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Dombey and Son

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Dombey and Son

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: John Richmond
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About this listen

 Dombey and Son is a novel with the full title Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation by Charles Dickens.

First published in monthly parts between October 1846 and April 1848, it tells the story of Paul Dombey a heartless London merchant who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business. In his daily life there is no room for dealing with emotions because emotion has no market value. In his son he sees the future of his firm and the continuation of his name, while he neglects his affectionate daughter, until he decides to get rid of her beloved, a lowly clerk. But Dombey's weakness is his pride, and he falls prey to the treacherous flattery of others.

Combining an intricate plot, vivid language, and Dickens's customary social commentary, this is another classic from the master novelist.

Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Public Domain (P)2009 RNIB Classics England Heartfelt

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John Richmond is an excellent reader. He portrays the characters brilliantly and infuses them each with their own individuality. More from this reader please.

Dombey & Son

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This is a wonderful interpretation of Dombey and Son: you can see Tim Curry as Carker thanks to this ! I really admire how this thoughtful, fittingly languid, elegant reading was done. Excellent for those new to Dickens.

Brilliant

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I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this lovely long audible book. I have never read Dombey and Son but have enjoyed other Dickens books - and it is now a firm favourite. It was so beautifully read with every character defined by their own voice and characteristics. I’d like to thank the narrator for helping me to derive such enjoyment from the book

A marvellous story beautifully narrated

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This is a very good book but it must have been a live reading because John Richmond makes a lot of mistakes when reading this book, mispronouncing words and then correcting himself. Also in the moments between his speaking I could hear coughing and moving of chairs, at at the end of chapter I could hear shuffling of papers. All of that was quite annoying but having said that it was a good book and I enjoyed listening to it very much

This must have been a live reading

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I love Dickens but Dombey and Son is my least favourite of his books. The characterisation is excellent but the story takes far too long to develop and only has short periods of true brilliance. Worth listening to for these short lived gems but hard work at times.
Dickens painstakingly lays out the characters and the story slowly unfolds to reveal and an intriguing tale of the times. My favourite novels, in order, are as follows:
David Copperfield
Oliver Twist
A Tale of Two Cities
Little Dorrit
The Old Curiosity Shop
Bleak House
Barnaby Ridge
Great Expectations
Our Mutual Friend
The Pickwick Papers
Hard Times
Dombey and Son

An insightful but depressing tale

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This must be the bargain of the year in terms of hours of listening (40+) for your money.

Dombey and Son is chock full of characters interwoven into a drama full of incident, coincidence, pathos and sentimentality.. and social comment. It is a perfect vehicle for an audio book - far better than to attempt to read such a long and detailed novel unless you are an avid Dickens fan. In fact an audio book allows you to experience the novel, as it was written, in serial form. The reader is expert at personalising the myriad of characters and even makes the moralising bearable.

If you have always meant to read more Dickens but have never found the time and energy, give this a try.

Dickens Made Accessible

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Dombey and Son is a tad less known than some other books, but it contains all the known and loved dickensian ingredients.
Well worth the 41 hours of listening.

Pure Dickensian bliss

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I loved the slow, thoughtful, and emotive reading of this book by Charles Dickens. Though one voice, I heard and imagined many. The rustling as the pages were turned, and the pauses whilst doing so, and between the chapters, added to the calming environment. My experience was as if being read to by my father. I felt completely involved.
Thank you

The reader was fantastic and the author sublime.

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John Richmond 'does all the voices' to great effect proving Dickens can still entertain. I'm loving it!

Great entertainment

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Probably the worse Audible production that I ever heard. Truly dreadful. Dickens must be squirming in his grave.

Abysmal

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