Nicholas Nickleby (Paperback)
Charles Dickens (author)- In stock
Dickens’ third novel finds the master broadening his literary palette and marshalling a huge cast of characters for a colourful, freewheeling coming of age epic. Nicholas’ passage through life is rendered in sparkling prose and exquisite metaphor and, in its portrayal of the horrendous Dotheboys Hall and its grotesque headmaster Wackford Squeers, contains a vitriolic attack on the Victorian school system.
When Nicholas's father dies he, his mother and sister are left penniless. To earn his keep, Nicholas becomes a tutor at Dotheboys Hall but soon discovers that the headmaster, Wackford Squeers, is a one-eyed tyrant who insists on a harsh regime. Nicholas embarks on an adventure that takes him from loathsome boarding schools to the London stage. Dickens confronts issues of neglect and cruelty in this blackly comic masterpiece.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780099540793
Number of pages: 944
Weight: 639 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 40 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"The novel has everything: an absorbing melodrama, with a supporting cast of heroes, villains and eccentrics, set in a London where vast wealth and desperate poverty live cheek-by-jow" - Jasper Rees, The Times
"Nicholas Nickleby was a revelation. Here was a school - Dotheboy's Hall, with its grotesque headmaster, Wackford Squeers - which was even worse than the prison camp to which my poor innocent parents had confined me! The story of Dotheboy's Hall seemed horribly familiar - the beatings, the bad food. But here was something to which even a child could respond. As well as being sympathetic to the plight of the children, the author was hilarious." - A.N Wilson
"Dickens is huge - like the sky. Pick any page of Dickens and it's immediately recognizable as him, yet he might be doing social satire, or farce, or horror, or a psychological study of a murderer - or any combination of these." - Susannah Clarke
You may also be interested in...
“A superb example of Dickens' early work”
This novel is a great insight into the mind of Dickens. It uses his outrage at unfair and corrupt systems to showcase how people can surmount their circumstances. It is early on in his career and you can see the basis... More
“Moving and Memorable”
This is a huge book in every sense of the word! Dickens third novel after Pickwick and Twist, this is the first of the novels that contains all the elements we call Dickensian - eccentricity, sentimentality, savage... More
“Feeling the pinch”
Shocking, ain’t it? And in an anniversary year as well! Makes you wonder what went wrong with dear old Waterstones, that they should now employ such cretins and philistines as yours truly, whose response to an... More
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?