Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: Along with Bleak House, my favorite Dickens novel. Awash with drama and vivid characters that you will care about, it has everything Dickens is justly renowned for. The American interlude is kind of strange, but interesting to see through the eyes of an Englishman, and quite hilarious in places. Better, in my opinion, than many of his better-known works.
Rating: 
Summary: Pecksniffery and Mrs. Harris
Review: If nothing else, one can come away with images of use in your daily lives. Read this book to understand the hypocrisy of Pecksniff and Mrs. Prigg's interesting friend, Mrs. Harris. These two things pop up as literary references all over the place. Now I finally understand the "Harris" reference in Murder on the Orient Express!There are all sorts of deceptions and selfishness going on in this book, but by far, Seth Pecksniff is the most perfect character to be found of all Dickens' comic characters. There is a darkness in the profile of Mr. Pecksniff, but he is made to ridiculed, and Dickens does not let a chance pass to ridicule Pecksniff. I want to digress a moment, for Dickens did as well -- there is a section where young Martin Chuzzlewit tries his fortune in America. And there is quite a bit of anti-American sentiment to be found in these parts (a fact which caused emnity between Dickens and the American public until he made his 2nd and final tour in 1870 or so). There are two reasons for this: first, Martin Chuzzlewit simply did not have the sales figures of previous novels. Anti-American books seemed to be "the thing" (just like diet books are popular today) in Britain, so he went for that. Secondly, Dickens had just been on a rather contentious tour of the U.S. in which he had been trying to make a case for international copyright. You see, the U.S. was the China of that day -- infamous for pirating works of people from other countries. Publishers in America had been printing their own copies of Dickens novels at cut rates (because they weren't paying Dickens or his British publishers anything!) When Dickens tried to make his plea for intellectual property rights, these same publishers of newspapers did a hatchet job of Mr. Dickens' reputation. So, basically, Dickens had an axe to grind. In any case, feel free to skip all the Chuzzlewit in America bits. There is a moment of self-realization for young Martin, but it's not essential. All the essential action is going on in England, and Martin will return to finish business. There's also a pyramid scheme-like scam going on as part of a subplot, so now we've got two things involved in this novel that people think are debates of modern origin: intellectual property rights and bad financial info. Just remember, Napster and Internet stock tips are only the latest manifestation of old themes; at the very least, this book will remind you of that.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Dickens' best
Review: If you like Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit is definitely worth the read. Like virtually everything he wrote, this novel is engaging, emotional, and intensely human. It follows a pattern that is bound to seem familiar to those acquainted with Dickens, and has a very Dickensian happy ending; but then, that is what we love about Dickens. There is still something to be said for virtue, and it satisfies our sense of justice when it wins out in the end. That isn't a very modern sentiment, but it is an undeniably good one. This isn't the first book I would recommend for someone wanting to pick up a little Dickens (Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist would probably all come first), but this is worth the read. I give it four stars only because I think it is second-tier Dickens; but second-tier Dickens is still first-rate.
Rating:
Summary: Dickens best work, especially the character Mark Tappley...
Review: Mark Tappley, who is always 'jolly', and the worse the situation, the better opportunity he sees for himself to "come out strong"; is my favorite character in my favorite Charles Dickens novel, "Martin Chuzzlewhit": (here Jonas Chuzzlewhit rides in a carriage with the man he is destined to murder within a few days...) The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed; the rain poured down like Heaven's wrath. Surrounded at one moment by intolerable light, and at the next by pitchy darkness, they still pressed forward on their journey. Even when they arrived at the end of the stage, and might have tarried, they did not; but ordered horses out immediately. Nor had this any reference to some five minutes' lull, which at that time seemed to promise a cessation of the storm. They held their course as if they were impelled and driven by its fury. Although they had not exchanged a dozen words, and might have tarried very well, they seemed to feel, by joint consent, that onward they must go. Louder and louder the deep thunder rolled, as through the myriad halls of some vast temple in the sky; fiercer and brighter became the lightning, more and more heavily the rain poured down. The horses (they were travelling now with a single pair) plunged and started from the rills of quivering fire that seemed to wind along the ground before them; but there these two men sat, and forward they went as if they were led on by an invisible attraction. The eye, partaking of the quickness of the flashing light, saw in its every gleam a multitude of objects which it could not see at steady noon in fifty times that period. Bells in steeples, with the rope and wheel that moved them; ragged nests of birds in cornices and nooks; faces full of consternation in the tilted waggons that came tearing past: their frightened teams ringing out a warning which the thunder drowned; harrows and ploughs left out in fields; miles upon miles of hedge-divided country, with the distant fringe of trees as obvious as the scarecrow in the beanfield close at hand; in a trembling, vivid, flickering instant, everything was clear and plain: then came a flush of red into the yellow light; a change to blue; a brightness so intense that there was nothing else but light; and then the deepest and profoundest darkness. The lightning being very crooked and very dazzling may have presented or assisted a curious optical illusion, which suddenly rose before the startled eyes of Montague in the carriage, and as rapidly disappeared. He thought he saw