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Dombey and Son

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About this listen

 In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey. A sensitive family drama unfolds between this stern father, his two children, and aloof wife in which time and fateful events bring a slow, inexorable pressure to bear upon the hearts of all. In Paul Dombey we witness the force of social and personal arrogance ("For Dombey is as proud, Ma'am, as Lucifer") wrestling with his own stubborn, but not unredeemable, heart.Click here to see all the titles in our Charles Dickens collection.(P)1996 Blackstone Audio Inc. Classics Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"Frederick Davidson gives such a splendid dramatization of this family saga, set in London in the 1840's, that it's almost like watching theater." (AudioFile)
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The early part of this book is shrouded in grief, loss, bereavement and loneliness with only a few flickers of humour to encourage one on. However, it is very worthwhile to persevere - the plot twists and turns, with a fine balance of good and sinister characters. It is a lengthy and wordy book, brought to life by the excellent reading of Frederick Davidson.

A well narrated Dickens' experience

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I am so disappointed. I paid £2.99 for this download on18th September. Tried it out today (4th October) and only 1%of this audiobook has downloaded. I feel cheated. It is a great book and I would have liked to listen. They have taken my money and given me nothing in return.

Disappointed

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Over the past few years I have become a devotee of Audiobooks, almost to the point where I have stopped listening to Radio 4 in the car, and look forward to long walks in the company of gifted narrators at the weekend. They have made the great works of Victorian literature much more accessible and I have derived enormous satisfaction from Timothy West and Martin Jarvis declaiming Trollope and Dickens. The authors' complex and erudite sentence structures and wide vocabularies are enormously enhanced by the interpretation of these gifted storytellers. But I have struggled with Dombey and Son! The tale is a strange one that seems to break many rules - I am about 30 hours into a 36 hour experience and the 'hero' has been absent for much of it, supposedly drowned. There is a plethora of unattractive characters, many of them understandably boasting extreme Dickensian eccentricities, leading lives unleavened by the warmth of friendship and trust. The book looks long and hard at the dark side of family life, and there is much in it to inform a critical view of middle class Victorian mores. However, my real reason for penning this review is to blow off steam about the narration of Frederick Davidson, which I have found peculiarly ill suited to the Herculean task of delivering this work. His diction is overly mannered, the phrasing does not suit the lengthy sentences, there are inapt pauses and - obviously this is a personal view - Captain Cuttle in particular is rendered almost unbearable. I know that Frederick Davidson, under a variety of names, has won the admiration of many for his body of work in this field, but if you are contemplating a lengthy period in his company I urge you to listen carefully to the audio sample before you do so!

A mangled tale

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While not the greatest Dickens, Dombey and Son is a wonderful novel, perhaps the first of Dickens's 'serious' novels, in being carefully planned in advance and with a theme which runs right through and is worked out systematically.

But - this is not the narration you want. Davidson's manner is like a machine that just keeps on running according to its own laws. Each sentence has a rise and fall that operate according to his system, with no regard to the meaning of what is being said. His brain is not engaged except at the most superficial level. The great readers lend every sentence - every word - a flavour and a colour peculiar to the moment and the circumstances in the story. Compare this, if you will, with Juliet Stevenson reading Little Dorrit. Quite apart from her amazing versatility in creating voices for characters, you will appreciate her deep engagement with the meaning of every single sentence.

I'm not saying this to be unkind, but to act as a pubic service announcement. Listen to Dombey and Son. Just not this version.

Great book - not this reader

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