NEW Dickens readalong Dombey and Son - the 2025 Dombeyalong!

[Piggywaspushed]

Join me in the next Dickens readalong, Dombeyalongadingdong! This is probably the last big Dickens we haven't done.
The novel was originally published by Dickens in 19 instalments, all exactly 32 pages long (I do find this obsession with 32 pages intriguing- writing to such an exact brief must have involved quite a lot of editing and , as I recall from Nickleby, much padding at times!) and then published in full in 1848. I know nothing of this one really - except the name Paul Dombey sticks in my head. Apparently , this one is more focused on marriage and is read as marking a change in Dickens' presentation of women. Seafaring is involved but this is also his first book about the arrival of railways which Dickens was not altogether sold on. This period was referred to as 'railway mania'. It's really quite hard to conceptualise the rapid progress and change surrounding Dickens.

This one has not been on TV for a long time. Andrew Davies had been working on a version - but it was ditched because it was felt we had had too many 'bonnet dramas'. I swear we have still had many since but rather heavily 'adapted' and maybe Sarah Phelps hasn't read Dombey...

I propose condensing this to an eight month read, using Dickens' shorter sections as a guide . We begin in May, as follows:
May - Chapters 1 - 7
June- Chapters 8-13
July- Chapters 14-22
August - Chapters 23-31
September - Chapters 32-38
October - Chapters 39-45
November - Chapters 46-51
and finishing for Christmas in
December - Chapters 52 - end

Considerably more chapters in this one, so I am guessing some must be quite short.

I'll link Katie's intro in my next post.

Anyone and everyone welcome!

I’m too late, I think, but just tagging onto the end, as I’d somehow forgotten it was our final discussion - I think I've become so confused by Christmas/New Year that I’ve totally forgotten which day is which 😵‍💫

Good to see redemption at last for the arrogant Dombey, and Florence showed herself the better person in forgiving him - although for my taste I think she was a bit too forgiving, tbh. Let’s just leave it there. The parallels with Scrooge were front and centre for me too, especially as I was watching the superb Alastair Sim film version over Christmas (it was on again today!)…although my feeling is that A Christmas Carol is still essentially the lighter-hearted book. My overall impression of this one is of its over-riding themes of darkness and pain and isolation - so many of the characters were separated, physically and/or emotionally, from each other when they didn’t want to be. But I did love the passages of humour too - I think my favourite bits of those were the servants in the Dombey household and their drunken antics below-stairs.

Thanks to @Piggywaspushed for hosting so expertly and to everyone else for being so interesting!

You're not too late, @terpsichore! By my (admittedly dubious) posting standards, you're positively early!😂

I agree about Florence being a little too forgiving, and I also agree with @InTheCludgie that Dombey's redemptive arc seemed more than he deserved!

There's so much darkness in the novel, however, that I was ready to embrace the feel-good ending.

Echoing cassandre's post that you're not late, Terpsichore!

I read over the last section yesterday evening and enjoyed it again. I agree with both of you that Florence was too forgiving, but I'm glad it turned out this way, that it ended on a positive note.

Thanks to everyone for their interesting posts on this book. It has been great. I'm glad we finished reading one of the better ones.

Just emerged from the Christmas/New Year fug and I have absolutely nothing to add to the discussion as you’re all far more erudite than me, other than to say I enjoyed the read along, thank you Piggy.
This was probably mid table for me in the Dickens novels that I’ve read.
Favourite characters were Toots and Captain Cuttle, the mowing down of Carker by new fangled train felt very satisfying, and I was pleased with the reconciliation of Dombey and Florence because I love a happy ending.

I think my next Dickens might be A Tale Of Two Cities because I’ve never read it and I think there’s a new adaptation coming this year. Anyone any thoughts on that particular novel?

I'd like to read it!

I was also hoping to read a Tale of Two Cities this year! Do you do a Dickensalong every year? - Dombey was my first year and I really enjoyed the format and got a lot out of everyone's comments. Thank you everyone.

Yes, we do. We have done them for about 6 years no, I think. I am all Dickensed out though as I have read all but Edwin Drood and The Pickwick Papers and neither appeal.

That is great going to have read almost all of them. Glad you finished on a good one.

As Piggy is off to pastures Parisian is anyone up for a 6 month read along of A Tale Of Two Cities? I’ll set up a thread, but don’t expect me to be as on the ball as Piggy!

Chat GPT suggests the following break down of chapters:

A Tale of Two Cities
— 6-Month Read-Along Schedule

Total chapters: 46
Average pace: ~2 chapters per week
Built-in pauses: Every month ends with a natural stopping point

Month 1 – Book the First: Recalled to Life (Chs 1–7)

Focus: Setting, atmosphere, memory, resurrection

• Week 1: Chs 1–2
• Week 2: Chs 3–4
• Week 3: Chs 5–6
• Week 4: Ch 7 + reflection

✔ Complete Book the First

Month 2 – Book the Second: The Golden Thread (Chs 1–6)

Focus: Introduction of central characters and contrasts

• Week 5: Chs 1–2
• Week 6: Chs 3–4
• Week 7: Chs 5–6
• Week 8: Reflection / discussion pause

Month 3 – Book the Second: The Golden Thread (Chs 7–12)

Focus: Relationships, doubling, and moral tension

• Week 9: Chs 7–8
• Week 10: Chs 9–10
• Week 11: Chs 11–12
• Week 12: Mid-novel reflection

✔ Halfway through Book the Second

Month 4 – Book the Second: The Golden Thread (Chs 13–18)

Focus: Secrets, foreshadowing, approaching danger

• Week 13: Chs 13–14
• Week 14: Chs 15–16
• Week 15: Chs 17–18
• Week 16: Reflection pause

Month 5 – Book the Second: The Golden Thread (Chs 19–24)

Focus: Turning points and the road to revolution

• Week 17: Chs 19–20
• Week 18: Chs 21–22
• Week 19: Chs 23–24
• Week 20: End-of-Book discussion

✔ Complete Book the Second

Month 6 – Book the Third: The Track of a Storm (Chs 1–15)

Focus: Revolution, justice, sacrifice, redemption

• Week 21: Chs 1–3
• Week 22: Chs 4–6
• Week 23: Chs 7–9
• Week 24: Chs 10–12
• Week 25: Chs 13–15
• Week 26: Final reflection

✔ Finish the novel

Sounds good to me Desdemona, I’m in!

Me too! I bought the Penguin edition last night.

Count me in too 😊

Hi I'll join for this thanks, have had a copy on kindle since forever. I have two other classics on the go, Middlemarch and the Les Miserables readalong, although they're both on audio. No doubt I'll fall behind but I'll l give it a good go!

Yes please!

Yes please

Okay, I’ve never started a thread before but I’m going in! I’ll report back when it’s up and running!

Okay hopefully this link works and we’re up and running. I’ll post it on the 50 book thread too.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5469580-a-tale-of-two-cities-six-month-read-along?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Just hopping on to say it was lovely to see how far up Roman's round up of best books of the year Dombey and Son came so it obviously was a popular Dickens!

Yes! Fourth place! Isn't that good :)

I think that's grand!