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Title: Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, John Bowen, Gordon Spence ISBN: 0-14-043728-2 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Another sample of Dickensian Grotesquerie
Comment: Let me open with a quote from the book:
"On the skull of one drunken lad -- not twenty, by his looks -- who lay upon the ground with a bottle to his mouth, the lead from the roof came streaming down in a shower of liquid fire, white hot; melting his head like wax."
You think Edgar Allen Poe to be the king of horror? Meet the author who far surpasses him in making flesh creep and cringe, in this book more than most. In Barnaby Rudge, Dickens portrays the Gordon Riots, a violent anti-Catholic outburst in London in 1780, supposedly started by the opposition by Lord Gordon to some acts in Parliament which would've relieved some of the burdens of Catholic citizens: the right to directly inherit property and the right to educate their children in England. As usual, Dickens ignores the political pressures, likely brought about by the French allying themselves with the Americans in their colonial war, which would've stirred up suspicions of Anglo-Catholics being in league with the French.
In any case, I can see why this book has never matched the popularity of "A Tale of Two Cities", as there is no possibility for heroes in scenes of mob violence. Even those who refuse to cooperate with the rioters can do little more than resist. Locksmith Gabriel Varden, being forcibly brought to Newgate prison, refuses to pick the lock for the masses of rowdy men intending to free their comrades and anyone else locked inside; however, his resistence means little as the mob decides to burn down the door instead. Mr. Haredale is often defiant, but he can do little more than beat a retreat when faced by hundreds of belligerent men. None of this "'Tis a far, far better thing..." kind of statement which can be made.
Ignore the plot lines. They are cursory, even for Dickens. They are there merely to set up the characters and their own personal motivations so one can see what happens to them when all order dissolves. I could see why the English of Dickens' day may have not wanted to read this book -- it was far too scary, especially as Dickens portraying the fuel to the rioters' fire being the primal urges to destruction and looting. Though there was then (in 1841) a better policing force and better prisons, there still was the unbearable poverty and dissipation alive in London. Then, as now, there were plenty ripe to take advantage of any opportunity to set fire to the town. Think the actions in here too far-fetched for even these times? Consider the fires, destruction, and looting that start in any modern city, once rioters have been given an opening.
People are crushed underfoot, men are consumed by the very fires they had set, and decent people stand by because they are powerless in the face of the massive wave of violence. Dickens shirks not one detail. If you're thinking of a quaint Victorian period piece, for crying out loud, don't read this book! Go read Pickwick Papers or Old Curiosity Shop. However, if you enjoy this kind of disaster, by all means, read Barnaby Rudge (or might I suggest Hard Times, which has some pretty horrific deaths).
Rating: 4
Summary: Highly Overlooked
Comment: This book is probably the most overlooked of Dickens' major efforts. It lacks the silly slapstick and joy of Pickwick Papers, and is missing the biting social commentary (at least not as biting) of Little Dorrit and Hard Times. Also, it is always listed in the "about the author" section as being somewhat of a commercial letdown at the time.
The truth is that it is a great book. It has enough silliness to let you know that it is Dickens, but is accompanied by a good bit of darkness. In fact, it's almost macabre at times.
In the end, this is a great story from a master storyteller. Isn't this the true benchmark of a classic? For all the ingenius stylism of "The Sound and the Fury" would we love it half as much (if at all) if the styling didn't accent a most captivating tale? Well, "Barnaby Rudge" is just that....a thoroughly captivating tale in the classic Dickens style.
Rating: 2
Summary: What a mess
Comment: This recording is perhaps one of the worst I have ever encountered. I admit to having only listened to it for few minutes before giving up, but what a mess of an effort. I am sure that when this was originally broadcast there must have been a narrator. Here it is merely a series of voices and it makes things very difficult indeed. There are also some rather rural accents featured on this recording, making it extremely difficult for an American to follow. This is a well-intended, but ultimately a mess of an attempt to render one of the novels of Dickens into drama. The whole thing seems like someone brought a tape recorder down to the pub on a Friday night and hoped for magic to take place.
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Title: The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Patricia Ingham ISBN: 0140436146 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (New Oxford Illustrated Dickens) by Charles Dickens, Charles Collins, Luke Fildes ISBN: 0192545167 Publisher: Clarendon Pr Pub. Date: November, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Old Curiosity Shop (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Charles Dicken, Norman Page, George Cattermole ISBN: 0140437428 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Little Dorrit (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Stephen Wall, Helen Small ISBN: 0140434925 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Nicholas Nickleby (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Mark Ford, Hablot K. Browne ISBN: 0140435123 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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