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Dombey and Son cover art

Dombey and Son

By: John Mullan - introduction, Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Owen Teale, John Mullan - introduction
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Summary

Audible presents an original dramatisation of Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, first published as Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation

A literary masterpiece in which Dickens' gift for vivid characterisation is at its best, this is the story of a powerful man whose inability to appreciate those around him leads to his lonely demise and, later, his possible redemption. 

This edition features an exclusive introduction written and narrated by John Mullan, professor of English at University College London. 

About the book: 

Paul Dombey, owner of the shipping company Dombey and Son, dreams of having a male heir to take on the family business. With only one daughter to speak of, his resentment grows and is often manifested through the neglectful if not abusive treatment of his wife, Fanny, and child, Florence. 

Following the long-awaited birth of a boy, Mr Dombey triumphantly throws himself into the care and education of his pride and joy, his son, Paul, indifferent to the death of his wife following an arduous labour. 

As his daughter grows in strength, beauty and kindness, his son's sickly disposition makes him weaker and weaker by the day. Despite the bond and friendship forged between the siblings, Mr Dombey continues to despise and resent Florence, and after a period of intended rest by the seaside, the family is once more rocked by a tragic death. 

A touching and unexpectedly uplifting story of change, forgiveness and familial love, Dombey and Son will keep you gripped, moved and wholly surprised until the end. 

About the author: 

With his father incarcerated, Charles Dickens had to abandon his studies at a young age and set to work in a factory so as to support himself. Despite his short-lived education, Dickens went on to write 15 novels, various articles, novellas and short stories. These include Hard Times, Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Barnaby Rudge, Little Dorrit and A Tale of Two Cities. He lectured and led campaigns for children's rights and education and arguably became the ultimate self-made man. 

Public Domain (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Dombey and Son

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dickens is Dickens; Owen Teale is brilliant

This is the second Audible Dickens Collection offering I've listened to, and I honestly didn't think it could possibly be as good as the first (Miriam Margolyes' superb reading of Bleak House). But if anything I've enjoyed it more. I wasn't familiar with the book and found it more interesting and more satisfying than I was expecting. And I haven't seen much of Owen Teale's work, so the range and depth of his performance was a revelation, and a very happy discovery. Of course, I'm now expecting great things from the rest of the series. There's plenty and then some to find fault with in Dickens, but to a skilled voice actor he is an absolute gift; they ought to be queueing up to get a piece of this Collection. Very good indeed.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pride before the fall

A sweeping, towering epic of a family in the grip of a terrible pride, Dombey and Son does not enjoy the same time in the popular sun as Dicken’s other better-known works. But more people should know it, it is Dicken’s and his richest, most ebullient, funniest, darkest, most dramatic and terrible.
The titular Dombey is the head of a wealthy, celebrated London firm, to do with shipping, I think. The novel opens with tragedy when Mrs Dombey dies during the birth of a much-anticipated son to y much carry on the family name. Dombey has a little daughter, Florence, but Florence suffers from the disadvantage of being a girl, and so is of limited value in passing on the family firm. For Dombey his pride and status is paramount. He is cold and unbending when it comes to pretty much everything else.
Meanwhile, not far away, a Mariner with a shop full of sailing goods such as compasses and telescopes, Sol Gill, and his friend Captain Cuttle, and a young lad called Walter, bond and plot their lives. Sol is trying to get his business ship-shape, Captain Cuttle is trying to stay out of trouble from his tyrannical landlady Mrs McStinger, and Walter has a position in the Dombey firm. But their lives will be borne by the current into the path of that great ship of business of Dombey and son. And so, this story, in these pages, is told.
At times, the book is unbearably oppressive, having at its heart the continuing emotional abuse of the young Florence. Then there is the sickly, ailing young Paul Dombey, a study in pathos. There are tyrannical childminders, educational hot-houses and more. There are the lethal plots of one of Dickens less well known but incredibly effective villains, James Carker, a manager in the Dombey firm, all smiling white teeth, flattery and machinations.
What a relief that this novel also fizzes with Dicken’s rich humour, running through his characters, their mannerisms, and turns of phrase. There is humour in the grimmest of situations, in the back and forth between his protagonists, and in the merciless authorial eye of Dickens himself, skewering the absurdity and self-importance of manoeuvring in ‘society,’ and the attempts at his gentler, more loveable flawed characters to make sense of the world and each other.
The novel has laugh out loud moments, sustained passages of unbearable tension, including the flight by stagecoach of one character and his violent end, moments of searing humanity, tragedy, pathos and redemption. In his enlightening and entertaining introduction to this audio edition, John Mullan tells us that at its first, serialised release grown men were reduced to public tears. This is a powerful work.
Owen Teale’s reading of this audio book is in a league of its own, you can almost imagine himself as Dicken’s himself in one of his public readings. He gets the humour and the drama bang on. Another insight Mullan gives in the introduction is that Dicken’s is really meant to be read aloud, it’s written that way, astonishing for works of such prodigious length.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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A shadowy minor masterpiece

