The managing of the plot is masterful and the dramatic effects wonderful. It includes, as usual with Dickens, an acute criticism of social vices of his time (and ours): greed, corruption, the bad state of education. In spite of everything, this is a novel very much worth reading, since it leaves the reader a good aftertaste: to humanism, to goodness.
Rating:
Summary: The Dickensian world
Review: I would say this is "David Copperfield"'s B-side. It is a typical Dickensian book: the life of the Nickleby family from the death of the father until they are rich and happy. One of the most important parts of the book is the study of the horrible boarding schools of Yorkshire, where Nicholas is sent. We can read the dirty intrigues of Uncle Ralph, the adventures of Nicholas and Smikes as travelling actors (a world Dickens came to know very well), the kindness of the brethren Cheeryble. Definitely, this is not one of Dickens's best novels, but nevertheless it is fun to read. The characters are good to sanctity or bad to abjection. The managing of the plot is masterful and the dramatic effects wonderful. It includes, as usual with Dickens, an acute criticism of social vices of his time (and ours): greed, corruption, the bad state of education. In spite of everything, this is a novel very much worth reading, since it leaves the reader a good aftertaste: to humanism, to goodness.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the most marvellous books I have ever read!
Review: It suspenses the readers page by page and I would recommend it for all ages.
Rating:
Summary: My Very Own Transcendent Experience
Review: It's impossible for me to describe in 1000 words how I feel about this book. One million words would probably still be insufficient, for I would simply keep thinking of things I love about it. As the title says, this book is my very own transcendent experience. I don't know if one has very many of those during a lifetime. Probably not. But The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby has changed MY life (and adventures) forever. It's almost always hovering somewhere in my mind, whether in the back of at the very forefront. Every conversation incites some reference to it that no one else understands. I've fallen in love with Nicholas; yes, it's true. Something I never thought I'd do. The people (not characters, people) in this story are so close to me I feel that I know them. They're friends and so much more. Can I sound any cheesier? Or any more cliched? I don't really care. It's all true; every word. This book will stay with me for my entire life. It has changed my world completely, and in such a way that I can't imagine a world without it.
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