The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby [Abridged] (Penguin English Library) - Softcover

Dickens, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140431136 ISBN 13: 9780140431131

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1978

Synopsis

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is closely modelled on the eighteenth-century novels that Charles Dickens loved as a child, such as Robinson Crusoe, in which the fortunes of a hero shape the plot. The likeable young Nicholas, left penniless on the death of his father, sets off in search of better prospects. His meandering route to happiness includes work as a teacher at Dotheboys Hall, where the brutal Wackford Squeers ill-treats his impoverished pupils, and a spell as an actor with the absurdly melodramatic Crummles troupe. Nicholas's many adventures give Dickens the freedom to follow the eccentricities of a vivid gallery of characters, exploring themes of class, love, and self-awareness with exuberant comedy and biting satire.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Hodder Headline Audiobooks presents abridged readings of some of the finest in drama, classic literature, popular fiction, poetry, children¹s stories, and religious and inspirational works. Among Hodder Headline¹s outstanding cast of readers and performers are Kenneth Branagh, Juliet Stevenson, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, and Dame Judi Dench. Each set of cassettes is beautifully packaged and shrink-wrapped.

From the Back Cover:

Charles Dickens had an understanding of mid-Victorian society second to none, and genius and energy massive enough to make the absurdities and terrors of that society come alive on the page. Nicholas Nickleby, with its episodes of chicanery in finance and education, and the dramatic intensity with which it tells the story of its open-hearted protagonists - a young brother and sister at sea in a dangerous world - and its frightening villain, the magnificently rendered Ralph Nickleby, represents Dickens at his clear-eyed, indignant and mesmerizing best.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1978
• ISBN 10: 0140431136
• ISBN 13: 9780140431131
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 976