The Old Curiosity Shop, or Dick Swiveller and the Marchioness | The East Room The Old Curiosity Shop, or Dick Swiveller and the Marchioness Posted on October 5, 2012 by Miss Sneyd The Old Curiosity Shop was first published in Charles Dickens’s weekly serial Master Humphrey’s Clock. Dickens originally intended the story to be narrated by the character Master Humphrey, but quickly changed his mind, and only the first three chapters are written in that form, with the narrator never being named. The main, or, rather, the focal, character of the story is Nell Trent. At the beginning of the story, her grandfather keeps the Old Curiosity Shop of the title. They leave it early on, but the shop with its miscellaneous old-fashioned wares, serves as a symbol for the rest of the story.

Dickens wrote in his preface to the novel, “[I]n writing the book, I had it always in my fancy to surround the lonely child with grotesque and wild, but not impossible, companions, and to gather about her innocent face and pure intentions, associates as strange and uncongenial as the grim objects that are about her bed when her history is first foreshadowed.” As suggested by this, character rather than story is the highlight of The Old Curiosity Shop. Though Nell is the focal character, she is absent from a great deal of the story, and is by no means the most interesting character. Nell is a saintly child, about fourteen years old. When her grandfather loses their home by gambling away all of his money (and more), she first nurses him through his subsequent illness and then leads him away from the shop and through all their travels. She is used to taking care of him, but after his illness leaves him enfeebled in body and mind, she must take complete charge. She selflessly supports and guides him. Eventually she finds good employment with the cheerful Mrs. Jarley — the “genuine and only Jarley” of Jarley’s Wax-Works.

Unfortunately, Nell’s grandfather finds opportunities to gamble and she unwisely gives him her money when he demands it, instead of saving it to care for him with. Her fear of being separated from her grandfather must account for this imprudence, as she is afraid he will take to stealing if she does not supply him with money for his addiction. When Nell accidentally learns that her grandfather intends to rob Mrs. Jarley to get more money to gamble with, she forces him to flee with her. Because she gave her money to her grandfather, they are now penniless, and she has nothing to care for him with. This final flight is too much for Nell’s delicate health, and after travelling for some time, and being wet through and destitute of shelter, she collapses. By a remarkable coincidence, she faints at the feet of a schoolmaster who had befriended her earlier in her travels. He causes her to be nursed and cared for. Touched by his care for her, Nell tells him what she has never been induced to tell anyone else — the reasons for her flight.

“She told him all—that they had no friend or relative—that she had fled with the old man, to save him from a madhouse and all the miseries he dreaded—that she was flying now, to save him from himself—and that she sought an asylum in some remote and primitive place, where the temptation before which he fell would never enter, and her late sorrows and distresses could have no place.” (Ch. 46) Why she tells the schoolmaster her troubles while withholding them from her other friends, such as Mrs. Jarley, is unclear. However, he considerately finds her a new position where the work is easy and there are no temptations for her grandfather. Despite this respite, and though she initially recovers, Nell’s health begins to sink further and further. The chapters where Dickens foreshadows her death are moving and very atmospheric — if rather dull. Half the story is spent with the people Nell and her grandfather leave behind them in London. These characters include honest Kit Nubbles, the moneylender Quilp, and my favorite character, the incomparable Dick Swiveller. Kit was Nell’s former servant. He was devoted to her, and continues to consider as an ideal even long after her disappearance.

Quilp lent Nell’s grandfather money until he learns that the grandfather is gambling it all away, and not investing it as he had led Quilp to suppose. Dick Swiveller is introduced as a friend of Nell’s older brother, Frederick Trent. Fred is convinced that his grandfather is very wealthy. Because of his bad life, his grandfather doesn’t like him, and is therefore very unlikely to leave him any money. So, he comes up with a plan to marry off Nell to the tractable Dick. (“And she ‘nearly fourteen’!” protests Dick, before Fred assures him that he doesn’t mean him to marry her immediately.) Even after the shop is seized by Quilp and Nell and her grandfather disappear, Fred is convinced that his grandfather has money secreted away. Dick is introduced to Quilp in a most delightful scene when he goes to call upon Nell in furtherance of this plan, but finds Quilp in residence instead. Quilp hears a violent knocking upon the door and, thinking that it is his wife, plans to open the door silently and pounce upon her.

So far, however, from rushing upon somebody who offered no resistance and implored his mercy, Mr Quilp was no sooner in the arms of the individual whom he had taken for his wife than he found himself complimented with two staggering blows on the head, and two more, of the same quality, in the chest; and closing with his assailant, such a shower of buffets rained down upon his person as sufficed to convince him that he was in skilful and experienced hands. Nothing daunted by this reception, he clung tight to his opponent, and bit and hammered away with such good-will and heartiness, that it was at least a couple of minutes before he was dislodged.

Then, and not until then, Daniel Quilp found himself, all flushed and dishevelled, in the middle of the street, with Mr Richard Swiveller performing a kind of dance round him and requiring to know “whether he wanted any more?” “There’s plenty more of it at the same shop,” said Mr Swiveller, by turns advancing and retreating in a threatening attitude, “a large and extensive assortment always on hand—country orders executed with promptitude and despatch—will you have a little more, Sir—don’t say no, if you’d rather not.” (Ch. 13) Quilp develops a dislike to Dick despite (or, rather, because of) this prepossessing incident. As a result, he decides to help Fred and Dick in their plan to wed the latter to Nell for her money — knowing as he does that she is actually penniless.

