Dickensalong 2023- 2024 : Nicholas Nickleby

[Piggywaspushed]

Come along and join me in the next Dickens readalong.

We have chosen Nicholas Nickleby which was originally published by Dickens in 19 instalments.

I propose condensing this to a nine month read, using Dickens shorter sections as a guide. We begin in October, as follows:

October - Chapters 1 - 7
November - Chapters 8-14
December - Chapters 15-23
January - Chapters 24-29
February - Chapters 30-36
March - Chapters 37-42
April - Chapters 43-51
May - Chapters 52-58
and finishing in
June 2024 - Chapters 59 - end

Summoning old faithfuls and newcomers, one and all!

Not done one of these before but will give it a go

Doing my usual squatting and maybe participating- the intention is there just not the discipline

I'm rolling up! I'll probably read it on Kindle and get a paperback if I really like it. Thanks Piggy!

I might give this a go as have never read a few Dickens but not NN.

How does it work time-wise .. do we start discussing the October chapters at the beginning or end of the month?

We discuss October chapters on November 1st .

Hardly dare show my face.

I finished David Copperfield with you all and flipping loved it.
I fell off Little Dorrit and also TOCS.
I happen to have Nicholas Nickleby on my bookshelf and know literally NOTHING about it so I'm in, if you'll have me!

Well, of course!

I’m in! I vaguely feel that I read it as a teenager, but can’t remember much beyond the bit covered by the musical Smike.

Thank you @Piggywaspushed

Just need to decide which copy to read.

I’m in! Thanks for setting up the thread and keeping us organised Piggy.

I'm in too, thanks for organising Piggy. Got a physical copy from the library and waiting my turn on an audio version too.

As a long time lurker on these threads I feel ready to join in. Looking forward to it too!

I'm in. I need to get back to reading again.

Started reading. Now want a muffin (or crumpet).

Place-marking. I need to get started.
I'll have a muffin if it's going: )

I’ve finished the chapters and am restraining myself from going on. I’d forgotten how hugely I enjoyed this when I first read it as a teen.

Currently in Dubrovnik. Aiming to finish chapters upon return!

What date are we to have read 7 by?

By Nov 1st for discussion.

I think I already got that far need to check

Here is Katie Lumsden's intro to Nicholas Nickleby to get us in the mood.

I don't know if anyone noticed but Katie's novel (which I still haven't read) has been nominated for a historical fiction award. I have pre ordered the paperback

.

Morning all.

Well, this is an exceedingly Dickensian start thus far! As expected , Nicholas is surrounded by awful people : nasty uncle Richard, despicable Wackford Squeers (those poor children!). Dickens' satire is deft , if heavy. Katie says Nicholas is dull but I rather like him. OK, so he was momentarily taken in but I am suspecting that won't last.

A promising start although not quite David Copperfield. And what was that chapter with the tall tales all about??

The notes in my edition say that the tall tales are because Dickens had got where he wanted to be in the plot for that instalment but hadn’t written enough content - so they are wordcount filler!

I’m enjoying it so far, but that mistreatment of the boys at the Yorkshire schools is harder to take as a grown up (pretty sure I read it or was at least familiar with it as a teenager). Hard to follow what evil Ralph is up to but it’s something about making money by tricking people to invest in speculative bubbles isn’t it? Specifically muffin and crumpet based ones in this section.

Good morning! I hope Dubrovnik was great, Piggy!

Yes, I enjoyed the first few chapters very much (chapter six was odd). I thought Dickens seemed on top of his game. I agree with all of Piggy's observations. I like Nicholas too. He has potential. Colourful names. Wackford Squeers?! He's squeezing every penny out of those poor boys' misguided parents.

Thanks for the elucidation for chapter six, LadyBirdDaphne. That makes sense. I thought there might have been some moral point in the first story about memory being a comfort if you consider what Nicholas is heading into. As far the second one, what I got was drink ale, smoke a pipe and have a good think about things before doing something drastic (!)

I'm looking forward to the next installment. I'll listen to Katie now. Good to hear that her book is doing well.

That’s funny about the travellers’ tales. I suppose when you think about it, Dickens was still at it in TOCS, sending Nell and gramps off on their endless travels for no good reason except word-count!

I really enjoyed plunging back into NN. In a way I don’t think he’s that significant as a character, despite the book being named after him - as others have said, he’s very much a useful hook to hang all the colourful and comic (and more interesting) characters on. He’s the archetype of the good, brave, handsome and slightly dim but always dependable hero tbh.

As a side-note, I loved reading about the Saracen’s Head, where Nicholas first meets the terrible Wackford Squeers, as I know exactly where it was - I quite often go to do work just round the corner from there, near Smithfield/Newgate, and I had a very pleasurable hour or two looking up all the details.