Audiobook33 hours
Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
Written by Charles Dickens
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Martin Chuzzlewit was Dickens 6th novel, serially published in 1843 - 44. Irrespective of the fact that Dickens considered - "Chuzzlewit is in 100 points immeasurably the best of my stories"- it failed to resonate with, or capture the public's imagination as many of its predecessors had done. However by the1850s its popularity had risen and it eventually found recognition as the great novel that it is.
The beginning is somewhat protracted but the prose is magnificent throughout. The theme of the story is about selfishness and obstinacy. The callow eponymous hero Martin Chuzzlewit is estranged from his grandfather (Martin Chuzzlewit the elder) for having the temerity to fall in love with his grandfather's ward - Mary Graham. The Chuzzlewit family are all placed under the microscope as Martin journeys on a voyage of what can only be termed as "self-discovery". His journeying takes him to America, where his experiences change him forever and he returns a far better man.
Woven around the theme of the book are some of Dickens most finely drawn characters, ranging from the comic: Seth Pecksniff, an oily unctuous hypocrite, Mrs Gamp a nurse with a propensity for strong liquor and a delightful way of mangling the English language: to the macabre Jonas Chuzzlewit a dark brooding murderer. There are plots within plots, deception and artifice abound, confidence tricksters on both sides of the Atlantic, and a vicious murder.
This is a satirical novel, particularly when Martin is in America and Dickens, who never shirked from social criticism, utilized that portion of the book to express his feelings on his experiences during his visit to America in1842. It is a comical novel, humour being prevalent throughout, witness Mrs Gamp "Rich folk may ride on camels, but it ain't so easy for em to see out of the needles eye". The irrepressible and precocious young Bailey strutting and posing in his Footman's livery. The deeply melancholic Augustus Moddle, desperate to be run over but finding no takers! and doomed to marry the wrong sister.
The beginning is somewhat protracted but the prose is magnificent throughout. The theme of the story is about selfishness and obstinacy. The callow eponymous hero Martin Chuzzlewit is estranged from his grandfather (Martin Chuzzlewit the elder) for having the temerity to fall in love with his grandfather's ward - Mary Graham. The Chuzzlewit family are all placed under the microscope as Martin journeys on a voyage of what can only be termed as "self-discovery". His journeying takes him to America, where his experiences change him forever and he returns a far better man.
Woven around the theme of the book are some of Dickens most finely drawn characters, ranging from the comic: Seth Pecksniff, an oily unctuous hypocrite, Mrs Gamp a nurse with a propensity for strong liquor and a delightful way of mangling the English language: to the macabre Jonas Chuzzlewit a dark brooding murderer. There are plots within plots, deception and artifice abound, confidence tricksters on both sides of the Atlantic, and a vicious murder.
This is a satirical novel, particularly when Martin is in America and Dickens, who never shirked from social criticism, utilized that portion of the book to express his feelings on his experiences during his visit to America in1842. It is a comical novel, humour being prevalent throughout, witness Mrs Gamp "Rich folk may ride on camels, but it ain't so easy for em to see out of the needles eye". The irrepressible and precocious young Bailey strutting and posing in his Footman's livery. The deeply melancholic Augustus Moddle, desperate to be run over but finding no takers! and doomed to marry the wrong sister.
Author
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English author and social reformer. He is widely considered the greatest Victorian novelist, having written such classics as Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and Oliver Twist. Aside from his novels, he also wrote short stories, nonfiction, poetry, plays, and countless letters.
More audiobooks from Charles Dickens
A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Stories and Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Classic Christmas: A Collection of Timeless Stories and Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Christmas Carol Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Christmas Classics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
Related audiobooks
The Shuttle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lay of the Last Minstrel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady Baltimore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scarlet Pimpernel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Elizabeth and her German Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mayor of Casterbridge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pollyanna Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Magnificent Ambersons (Growth Trilogy Vol 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Passage to India (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanadian Wonder Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pickwick Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Awful German Language (Version 3) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Juniper-Tree - Story Time, Episode 37 (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old Curiosity Shop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere Stands a Wingèd Sentry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three Short Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wind in the Willows (version 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lucy Maud Montgomery: 3 Audiobooks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHunchback of Notre Dame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Tulip Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nina Balatka Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diary of a Nobody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barnaby Rudge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotting Hill Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mansfield Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPenrod Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Humor & Satire For You
How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soulmate Equation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scrappy Little Nobody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Librarianist: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happy People Are Annoying Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love and Other Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Married Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Humans: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Swiss: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Jane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can't Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Black Unicorn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to be Alone: If You Want to, and Even If You Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shopgirl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sh*t My Dad Says Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating0 reviews