When he finds that Nell and her grandfather are being sought by a wealthy gentleman interested in them, he concludes that they will have money coming to them and accordingly drops Dick — but not before Dick makes the acquaintance of Samson Brass and his sister, the charming Sally, as well as their little unnamed servant, whom Dick calls the Marchioness. Mr. Richard Swiveller himself admits that he is not a particularly clever chap. He tells his friend, “there is a proverb which talks about being merry and wise. There are some people who can be merry and can’t be wise, and some who can be wise (or think they can) and can’t be merry. I’m one of the first sort. If the proverb’s a good ‘un, I suppose it’s better to keep to half of it than none; at all events, I’d rather be merry and not wise, than like you, neither one nor t’other.” (Ch. 7) Dick is addicted to flowery speech, quotation, and too much wine. (“Fred … remember the once popular melody of Begone dull care; fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine.” &c.

&c.) His outgo exceeds his income to the point that he keeps a little book where he enters “the names of the streets that I can’t go down while the shops are open”. Still, Dick is not without a modicum of intelligence, as evidenced by his response to his employers’ lodger sleeping for six-and-twenty hours at a stretch. “We have been distracted with fears that you were dead, Sir,” he tells him, “and the short and the long of it is, that we cannot allow single gentlemen to come into this establishment and sleep like double gentlemen without paying extra for it.” (Ch. 35). Add to this, a cheerful disposition, a good-hearted and pleasant, though not firm, character, and a fanciful disposition, and you have Dick Swiveller. Quilp gets Sampson Brass, a lawyer that he does business with, to take the rather unreliable Dick as a clerk — to keep him close. (“I’m sure of him where he is, whenever I want him for my own purposes, and, besides, he’s a good unconscious spy on Brass, and tells, in his cups, all that he sees and hears.” Ch.

50.) There, Dick finds favour in the eyes of Miss Sally Brass, another entertaining character. Dick is something new to the stern, close Miss Brass, the sister and worthy partner of the oily Sampson. Miss Brass had been remarkable in childhood “for an uncommon talent in counterfeiting the walk and manner of a bailiff … which was only to be exceeded by her exquisite manner of putting an execution into her doll’s house, and taking an exact inventory of the chairs and tables.” (Ch. 36). This amiable female delights in tormenting her servile brother Sampson. She is rather a favorite of Quilp’s. “Is that my Sally?” croaked the dwarf, ogling the fair Miss Brass. “Is it Justice with the bandage off her eyes, and without the sword and scales? Is it the Strong Arm of the Law? Is it the Virgin of Bevis?” He considers her as “the female who has all the charms of her sex and none of their weaknesses”.

“It was on this lady, then, that Mr Swiveller burst in full freshness as something new and hitherto undreamed of, lighting up the office with scraps of song and merriment, conjuring with inkstands and boxes of wafers, catching three oranges in one hand, balancing stools upon his chin and penknives on his nose, and constantly performing a hundred other feats with equal ingenuity; for with such unbendings did Richard, in Mr Brass’s absence, relieve the tedium of his confinement. These social qualities, which Miss Sally first discovered by accident, gradually made such an impression upon her, that she would entreat Mr Swiveller to relax as though she were not by, which Mr Swiveller, nothing loth, would readily consent to do. By these means a friendship sprung up between them.” (Ch. 36) Their friendship extends to the point that when they want to see anything outside, Sally and Dick retire to the dim window and Mr Swiveller hitches off Sally’s brown head-dress from her head, dusts the window with it, and then hands it back — “and its beautiful wearer … put it on again … with perfect composure and indifference” (Ch.

37). Despite all this, Dick still considers Sally as a Dragon. He muses, “I wonder whether she is a dragon by-the-bye, or something in the mermaid way. She has rather a scaly appearance. But mermaids are fond of looking at themselves in the glass, which she can’t be. And they have a habit of combing their hair, which she hasn’t. No, she’s a dragon.” (Ch. 36) Dick befriends Sally’s mistreated and starved little (“three feet high”) servant girl — a sharp-witted and cunning girl with a penchant for airing her eyes at keyholes. He teaches her the taste of beer and how to play cribbage. After Quilp tells Brass to discharge Dick, the Marchioness, learning that he is sick, runs away and presents herself at his apartments (as Dick calls his single room). “So I run away that night, and come here, and told ’em you was my brother, and they believed me, and I’ve been here ever since”, she tells Dick when he recovers from his fever and finds her with him.

She nurses him through his illness, pawning his clothes to buy the medicines he needs, and then assists him in saving the innocent Kit from a plot of Quilp’s (in which the Brasses participated) to have him transported for theft. When Dick’s aunt dies, she leaves him an annuity of one hundred and fifty pounds a year. Dick is delighted! “For, please God, we’ll make a scholar of the poor Marchioness yet! And she shall walk in silk attire, and siller have to spare, or may I never rise from this bed again!” He is as good as his word. As soon as he recovered from his illness, he buys her “a handsome stock of clothes” and puts her to school, giving her the name Sophronia Sphynx, which he considers “euphonious and genteel, and furthermore indicative of mystery”. Being a clever girl, she is soon removed to a governess, who looks upon Dick as “a literary gentleman of eccentric habits, and of a most prodigious talent in quotation.” The Marchioness grows up “good-looking, clever, and good-humoured” (Ch. 73), and becomes Dick’s wife!

