Martin Chuzzlewitt by Charles Dickens

Call to mind the most hypocritical, selfish, self-serving person you know, and Charles Dickens has portrayed him to a perfection in his character Seth Pecksniff, one of the two major villains in this long (900+ pages) novel. Many, many others in the large cast of characters are afflicted with the defect of selfishness, but Pecksniff tops them all, because he is able to fool most people most of the time into believing that he is actually pious and self-sacrificing.

As to the hero of the novel, the titular Martin Chuzzlewitt is actually one of the selfish ones, at least in the beginning. But in the world of Dickens, often disappointment and physical hardship can cause a character to change, and that is what happens to Martin. Of course, to a regular reader of Dickens the transformation is not unexpected.

Also unsurprisingly, the best behaved and most unselfish characters are portrayed as being from humble stations in life and perhaps less intellectually endowed than the rest. And don't forget the women -- all the admirable ones are young and beautiful and small and dainty and completely dedicated to providing happiness and comfort to their men.

Yes, Dickens is predictable; yes, he is often over-the-top in his exaggeration of character; yes, he is often heavy-handed in his satire of human foibles. But he is almost always amusing and fun to read, and many of his characters, particularly the villains, are exactly like people you know, only more so.

Most of this novel seems planned out from the beginning, with apparently extraneous episodes actually containing clues about the eventual conclusion, except for one obvious exception: Martin Chuzzlewitt's stay in America. Obviously, Dickens' recently completed visit to the United States had not left a very good impression because he uses this wholly unnecessary side plot to portray the country in a very bad light indeed, with especial scorn for a population which boasts often and loudly of the freedom of its citizens, all the while being wholeheartedly supportive of slavery.

This is not the best of Dickens, but it is not the worst of Dickens, either. The characters are memorable; the names of the characters are a hoot; the story is somewhat suspenseful despite being predictable as to the outcome. It does take a considerable time commitment, but it is well worth your time.