Audiobook17 hours
Little Dorrit, Book 1: Poverty (Unabridged)
Written by Charles Dickens
Narrated by Peter Silverleaf
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Book 1: Poverty: Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew.
The novel satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens' own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well as the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition, he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.
The novel begins in Marseilles "thirty years ago" (c. 1826), with the notorious murderer Rigaud telling his prison cellmate John Baptist Cavalletto how he killed his wife, just prior to being released from prison. Arthur Clennam is detained with other travellers in quarantine in Marseilles and becomes friends with some, including Mr Meagles, his wife, daughter "Pet", and her maid (Tattycoram), as well as Miss Wade. He is returning to London to see his mother, Mrs Clennam, after the death of his father. Arthur has spent the last twenty years in China with his father, handling that part of the family business.
The novel satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens' own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well as the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition, he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.
The novel begins in Marseilles "thirty years ago" (c. 1826), with the notorious murderer Rigaud telling his prison cellmate John Baptist Cavalletto how he killed his wife, just prior to being released from prison. Arthur Clennam is detained with other travellers in quarantine in Marseilles and becomes friends with some, including Mr Meagles, his wife, daughter "Pet", and her maid (Tattycoram), as well as Miss Wade. He is returning to London to see his mother, Mrs Clennam, after the death of his father. Arthur has spent the last twenty years in China with his father, handling that part of the family business.
Author
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced ‘Oliver Twist’, the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870, he was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day.
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 Little Dorrit, Book 1
Related audiobooks
Little Dorrit, Book 2: Riches (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ethan Frome Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Thirteenth Hour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Dorrit (Unabridged) Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Middlemarch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinifred Holtby - A Short Story Collection: Ardent feminist and activist who wrote many stories before tragically dying young Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelilah and Mr Bircumshaw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Paradise Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Exploration: The Stanfield Chronicles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDream Life and Real Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlowers for Sarajevo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEthan Frome (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter The Rising: Centenary Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLes Misérables: Volume 1: Fantine - Book 1: A Just Man (Unabridged) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Mothers and Daughters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Women of Liverpool Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Starlings of Bucharest: Moscow Wolves, Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ruby Glass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Forty-Niners: A Novel of the Gold Rush Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mill on the Floss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDirty Laundry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Three Musketeers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Salt of the Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Time for Tears Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Valley of Fear (Version 2) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmily Brontë: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Winter House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wall Between Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Silent Hen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Scandal in Bohemia (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Classics For You
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Kill a Mockingbird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gone With The Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Rose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War & Peace - Volume I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fountainhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master and Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stone Blind: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atlas Shrugged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crucible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sense and Sensibility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prince: Machiavelli Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tale of Two Cities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pilgrimage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Separate Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/520,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Thousand Ships: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emma: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Around the World in 80 Days: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Little Dorrit, Book 1
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
1 rating0 reviews