After Dick and the Marchioness, Daniel Quilp is one of the most interesting characters in the book. He is a thoroughly evil man, but his freakish and eccentric humors (among other things, “he ate hard eggs, shell and all, devoured gigantic prawns with the heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and water-cresses at the same time and with extraordinary greediness, drank boiling tea without winking, bit his fork and spoon till they bent again” Ch. 5) make him quite interesting and even amusing. His evilness consists in his maltreatment of his wife, his pleasure in making anyone frightened and miserable, and his unscrupulous treatment of those, like Kit Nubbles and Dick Swiveller, who have crossed or displeased him in any way. He is decidedly ‘larger than life’, as it is difficult to imagine a real person drinking off a saucepan of freshly boiling spirits with as much composure as we would drink a glass of water. Oddly enough, although Quilp is ostensibly the villain of the story, he does not actually do much to Nell (the heroine) and her grandfather. Thinking that the grandfather is investing, he lends him money.

When he finds that it is being gambled away instead of invested, he very sensibly refuses to lend anymore. The Curiosity Shop becomes his in payment of the grandfather’s debts to him. Quilp tells the grandfather to leave on a certain day — waiting until he has recovered from his illness — but Nell convinces him to leave a little earlier and secretly. When Quilp learns that Dick is planning to marry Nell for the money that he knows she doesn’t have, he maliciously decides to help Dick and Fred find her. However, when he learns that a rich man is also seeking them (and that therefore they must have money coming to them), he changes his mind. And that, my friends, is the grand sum total of his relationship with them. In at least one of the movie versions of The Old Curiosity Shop, Quilp is portrayed as hunting for them under the conviction that they have secreted away some more money. As stated, however, this was not the case. Though many of the characters of The Old Curiosity Shop were delightful, there were a few that I did not care for. I did not like the single gentleman. He was annoying and inconsiderate. Very rude, in fact.

And why did he wait so long to find his brother? In chapter 69, he tells Mr. Garland that he kept up enough communication with his brother to know that Fred’s “profligate and hardened course drained him of money as his father’s had, and even sometimes occasioned them temporary privation and distress; it was then that there began to beset him, and to be ever in his mind, a gloomy dread of poverty and want”. Obviously this impoverishing took some time. It was only recently, however, that the brother began to dream of their “young, happy life” more often than before, speedily settled his affairs, and went to find his brother (“with emotion such as men can hardly bear and live”, no less). I found interesting the number of unnamed characters in the story. Nell Trent’s grandfather is never named. Since he is her maternal grandfather, we don’t even know his last name. His brother is referred to as “the single gentleman”. Then there is the schoolmaster, who is never called anything else, and the Bachelor, who we learn at the end is a brother of Mr.

Garland, and therefore must share his name, besides the various other characters who are not in the story long enough to need names. I generally like a much stronger story-line than The Old Curiosity Shop can boast, but its characters were so delightful and interesting that I enjoyed it very, very much. The Old Curiosity Shop (TV Movie 2007) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Old Curiosity Shop ( 2007 ) 1h 33min A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.

Director: a list of 35 titles created 01 Dec 2012 a list of 170 titles created 13 Aug 2013 a list of 48 titles created 17 Sep 2013 a list of 36 titles created 06 Nov 2013 a list of 32 titles created 09 Sep 2014 Title: The Old Curiosity Shop (TV Movie 2007) 6.6/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Add Image Add an image Do you have any images for this title? When young Nell Trent's grandfather loses the investment money of wharf owner Daniel Quilp with cards, Quilp develops an everlasting urge to get him put in the madhouse. Nell and her grandfather flee the city. Director: Kevin Connor An exploration of Charles Dicken's unfinished work in which the mystery of the murder of Edwin Drood is examined.

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See full summary » Director: Matt Hilliard-Forde Edit Storyline Nell Trent lives with her grandfather, the proprietor of the Old Curiosity Shop. Grandfather has a disquieting secret-a gambling addiction fed by high-interest loans from the bully Daniel Quilp. The villainous Quilp wants to get possession of the shop-and Nell. In league with his lawyer Samson Brass and Samson's sister Sally, Quilp seizes Grandfather's assets. But Nell organizes an escape from the shop in the dead of night, and she and Grandfather begin a harrowing odyssey through the English countryside with their nemesis in hot pursuit. Convinced that there is a family fortune to be gained, Nell's brother Fred and his friend Dick Swiveller join in the chase. Meanwhile Nell and Grandfather encounter a slew of eccentric characters, including Mrs. Jarley, who runs a lurid traveling waxworks where Nell and Grandfather earn a meager wage for a brief time. Nell and her grandfather are eventually forced to beg for survival. Will Nell's young friend Kit Nubbles and a mysterious stranger ...

