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: Dickens' First Mature Novel
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: Ponderous portrait of pride
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: Useful Read for Gender Theorists
Review: Some readers will find Dombey and Son's early nineteenth-century sensibility very charming. The novel's sentimental plot appeals to a reader's hopes for redemption or justice in this life, for the finding of true love, and for other kinds of balance. Readers who have never believed in, or who no longer can muster hope for, such happy endings as occur in Dombey and Son will probably reject the novel as silly. The novel is long but nonetheless inadequate in its attention to characters. Captain Cuttle, although one of Dickens's more colorful and memorable characters, gets far more attention than he deserves considering his minor role in the book. Other more important characters, mainly Walter Gay and Paul Dombey, Jr., are absent for most of the novel. Mr. Dombey's depiction, too, is not particularly well developed: readers are permitted to see very little of Dombey's life as a businessman. Other minor characters such as Rob the Grinder, Mr. Toots, Mrs. Brown, and the elder Carker brother appear frequently but contribute little to the reader's understanding of Florence Dombey and her father. Probably as many readers will object to the novel's conflicted depiction of women as will to its extravagant plot. Florence Dombey and Edith Granger, Mr. Dombey's second wife, represent two types of women. Florence is a girl and later a young woman whose happiness depends exclusively on her success at pleasing the men in her life, regardless of how they may treat her. Edith Granger's happiness, on the other hand, depends on her success in pleasing herself and living her life according to the dictates of her conscience. That such a woman as Edith could find in Florence someone to admire and, in the time of her greatest unhappiness as Mrs. Dombey, to live for, is probably the most unbelievably sentimental aspect of the novel. 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. If you've never read Dickens, you should consider reading a different novel first because Dombey and Son is probably not one of his best. If, however, you are interested in nineteenth-century ideas about women, you will find this novel useful.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A watershed
Review: This book marked the beginning of Dickens' mature style, and it holds up very well today. The dark portrait of the loveless marriage among the Dombeys is remarkably compelling. As ever, there are moments of brilliant comedy to lighten the mood, here involving the characters of Captain Cuttle (a fine, warm creation) and Babstock. A must read for Dickens fans who want to understand how his art developed.
Rating: 
Summary: Bag of Wind
Review: This book was the most boring piece of crap I have ever read. Just because Dicken's wrote some good pieces does not mean all of his works belong in the Hall of Fame. This might have been better in serial form, but not in a full book. I can only recommend this book to insomniacs.
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.
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