Jonas with his hand lifted, and the bottle clenched in it like a hammer, making as if he would aim a blow at his head. At the same time he observed (or so believed) an expression in his face: a combination of the unnatural excitement he had shown all day, with a wild hatred and fear: which might have rendered a wolf a less terrible companion. He uttered an involuntary exclamation, and called to the driver, who brought his horses to a stop with all speed. It could hardly have been as he supposed, for although he had not taken his eyes off his companion, and had not seen him move, he sat reclining in his corner as before. `What's the matter?' said Jonas. `Is that your general way of waking out of your sleep?' `I could swear,' returned the other, `that I have not closed my eyes!' `When you have sworn it,' said Jonas, composedly, `we had better go on again, if you have only stopped for that.' He uncorked the bottle with the help of his teeth; and putting it to his lips, took a long draught." This most wide-ranging of Dickens' books is also famous for it's criticisms of American culture in the 19th century, or the lack thereof, as well as the lack of ethics, personal hygeine, table manners, modesty, and of any ability to accept criticisms of that nature. People get very hostile toward good authors, and spitting tobacco juice on every available object, animate or inanimate, was apparently considered an important freedom guaranteed by the Constitution... P.S. Charles Dickens was surely one of the greatest writers of horror, though he's unrecognized as such. I can't wait to start reading "Our Mutual Friend"... which opens with a father and daughter scavenging for corpses on the Thames. But if you enjoy a nice financial scandal, I think a fine companion to "Martin Chuzzlewhit" is Emile Zola's "Money", which also deals with financial corruption, having a "Universal Bank" of it's own to rival the "Anglo-Bengalese Disinterested Loan And Life Insurance Company"...
Rating:
Summary: Dickens does the murder mystery and comes out on top!!
Review: Martin Chuzzlewit gets its start much like any other Dickens novel--we are introduced to the rather blase main characters and the amusing minor characters, and Dickens slowly--and I mean slooowly--weaves the web of his drama. We meet the Chuzzlewit brothers, Mr Pecksniff and his daughters, and (among others) the lovable Tom Pinch, who is utterly devoted to Mr Pecksniff. "Another middle-period Victorian comedy of manners," we presume, and read a few pages at a time, until BAM! the novel kicks into high gear. I won't spoil the unforgettable final half of the novel for you, but suffice it to say that I read it ALL in one day, spellbound. Any would-be author of pageturners could learn a lot from the story of Jonas Chuzzlewit, masterfully spun by the greatest novelist in the Englsih language. Enjoy it, one and all!
Rating:
Summary: A pure pleasure
Review: Martin Chuzzlewit is full of those wonderful characters that Dickens excels at writing. His characters, both the odious and the virtuous, literally seep into your consciousness and feel like people you know (in fact, people you are certain you've met). With Martin Chuzzlewit, Dickens gives us some truly awful examples of humanity and the all too common selfishness and false piety that so many demonstrate in their daily lives. We stand beside the poor, woefully abused Tom Pinch and cheer at his every minor victory, and watch the machinations of Mr Pecksniff and his daughters, Charity and Mercy, with despair. In fact, every character feels like a true individual with a complete life of his or her own. Dickens succeeds brilliantly at making his characters come to life. It is, indeed, these characters, far more than the overall plot, which makes this a wonderful read. We are drawn, literally, into their lives and we actually feel an emotional connection with them. That while some are caricatures of 'good and bad', they are so fully realised, it makes little difference. This is not to say the entire novel works - as with much writing of this period, the style might frustrate modern readers who are used to straightforward writing that 'cuts to the chase' - Dickens certainly liked the written word and he uses it liberally, as an artist might cover a canvas with thick, colourful paint. Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel you don't (and shouldn't) sit down to all at once. It's something to be savoured and enjoyed over time (as the original readers would have done, anxiously waiting for each chapter to be printed). This world is simply too detailed to skim through. If you're an American, you might question the inclusion of the American section. While it ultimately brings about a characters transformation, its sarcastic, and at times scathing, humour of 1800's Americans is undoubtedly too much for some in the mainstream American audience. It's a pity that more people don't seem to have a great sense-of-humour about themselves - probably one reason this wonderful book has never enjoyed the success of other Dickens classics in the US (though it's still very popular). My suggestion (rather than another reviewer who shamefully said to just skip the US bit) is to simply look at this new world through an outsiders eyes (remember that this was 100 years ago) and understand they won't always see things with rose-coloured glasses - and lets admit it, nowhere is perfect. Just remember, for all of Dickens' criticism of the US, it is tame compared to his observations of life in England; unfortunately some Americans seem to forget that. So, if you're looking for a wonderfully funny story of how truly good people are tormented by those who feign to be good, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Just waiting for everyone's comeuppance is worth it. Once you get into it, you won't want to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Great Cathartic Read for problems with $ and Family
Review: Martin Chuzzlewit the elder is dying and all the family has designs on gaining their inheritance. His grandson seems the odds on favorite but young Martin, the grandson has fallen madly in love with the elder Martin's altruistic nurse, Mary Graham. Why the elder Martin finds this terrifying is puzzling. Does he really think Mary's interest in Martin the younger will compromise the quality of her job? Oh, oh...I've done it, I've caught Dickens capturing the foibles of humanity again!!!
