Dombey and Son

Upon finishing Dombey and Son this morning, I thought back to the first Dickens work I ever read, which was David Copperfield, as a freshman in high school. Since then I have read many others, all with the same extensive cast of characters, side plots, etc..... Except this one....which makes me question why it is not used as an introduction to the works of Dickens in school curriculums. Dombey and Son, as a title, refers to the business which provides wealth, title, and position to Mr. Dombey, the aforementioned father. The 'son' refers to a succession of partners in that business, as well as an arrival at the opening of the book, which leads to the demise of Mrs. Dombey. But little Paul Dombey, sharing in his father's first and last names, joins an already present sibling in the world, his sister Florence. Through the course of the novel, you realize that Dombey and Daughter are really the focus of this story....the fortunes and misfortunes that befall them both, the grievous neglect of one for the other, despite the efforts of the one neglected to reconcile...and a host of others that enter and exit from their lives. But to recapture and jusitfy my initial point, this book is a marvelous starting point to read Dickens. It is far easier to keep track of the cast of the story, as it is more limited than other Dickens novels, while sharing the same length as most others. The story lines all really do feed into the central plot, and while the 'comedy' that I so enjoy in Dickens's prose is, admittedly, more limited here...it still is a highly enjoyable tale, and a great place to get your feet wet with one of history's best tale-weavers. Although bittersweet and melancholy in tone, for the majority of the story, Dombey and Son holds up with Dickens's other novels as a true classic.

This is one of the best Dickens novels I have ever read. The character of Florence is so beautifully developed, and while I was reading, I got the sense that Dickens himself was in love with Florence. There's also that sense of mystery, in the dealings of Mrs. Brown and Alice, and their hatred of Mr. Carker. This book is full of surprises, and I was kept riveted to every single page. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone, and one that I will be reading again and again.

Although this novel is 800 pages long, it is so well constructed that you do not notice how long it is. Careful reading of this enables you to see that Dickens had this novel very carefully thought out from the start. Characters such as Paul Dombey, Florence, and little Paul are very well drawn and very convincing. I can not overestimate the grace in which Dickens balances suspense, good and bad omens, comic relief, and powerful images. The reconciliation scene between Florence and her father is a scene of such rare and exquisite beauty. (even to me an English Major) Along with "David Copperfield" (1850), "Bleak House" (1853), and "Hard Times" (1854), this is a phenomenal masterpiece beyond expectations.

A previously posted review asks: "How can readers accept that a woman's happiness can be achieved either through living to make men happy OR through living according to one's conscience? Surely one of these characters deserves the author's condemnation yet neither clearly receives it." It is sad when a reader is so intent on pigeonholing complex, richly drawn characters into narrow politically correct categories that he or she misses out on joys of a wonderful novel like this. Florence is denied her father's love, blames herself, and strives harder for it. This is a psychologically accurate portrait of what such a child would do, not an example of "living to make men happy" that Dickens should have condemned or praised. Likewise as to Edith's "living according to her conscience," although in fact she fails to live according to her conscience, and hates herself for it. And another previously posted review says that "the ending is wonderful, and Dickens ties up the numerous subplots with the most delightful precision." I found the final 100 pages the only bad part of the book, as Dickens artificially ties up matters that he had no need to tie up; he should have ended the book sooner. But this is my favorite Dickens novel so far.

Dombey and Son isn't one of Dickens' well known works. After all, English teachers have not spent the last 100 years poisoning it for their students the way they poison so many of Dickens' other works. But it is one of the loveliest books Dickens has written! Do not be put off by those descriptions of it being about money and the horrors of the economic system. That is only a small part of the story. There is amazing depth to the characters in these pages: they surprise us, they astonish us, they break our hearts, and they give us hope. However, the plot has a couple of wee holes in it. For example, why would proud Mr. Dombey entrust a manager under him with his personal problems with his wife, Edith? And why would the said manager, as slimy and ambitious a toad as they come, throw away his chances of taking over Dombey's firm by running away with Edith? But the writing is so lovely, and the consequences of these minor faults are so intriguing, that it is easy to forgive them. The ending is wonderful, and Dickens ties up the numerous subplots with the most delightful precision. The book is close to a 1000 pages, but it's worth it, every lovely word of it.