Nicholas Nickleby is a novel written by Charles Dickens and is one of my favorites. It is the story of Nicholas Nickleby who father has just died and he is forced to provide for his family in a wicked world and at the same time keep up his values. His uncle is a man obsessed with money that does everything in his power to hurt Nicholas for some perceived wrongs. Dickens is a master of personifying characters as something more than themselves.
“Are you threatening now to tell others of whatever you learned when you were my clerk? To be plain with you, Mr. Brooker, the world already knows what sort of man I am. And I do not grow poorer. You cannot stain a black coat.”
“Nearer and nearer draws the time that shall surely be when the earth shall be filled with the glory of god as the waters cover the see. Ring on. For the births that lead to early deaths, for marriages made in hell, and for the coming in of every year that brings this cursed world closer to its end. Would that it had come before tonight.”
“The family need not be defined merely as those with whom you share blood, but those for whom you would give your blood."
I love Charles Dickens, but haven't read this book. It sounds really good though. Especially because of his definition of family at the end. That is a strong statement that I agree with.
ReplyDeleteI personally have not started my journey through this book, but I have seen a movie adaptation. Those quotes were in it and it makes me want to read it desperately. My favorite character is the cripple boy who turns out to be the Uncle's own son.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book too! You're right about how Dickens personifies his characters to be beyond their own beings - like Mikhaela, my favorite character is Smike, and despite the comparatively small role he had to next to Nickleby, he seems to embody everything that is lovable and pitiable about the novel.
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