This isn't a "first Dickens" to read or download. Dickens' infatuation with saintly, self-sacrificing, childlike heroines is at a peak here (and 'Dombey and Son' doesn't offer the kind of balancing compensation offered by e.g. the wonderful Betsey Trotwood in 'David Copperfield'). The eventual fate of the appalling, emotionally abusive Dombey doesn't satisfy this modern reader's desire for justice or plausibility.

But if you already love this complicated writer, this book is stuffed with gems of comedy, drama and Dickens' characteristic anger against injustice to offset its serious flaws. Owen Teale's sonorous, dark voice is almost addictively listenable, and evokes the sombre atmosphere of the Dombey household perfectly. He performs the comic characters like Susan Nipper, Captain Cuttle, Mr. Toots and Major Bagstock, and the sharklike villain Mr. Carker the Manager, with joyous relish. I could happily have doubled the listening time I spent with any of them: the defensive campaign waged by Captain Cuttle against Mrs. MacStinger, and the various conflicts among the Dombey domestics, made me laugh out loud.

The book also has some glorious passages of social observation - especially the coming of the railways to North London, or a favourite Dickens theme, the shocking quality of childcare and education in Victorian England. The flight of the villain in chapter 55 is such a breathless race, there's hardly any room for any verbs.

I've given the narrative performance 4 stars rather than 5 only because some of the phrasing didn't feel quite as crystal clear as in performances I've listened to by, say, Juliet Stevenson [that's a pretty high standard to hold it to] or Richard Armitage. The language rolls around Teale's mouth beautifully, but some of the ironic contrasts and comparisons that are drawn within the book's long sentences could have been clearer. Also: Audible, for goodness' sake, sort out the chapter references! This book has a preview, so Chapter 1 of the actual book is "Chapter 2" of the audio narration. That's surely fixable, and someone could add the chapter titles too, for reader convenience in actually remembering where you fell asleep. But these are minor quibbles to a very enjoyable listen.

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Standout Performance by Teale

My first Audible and first Dickens and it’s set the bar pretty high! Eoin Teale’s performance really made it for me: completely bring the story to life. Great story too, if a little sentimental at some points. Would recommend.

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Excelllent performance by Owen Teale.

Owen Teale has entered the hallowed ground of Timothy West as one of the best narrators and performers on audio. Dombey and Son is one of the Dicken's novels I was least familiar with. There are some beautiful descriptions, delightful passages, and rich characters that make Dickens such a wonderful writer. As always there is an imminent danger of mawkishness with his writing but nothing can detract from the overall excellence of this production and so brilliantly bringing the book to life.

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3 people found this helpful

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A wonderful, totally immersive listen!

This is one of Dickens’ best stories brought vividly to life by Owen Teale whose narration and characterisation of all of the usual array of Dickens characters (with a capital ‘C’) is fabulous. Was very sorry to get to the end!

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  • 20-10-18

Don't miss this one!

What a great story, fantastically read and performed. Characters so well described you can live with them, feel their joy, sorrow, dispair. I wanted to binge listen to this from beginning to end.

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Classic Dickens

Feel quite a sense of achievement making it to the end. it's a long listen! classic Dickens. the characters are excellently drawn and vivid pictures and scenes depicted. however, it sometimes takes a long time for things to happen! the endings to the various subplots were satisfying, and the themes of the futility of materialism, the value of women and the inevitability of karma were timeless and important. Bravo Mr Dickens!

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Pride against simplicity and love

A story needs perseverance to continue as it appears grey and Morgue like. The characters are all extremes which are difficult to believe. Gradually you get drawn into the humour hidden behind them. The length initially off putting finishes not wanting it to end. The narrator has incredible talent each voice different and memorable. I am sad to finish.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyed this Dramatised Version

Fifty years ago I READ the Complete Works during a busy life and enjoyed all that this master storyteller wrote. Now, Deaf and partially sighted I am repeating the experience with Audible and gratefully enjoying again in my ninth decade the same stories at greater leisure and with such dramatic enhancement. Thank you Audible.

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