Written by Anonymous 26 December 2007 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Старият антикварен магазин See more » Filming Locations: Fantastic adaptation of a Dickens' classic -Toby Jones is superb ! 27 December 2007 | by AJP1968 (Surrey, England) – See all my reviews I was fortunate enough to catch this on ITV last night, and I must say it was one of the finest dramas I have seen on television in a very long time, certainly the best this year ! I don't normally watch much Dickens and have read only Great Expectations, so thought it might be hard-going ! However, how wrong could I be ! Toby Jones was absolutely brilliant as Daniel Quilp and, in my opinion, stole every scene he appeared in. His accent and mannerisms all gave his character so much depth you forgot you were watching the same actor who recently played Truman Capote with so much depth in the belatedly released Infamous. This excellent production only reinforces what an incredibly versatile and talented actor Toby is, and I sincerely hope that his powerful and convincing performance here will help him gain the worldwide recognition he truly deserves.

29 of 45 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The Old Curiosity Shop Summary Charles Dickens | Plot Summaries | Illustrations | Photographs | Site Map | The Old Curiosity Shop The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by English writer Charles Dickens , published in installments between 1840 and 1841. The novel tells about the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, living in London in an antique shop. The Old Curiosity Shop The Old Curiosity Shop was one of two novels (the other is Barnaby Rudge) which Dickens serialized in his weekly magazine called Master Humphrey's Clock. The installments were published between 1840 and 1841 and then republished in a single volume in 1841. The novel caused a sensation at the time because the protagonist, Nell, dies in the end, which was contrary to public taste at the time which favoured happy endings. The ending sparked pubic demonstrations against the author and his decision to kill off his character. Plot Summary of the Old Curiosity Shop The novel tells the story of Nell Trent, a beautiful and virtuous young girl who has not attained the age of fourteen.

Being an orphan, Nell lives with his grandfather (whose name is never revealed) in his antique shop, which the book its title. Although she is very much loved by her grandfather, Nell leads a lonely existence and has very few companions her own age. Her only friend is Kit, a young boy and honest employee who also lives in the shop, and whom Nell is teaching to read and write. Secretly obsessed with ensuring that Nell does not die in poverty, her grandfather turns to gambling in a misguided effort to make money. But he has little luck, and becomes heavily indebted to Daniel Quilp, a malicious and deformed money lender (who then drowns in the river Thames towards the end of the book). Unable to repay his debts, Nell's grandfather loses the store. He and Nell are driven out onto the streets and survive by begging, wandering all over London and surrounding area. Old Curiosity Shop: Nell and Her Grandfather Thrown Out on the Street Meanwhile, Nell's brother is convinced that the grandfather has hidden money for Nell and forms a plan to have his simpleton friend Mr. Swiveller marry Nell so that they can share in the supposed fortune.

The two, aided by the malicious Mr. Quilp pursue Nell and her grandfather. Quilp knows that there is no money but he joins in the scheme for the simple sadistic pleasure of tormenting Nell. As Nell and her grandfather wander through Victorian England they meet different and peculiar characters, like puppeteers, the ambitious owner of a wax museum, who calls itself the "Marquise", a dog trainer, and an iron smith who speaks to the fire of his forge. After many adventures and difficulties they arrive in quiet town, where they are helped by an old man referred to as the "Bachelor". Everything now seems to be going well, but Nell is sad and lonely, and starts spending all her time in the village cemetery, which is the only place where she seems at ease. Soon Nell dies, making her grandfather and all who love her mad with grief. Many readers were dismayed by Dickens' decision to kill off his main character. But many crtics found the ending melodramatic and maudlin.

Oscar Wilde remarked that 'One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without dissolving into tears...of laughter.' Characters in the Old Curiosity Shop Nell (often called "Nelly" or "Little Nell") -- sweet and gentle girl. She accompanies her grandfather during his travels through England and appears very tolerant towards him. At the end of the novel dies, having long shown symptoms of melancholy and apathy. Grandpa -- Nell's grandfather. His name is never mentioned. He is an old antique dealer who spends most of his money in gambling because he wants to get enough money to ensure that granddaughter, to whom he is extremely attached, a future without problems. Impoverished by the perfidious Quilp who had lent him money, he and Nell start a journey without a precise destination, during which he continuous to gamble what little money they have left. Nell, because of the affection she feels for her grandfather is unable to oppose him firmly enough, and is unable to prevent him from dissipating all their savings except for a coin that she had sewn into her dress. Mr.

Quilp Frightens Little Nell Christopher "Kit" Nubbles -- friend and servant of Nell. He is framed for theft by Quilp, and jailed, but he is released and goes to save Nell. Quilp is the novel's antagonist -- a wicked and cruel hunchbacked dwarf. He contributes to the ruin of Nell and her grandfather by lending the grandfather money to finance his gambling, and then evicts them from the Old Curiosity Shop. He is a cruel man, always beating his servant with a stick. Quilp falls into the Thames during a night of fog and drowns. His death is believed to be a suicide. Frederick Trent -- Nell's scheming brother. Believing that the grandfather has indeed accumulated a fortune, he schemes to have his friend marry Nell so that the two can share in the supposed treasure. Richard 'Dick' Swiveller -- Dick's manipulated friend. He is a clerk in the law office of Sampson Brass and the Marchioness's guardian. Swiveller is originally an ally of Quilp and Frederick Trent, but eventually breaks free and becomes a force for good.

