Showing results for "Barnaby Rudge" in Historical Fiction

In a case of mistaken identification, Barnaby Rudge, a pale half-wit with long red hair who dresses all in green and carries a large raven on his back, is arrested as the leader of a mob of anti-Catholic rioters. He is condemned to death on the gallows, but an upright locksmith named Gabriel Varden comes to his aid.

Barnaby Rudge, one of only two historical novels by Dickens, deals with the "Popery" riots of 1780. It is read here by one of Britain's most popular readers, Sean Barrett, whose reading of Bleak House was widely praised. This recording is part of the extended Dickens collection offered in both abridged and unabridged form by Naxos AudioBooks.

Barnaby Rudge, published in 1841, is Dickens's first historical novel, largely set during the Gordon Riots of 1780. It was the fifth of Dickens's novels to be published. It had initially been planned to appear as his first, but changes of publisher led to many delays. British historian and Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd has called it "one of Dickens's most neglected, but most rewarding, novels".

Published between 1840 and 1841, it is Dickens' first attempt at an historical novel, his only other being A Tale of Two Cities. Full of classic Dickensian characters, the plot is based on the "no-popery" or Gordon riots of 1780 seen through the eyes of the good-hearted idiot Barnaby Rudge.

Per quanto questo sia un romanzo storico, un narratore come Dickens non permetterà mai che la ricostruzione storica, per quanto dettagliata e accurata, prenda il sopravvento sulle vicende dei suoi personaggi. La grande novità letteraria di questo romanzo è proprio il personaggio il cui nome dà il titolo al libro: un giovane che a quei tempi veniva definito un "idiota", e che ora verrebbe descritto come un diversamente abile, in particolare in grado di vedere gli spiriti e le cose invisibili agli altri.

Barnaby, the kind, half-witted young man joins the Gordon rioters in order to carry their banner. He, his murderous father, the hangman Dennis and the madcap Hugh are arrested and condemned to death. This novel is noted for its vivid descriptions of violent mob scenes - not unlike those depicted in the author's A Tale of Two Cities.