These characters sometimes make me scream. I'd like to be face to face with them, vigourously attempting to argue them out of their other-destructive behavior...Of course it would be totally useless as far as they're concerned, but hopefully cathartic for me.
The PBS video is 6 hours long and it is the way I became familiar with this story. After viewing the video I plan to grab the book to see just what did happen to young Martin in America. From all indications, Dickens appears to offer a marked contrast to his near contemporary Alexis deTocqueville's. Where Tocqueville sees free association and high community spirit in his Democracy in America, Dickens saw flim-flam and greed everywhere. -Evidently, the trip over the Atlantic to 'seek his fortune was symbolic here of exposing young Martin to the ills of selfishness by extreme overexposure. Other reviewers have commented on Pecksniff , Mrs. Gump, Jonas Chuzzlewit and Tom Pinch. Oh there are Dickensian characters in this book. The rivalry between Mercy and Charity Pecksniff results in this case, in alarming tragedies of self-centeredness. Then if you cna shift gears, if you can believe in a humorous wheeler dealer, keep your eye on Montigue Tigg (Tigg Montigue) He is every bit the operator vis a vis Mr. Merdle of Dicken's Little Dorritt. Rest assured, as Dickens torments the reader with the trials of his characters, this is one of those tales where just desserts are served in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: wanders
Review: this book suffers from the lack of a central character to carry the story. young martin chuzzlewit, the book's namesake, only appears in about a quarter of the book. old martin chuzzlewit appears in even less. seth pecksniff and sairey gamp are both amusing, but their characters are not central to the story. jonas chuzzlewit is central to the story, but he doesn't show up until halfway through. without a character to draw the reader's interest, a character the reader can follow the fortunes of, the book wanders. it's not a surprise that the installments of this novel didn't sell well. the prose is gorgeous, as usual, but the story drags. worth a read, but not if you're new to dickens. best to start off with nicholas nickleby which doesn't suffer from the same defect.
Rating:
Summary: self
Review: This is Dickens' tale (and some would say lecture) about selfishness. Dickens' presents characters that embody different aspects of this vice, from the hypocrisy of Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp, to the thoughtlessness of young Martin Chuzzlewit and Mercy Pecksniff, the suspiciousness of old Martin Chuzzlewit, to the vengefulness of Charity Pecksniff, from the villainy of Jonas Chuzzlewit, to the duplicity of Tigg Montague. But Dickens doesn't stop here: the book also explores this theme on the larger institutional and national scales, as well. The American detour can be seen as a condemnation of the hypocrisy of the U-nited States of the early 1800's. And the Life Assurance Co scam is clearly an indictment of selfishness when its ambitions grow to encompass those beyond one's immediate circle. To his credit, Dickens doesn't lay these latter evils at the abstract feet of 'countries' and 'companies', but shows that even in these suprapersonal entities, the original sin lies with individuals.
Rating:
Summary: wanders
Review: Who am I to argue with Dickens? One of the greatest authors of all times and I still didn't know about this book. Maybe size puts people off or maybe it's just overshadowed by the ones everyone has to read in highschool, but Martin Chuzzlewit is one of the best by Dickens. Sly wit and sarcasm prevade the book, making it still an interesting read even in modern times. A little confusing sometimes, yes, but it was well worth the read. This was the first book I'd ever read where I orginally hated a character then began to like them after the reformed. I think this book is truly under rated. Thick as it is, this book is one of the best Dicken's novels I've ever read.
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