If there is a happy ending in the book, it is for Dick: he eventually inherits money, and marries the Marchioness. Mr. Swiveller The single gentleman -- One of the many unnamed characters in the book. He is the estranged younger brother of Nell's grandfather. He leads the search for Nell and her grandfather. Mr. Sampson Brass -- a groveling and corrupt attorney. He works for Mr. Quilp. Miss Sarah ('Sally') Brass -- Mr. Brass's sister and clerk. She is a domineering woman often referred to as the "dragon". Mrs. Jarley, proprietor of a travelling waxworks show, who takes in Nell and her grandfather out of kindness. The 'small servant' -- Miss Brass's maidservant. Dick Swiveller befriends her and, finding that she does not know her age or name or parents, nicknames her 'The Marquise'. In the original manuscript, there is a suggestion that she is the illegitimate daughter of Quilp and Miss Brass but this reference was removed in the publication. Swiveller later marries her.

The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens - Review - The confessions of Dick Swiveller - A Curious Shop Indeed The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings. Share this review on When it was the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens birth in 2012, I promised myself that Iï¿½d take time out to read all of his novels, given that Iï¿½d only ever read a scant couple. Four years on Iï¿½ve just completed my first, his 1840-41 written work, The Old Curiosity Shop. I might just get through them all by the time of his 250th anniversary. I purchased my copy in the January sales at Oxfam for a pound (to clarify: the coinage rather than the sexual favour, dear reader), and while Iï¿½ve also read a couple of other books in and amongst, it has to be said covering the 550 or so pages has taken me a goodly time; my purchase is a bargain.

Little Nell and others It is always said that Charles Dickens was particularly strong on characterisation and this is the novel which introduces the character of Little Nell to the world. Nell is a sweet and beautiful young girl beset by bad luck and misfortune. She lives with her grandfather at the Old Curiosity Shop, and where her grandfatherï¿½s errand boy, Kit, absolutely adores Nell. Unfortunately granddad has a huge gambling problem and eventually he loses his home and possessions to the evil Daniel Quilp, who gleefully jigs and cackles loudly at any misfortune he manages to contrive. Richard (Dick) Swiveller is the clerk to a brother and sister team of solicitors, Samson and Sally Brass, who work for Daniel Quilp. Richard is also a close friend to Nellï¿½s estranged and wastrel older brother, and becomes something of an unwitting link between Nell and the unscrupulous Quilp.

The novel follows the downfall of Nell and her grandfather as they lose their home and wander through Victorian England from London to the Midlands, the plotting of the mad Quilp to encourage hurt and misfortune wherever he goes, and an attempt by friends and family to locate and restitute Nell and her grandfather. A Nineteenth Century EastEnders While I completely enjoyed the book it is not without its flaws and issues. Like many of Charles Dickensï¿½ works, The Old Curiosity Shop was originally published in parts in a magazine. In this case, Dickensï¿½ had to churn out weekly editions of writing and was seldom more than a couple of weeks ahead with his work. Like EastEnders it means that the personalities of some of the characters quickly alter as Dickensï¿½ found a new plot or storyline to follow. Richard Swiveller in particular turns from a slightly disagreeable poverty stricken gentleman, into one who is better meaning if a little vacant. Samson and Sally Brass likewise move from being devious and unscrupulous solicitors to having something of a comedy role in the book. Even the initial presentation of the narrative (through the eyes of an interested third party) soon alters so it is less clumsy and more direct.

The interesting element in the books comes with the sad decline of Nell and her Grandfather; gambling addiction and mental health frailty are very modern subjects, and of course in Dickensï¿½ world there was no welfare state or the NHS to help cushion the blow. Those wanting to reduce their tax burden by shrinking public expenditure should take heed to the message that such misfortune can happen to anyone. The original publication of the series was a great hit with the public and the magazine sold in excess of 100,000 copies each week; a staggering volume when you consider average incomes, reading abilities and the UK population at the time (26 million or so). There are some nice and slightly gruesome illustrations included with the book. There is a somewhat creepy aspect to Nell, as she is portrayed as an angel on earth, and the character feels rather wet as a result. Apparently, in a somewhat creepy fixation Dickens adored his wifeï¿½s younger sister who died at 17 years of age. Dickens long harboured a wish to be buried beside his sister-in-law rather than his wife, and that adoration of someone he saw as perfect manifests itself into the form of Nell.

Richard Swiveller is sometimes described as Richard and at other times Dick, however he is never directly called Dick Swiveller. Given the modern meaning of the word Dick was already established by the 1840ï¿½s one can only speculate that Dickens was having a little fun with the rather rude name. Daniel Quilp is the other uncomfortable element of the book, given he was a person of restricted growth, and Dickens has no problems with projecting a nasty and evil personality onto his small form. Itï¿½s not a scenario that a modern writer is likely to live with, and in any case, the portrait of evil seems very pantomime by todayï¿½s more sophisticated readership. Summing Up If Dickens was an up and coming 28 year old author just presenting his 6th book for publication then Iï¿½d probably find the work a little patchy given the chop and changes and the rather obvious personality flaws that are revealed. However, The Old Curiosity Shop was written in a different time, and despite my criticisms there are plenty of current themes to be explored. I found the plot to be detailed and complex and an engaging book overall.

