The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Second reading; first read probably 50 years ago

Dare I do it? Dare I criticize Charles Dickens, the greatest storyteller of all and the master of creating memorable characters? Yes, I do, but only in the context of comparing this novel to his others. Although I have not read all his novels, I would have to say that this is the weakest of the many I have read.

Little Nell (she must have the adjective attached) is the granddaughter and sole companion of a grandfather tormented by an addiction to gambling, in which he (supposedly)indulges only for her hoped-for monetary benefit. Brought to ruin through his borrowing of money from the super-villain, the dwarfish Quilp, the grandfather and the supremely selfless Nell flee London, going "on the road," so to speak, to escape both Quilp and opportunities for the grandfather to resume his gambling habits. In the course of their travels they meet many colorful characters, some kindly and helpful and some up to no good.

Meanwhile, back in London, Quilp continues his evil ways, plotting revenge for slights and tormenting various characters, just for the joy of it. Nell's friend Kit Nubbles and the humorous character Richard Swiveller are featured in these sections.

The primary criticism I have of this novel is that is not tight, with all action leading to the climax, as is usual for Dickens. Instead, it tends to be episodic and somewhat rambling, with some incidents having no pertinence to the central plot at all. Dickens wrote and published this in weekly installments in his magazine, and it appears he had not planned the novel from start to finish as he usually did.

The second criticism I would offer is that the central character, Little Nell, is so unfailingly sweet, self-sacrificing, and uncomplaining as to be saccharine and unbelievable, and ultimately uninteresting. Most Dickens heroes seem like real people, with both good and bad character traits. Nell seems like Dickens' idealization of the perfect woman, meek and angelic.

Some of the novel's praiseworthy attributes: As always with Dickens, the names of the characters are wonderful and evocative of their personalities; the descriptions of the surroundings, particularly of the industrial part of England, paint vivid mind pictures; the comic sections are cleverly and slyly humorous; the villain is appropriately and despicably evil (although Quilp is maybe a little over-the-top, even for Dickens). The character Richard Swiveller proves to be the most interesting, because he alone displays some growth, changing from being thoughtless and rather selfish to being a concerned friend. (In this regard, notice his name.)

This, then, is not the Dickens novel I would most recommend, but Dickens is better than most even when he is not at his best.