Martin Chuzzlewit

by Charles Dickens, Patricia Ingham (Annotations), Hablot Knight Browne (Illustrator)

While writing Martin Chuzzlewit - his sixth novel - Dickens declared it 'immeasurably the best of my stories.' He was already famous as the author of The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist.

Set partly in America, which Dickens had visited in 1842, the novel includes a searing satire on the United States. Martin Chuzzlewit is the story of two Chuzzlewits, Martin and Jonas, who have inherited the characteristic Chuzzlewit selfishness. It contrasts their diverse fates of moral redemption and worldly success for one, with increasingly desperate crime for the other. This powerful black comedy involves hypocrisy, greed and blackmail, as well as the most famous of Dickens's grotesques, Mrs Gamp.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 19th Century, Victorian, Literature, Historical Fiction, British Literature

829 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1844

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[SnezhArt]

Минус бал за приключения в Америке, потому что там в Диккенсе периодически включался британский сноб.

[A G]

Это произведение заслуживает внимания за тонкий социальный взгляд и сатиру, но для меня оно оказалось слишком витиеватым и мрачным, хотя, может не следовала читать его в 13 лет. Если вы ищете лёгкую и душевную прозу — пропустите. Но если готовы к социальной гротеске, — «Мартин Чезлвит» даст много пищи для размышлений, пусть и не без трудностей.

[Kate]

Мартин Чезлвит-младший очень похож на Николаса Никльби. И романы об обоих очень похожи друг на друга. Но роман о Мартине более сложный, более насыщенный деталями, местами более зловещий и более сатиричный. Честно говоря, роман о Никльби можно выкинуть, раз есть Мартин Чезлвит.
Характер Чезлвита-младшего Диккенс решил не делать идеальным, как у Никльби-младшего. Мартин поначалу даже местами отталкивающ, хотя люди к нему тянутся сразу. Злодей Чезлвит, который Джонас, куда более зловещ, чем злодей Никльби-старший. Преступление Джонаса более тяжкое, оно и мучает его более живописно. Мистер Пексниф - брат-близнец мистера Сквирса, директора школы, а Том Пинч - близнец слабоумного Смайка, только чуть более вменяемого.
Отличные главы про то, как Мартин и Марк поехали в Америку с тщеславным замыслом мгновенно разбогатеть и всем показать. ВО-первых, автор хорошо прошёлся по американцам, с их несравненным сочетанием рабства и всеобщей свободы, во-вторых, хороший урок для тех, кто собирается куда-либо за американской и какой-либо вообще мечтой. Легко не даётся ничего - всё в мире достаётся тяжёлым трудом (ну разве только если вы не проходимец какой. А какая судьба ожидает проходимцев, см. Тигга и Джонаса).