This is a solid 4 star rating in todayï¿½s world; not too tardy a recommendation 180 years on. * A 900 word austerity sized review given there is no premium fund money to be gained through making extra effort. The old curiosity shop | Folio | TinyCat The old curiosity shop London : Oxford University Press, [1951]. Description For the character of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, Dickens drew upon the tragedy in his own life. His characters are startlingly powerful, especially Quilp, the antithesis of Little Nell. Media reviews bursa lowongan kerja Loker terbaru tahun 2017 I think this Dickens novel is the one that's probably hardest for a modern day reader to appreciate.

The Victorians adored the character of Little Nell and American readers were so eager to find out the ending that they 'were reported to storm the piers of New York City, shouting to arriving sailors (who might have already read the last instalment in the United Kingdom), "Is Little Nell alive?"' But it was difficult for me to appreciate the kind of sentimentality and pathos that distinguishes the character of Little Nell and I preferred the wonderfully grotesque character of Daniel Quilp who terrorises his wife, eats boiled eggs 'shell and all' and is the most lascivious of Dickens' villains (although this is 1840 so you only gets hints of this aspect).

"he ate hard eggs, shell and all, devoured gigantic prawns with the heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and water-cresses at the same time and with extraordinary greediness, drank boiling tea without winking, bit his fork and spoon till they bent again, and in short performed so many horrifying and uncommon acts that the women were nearly frightened out of their wits" Given Dickens' comments (as reported by Claire Tomalin in her biography, Charles Dickens: A Life) that his bad characters portrayed the characteristics he found within himself, this portrayal of Quilp raised some interesting psychological questions in my mind about Dickens himself. The introduction to my edition indicates that there are a lot of references to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in the story which, again, a 19th century reader would have been very familiar with and I am not really familiar with at all. One character also frequently includes lines from popular songs in his dialogue and I can appreciate how this would have been very comic to a reader at the time but by the time I've had to look up the relevant footnote in the back of the book the joke has lost a little something in the translation as it were.

What I found most interesting about my reread of this book was the insight it gave into Dickens' feelings at the time of writing. A few years before Dickens started writing this novel, his beloved sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth, who had lived with him and his wife Catherine since their marriage, died suddenly at the age of 17. Dickens was absolutely distraught by her death and had to take a break from his publishing schedule for both The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist - this was the only time in his life when Dickens failed to get an instalment out on time. His grief for Mary's death seems far greater than we would consider reasonable given their relationship (and really there doesn't seem to be anything to suggest their relationship went beyond brother and sister in law); he wanted to be buried next to Mary and the published announcement called her 'the chief solace of his labours'. History is silent as to his wife's opinion of all this - from reading Tomalin's biography I almost get the impression that Catherine wasn't allowed to have opinions.

Anyway, there's a bit of debate about this but it seems that when Dickens was writing The Old Curiosity Shop he may have had Mary in mind when he created the character of Little Nell and the idealisation of Little Nell as 'so young, so beautiful, so good' may well be linked to Dickens' idealisation of Mary Hogarth. User reviews LibraryThing member grheault Lots of convoluted, flouncy writing, with flashes of genius. You wish at some point that little Nell would start drinking, get really pissed at her stupid old, shoot-myself-in-the-foot, gambling grandfather who uses and abuses her while affecting affection. She seems not so much saintly as stupid, a genetic condition passed on from grandfather. If she took to the bottle, Kit could save her, and something interesting could happen. Kit, with good genes from his Mother, at least seems conflicted and smart. Quilps one liners that he hurls at his simpering wife and mother in law are hilarious. Dickens' does a disservice to women in this book, Kit's mother excepted, and even she is believable, but underdeveloped, unrevealed as to her core self. She could be a interesting sequel candidate.

She is the big curiosity in this book. I loved Quilp's death scene, and like Oscar Wilde, laughed at Nell's, rushing to the end, out, out, out, damned book! I could see Dickens suffering through writing this, finally getting the requisite number of stretched out words to his publisher, for the last episode in a serial that was wildly popular in its day.… ( more ) 19 more LibraryThing member souloftherose I think this Dickens novel is the one that's probably hardest for a modern day reader to appreciate.

The Victorians adored the character of Little Nell and American readers were so eager to find out the ending that they 'were reported to storm the piers of New York City, shouting to arriving sailors (who might have already read the last instalment in the United Kingdom), "Is Little Nell alive?"' But it was difficult for me to appreciate the kind of sentimentality and pathos that distinguishes the character of Little Nell and I preferred the wonderfully grotesque character of Daniel Quilp who terrorises his wife, eats boiled eggs 'shell and all' and is the most lascivious of Dickens' villains (although this is 1840 so you only gets hints of this aspect).

"he ate hard eggs, shell and all, devoured gigantic prawns with the heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and water-cresses at the same time and with extraordinary greediness, drank boiling tea without winking, bit his fork and spoon till they bent again, and in short performed so many horrifying and uncommon acts that the women were nearly frightened out of their wits" Given Dickens' comments (as reported by Claire Tomalin in her biography, Charles Dickens: A Life) that his bad characters portrayed the characteristics he found within himself, this portrayal of Quilp raised some interesting psychological questions in my mind about Dickens himself. The introduction to my edition indicates that there are a lot of references to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in the story which, again, a 19th century reader would have been very familiar with and I am not really familiar with at all. One character also frequently includes lines from popular songs in his dialogue and I can appreciate how this would have been very comic to a reader at the time but by the time I've had to look up the relevant footnote in the back of the book the joke has lost a little something in the translation as it were.

What I found most interesting about my reread of this book was the insight it gave into Dickens' feelings at the time of writing. A few years before Dickens started writing this novel, his beloved sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth, who had lived with him and his wife Catherine since their marriage, died suddenly at the age of 17. Dickens was absolutely distraught by her death and had to take a break from his publishing schedule for both The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist - this was the only time in his life when Dickens failed to get an instalment out on time. His grief for Mary's death seems far greater than we would consider reasonable given their relationship (and really there doesn't seem to be anything to suggest their relationship went beyond brother and sister in law); he wanted to be buried next to Mary and the published announcement called her 'the chief solace of his labours'. History is silent as to his wife's opinion of all this - from reading Tomalin's biography I almost get the impression that Catherine wasn't allowed to have opinions.

Anyway, there's a bit of debate about this but it seems that when Dickens was writing The Old Curiosity Shop he may have had Mary in mind when he created the character of Little Nell and the idealisation of Little Nell as 'so young, so beautiful, so good' may well be linked to Dickens' idealisation of Mary Hogarth. (SPOILERS And neither Little Nell or Mary ever got to grow up, marry and sully themselves by having sex within the sanctified bounds of marriage with their respective husbands. The more I read about women in Victorian literature, the more I realise how seriously messed up the Victorians were.)… ( more ) LibraryThing member fourbears This is not my favorite Dickens. It’s episodic like Pickwick Papers, with relatively few solid threads to hold it together, and, as such, easy to lose interest in. Little Nell, supposedly Dickens’ tribute to his sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth, who died at 17 while living in his house, is, like Mary, characterized as practically angelic and emblematic of the inability of goodness to exist long outside of the heavenly realm.

It’s clear from the beginning that Little Nell will have to die and then the death scene description is so long and anticlimactic that it’s not hard to regard it as overdone, even comic. Oscar Wilde certainly thought so: ”One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.”What I always remember about the book are the crowds of American readers waiting by the dock for the ship bringing the last installment of the novel to New York carrying signs like “Don’t kill Little Nell” and “Did she die?” Recent comments on bringing the manuscript of the latest Harry Potter novel to New York cited the last time readers displayed such eagerness for an English author as when they lined the pier waiting to find out what happened to Little Nell. And yes, of course she died. She was from the beginning described as too good for this world—dedicated entirely to the comfort and welfare of others—code for “died young” in Dickens time and in our own, though we, like Wilde, are much more likely to scorn the sentimentality. In fact, Nell hasn’t much of a character. It’s hard to imagine what she wants for herself.

Esther Summerson of Bleak House is often accused of being too good to be true, but Esther, unselfish and dedicated as she is to serving others, has her own agenda too: she has a passion to understand the story of her lost parents; she falls in love. If Nell had only yearned for Kit to rescue her or for the canary she left behind, she might have been more real, though Dickens, I think was not striving for real but for the pathos of good and evil juxtaposedQuilp, not Nell, is the memorable character from The Old Curiosity Shop, the dwarf who is possibly not so much smaller than everyone else as notable for the extraordinary size of his head; head and heart with Quilp are extraordinarily unbalanced. As evil as Nell is good, Quilp, like Milton’s Satan, but without his grandeur or heroism, arouses our passions with his words and deeds as Nell cannot with her goodness.… ( more ) LibraryThing member dylkit I am quite worried by this insipid-looking woman on the cover... So far my favourite character is Whiskers the pony. I'm not sure if that bodes well.

I confess: I abandoned Little Nell. In a drawer, in a B&B in Tobermory. I did however finish the book, after lugging it about since March. I'm afraid my initial reservations were confirmed: Nell was insipid, and Whiskers the pony was ace. Especially as it is reported that his final act was to kick his doctor in his last illness. The doctor is never introduced, but there are many other characters in this book that could do with a good kicking.… ( more ) LibraryThing member The_Hibernator When Little Nell's grandfather drives himself into gambling debt (in hopes of raising money for Nell's future), they must take to the streets to escape the malicious designs of more than one nasty character. Nell's grandfather increasingly becomes a doddering old fool, and Nell is left to her own devices in finding refuge from the cold, the hunger, and the devious people-of-the-streets. Unbeknownst to them, their good friend (and former servant) Kit is desperately looking for them - praying for their safety and not knowing why they have left. I think this is my least favorite Dickens book so far.

Generally, I am able to get involved in the complex narrative and the variety of character in a Dickens novel, but kit was the only character I really cared much about. Nell and her grandfather were so melodramatically pathetic that, although I felt sorry for their situation, I couldn't get myself to really care about the outcome. Perhaps this was just timing - maybe I'd have liked the book better in another mood. But I can't say I'll ever try reading it again to find out. Not a bad book - but Dickens can do better.… ( more ) LibraryThing member nosajeel The Old Curiosity Shop is certainly not the best of Dickens. But it contains some of the best from across the range of light (Dick Swiveller, a genial ne'er-do-well and the Marchioness, a mistreated servant) to dark (Quilp, the demonic dwarf and Sally Brass, the cold, evil sister of a corrupt lawyer). It also contains some of the best scenes that cover a similar range from Kit taking his family out to enjoy dinner and the theater to celebrate his first paycheck to Little Nell being trapped by rain in a house with her grandfather watching in horror as he goes to the gambling table.

Between these, however, are a more-than-usual even for Dickens number of "good" characters in relatively flat scenes as they seek to protect Kit and find Little Nell. All of this is strung on a plot of a novel that accidentally grew out of what started as a sketch and turns into an alternation of a series of incidents, all of which build to climax when the two stories come together and the London characters find Little Nell and her grandfather in their retreat. The first time I read this part I was deeply moved, this time for whatever reason I was considerably less so. I would not recommend this as one of the first few Dickens novels to read, but would certainly recommend it as one that should eventually be read--and re-read.… ( more ) LibraryThing member Cecrow For as long as I'd heard of this book I expected the curiosity shop to be its central setting, and so it begins, but that is soon dispensed with and the story moves to explore a wider world where, as with every Dickens, it is the characters who are the curiosities.

Where Trollope writes somewhat unpleasant people, Dickens writes truly black villains whom we're free to dislike without reserve, put opposite an innocent waif we can be equally unreserved in admiring. It's a shallow approach I'd expect to generate shallow results, yet Dickens makes them live on the page as well as any shades-of-grey characters might. This novel is little Nell's, her name omitted from its title perhaps not to emphasize Dickens' so-soon return to the sympathetic orphan figure in the wake of Oliver. The key difference is that Nell has responsibility for her grandfather in addition to herself, a complication that demands self-sacrifice. The ending comes as if in answer to the charge that Oliver got off too lightly and unrealistically. I'll concede that it lags in the middle and too much of the novel is devoted to secondary characters. I'll even concede I like it least of the first four Dickens novels, as the sentimentality come thickest (the last couple of chapters are 100% sugar.) I still like it better than much else.… ( more ) LibraryThing member pgchuis I struggled with this one.

Too many characters were described as "the child", "the small servant", "the single gentleman" etc, which required a lot of concentration in places. How old was Nell? How old was the Marchioness? Also, the divide between the Nell/grandfather thread and the Quilp/Samson/Kit thread was too wide for most of the book. The Nell/grandfather thread was, frankly, depressing. Who thinks being homeless beggars is an idyllic way of life? Nell was so perfect and so lacking in personality, yet so blessed and loved by everyone she met. The grandfather character, although less one-dimensional, was a bit of a worry. Nell might well have been better off being cared for by some one else... Quilp was fun in a repellant way and Dick was fabulous, but there was far too much rewarding of honesty and goodness. While I wish the world worked like that, the number of people who bent over backwards to help Kit and Nell ceased to be believable to me. I thought Kit was supposed to be a bit "simple", but he turned into a capable and wise man. How old was he?

(The age thing seems to be an obsession with me, but he gets married at the end...) Also, what happened to Nell's brother? He just went abroad and faded out of the story. Why was he even in it? What about the first person narrator at the beginning? Who was he? Where did he go? My least favourite Dickens so far.… ( more ) LibraryThing member AliceAnna Aargh! Little Nell is dead. Long live Quilp! I can honestly say that I will NEVER read this book again. It it weren't for Richard Swiveler and the Marchioness, I don't think I would have made it. Little Nell was insufferable. And her grandfather, a whiny old fart, stealing, gambling and I'm supposed to feel empathy for him? I think not. Any enjoyment I received from the peripheral characters on Nell and Grandpa's journey was negated by that pair's annoying presence.… ( more ) LibraryThing member jasonlf The Old Curiosity Shop is certainly not the best of Dickens.

But it contains some of the best from across the range of light (Dick Swiveller, a genial ne'er-do-well and the Marchioness, a mistreated servant) to dark (Quilp, the demonic dwarf and Sally Brass, the cold, evil sister of a corrupt lawyer). It also contains some of the best scenes that cover a similar range from Kit taking his family out to enjoy dinner and the theater to celebrate his first paycheck to Little Nell being trapped by rain in a house with her grandfather watching in horror as he goes to the gambling table. Between these, however, are a more-than-usual even for Dickens number of "good" characters in relatively flat scenes as they seek to protect Kit and find Little Nell. All of this is strung on a plot of a novel that accidentally grew out of what started as a sketch and turns into an alternation of a series of incidents, all of which build to climax when the two stories come together and the London characters find Little Nell and her grandfather in their retreat. The first time I read this part I was deeply moved, this time for whatever reason I was considerably less so.

I would not recommend this as one of the first few Dickens novels to read, but would certainly recommend it as one that should eventually be read--and re-read.… ( more ) LibraryThing member JVioland

Question: What is the surname of brother and sister Samson and Sally in the novel ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ by Charles Dickens?
Answer: Brass