Doesn't pick up until about the second half, and it took a while for me to distinguish all the Chuzzlewits from one another, but an alright story after that.

Martin Chuzzlewit, (aka The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit), by Charles Dickens

5 brilliant stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recently I spent 6 hours watching the 1994 BBC adaptation for the TV, with terrific performances by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Scofield. It was so good that it inspired me to read the book. David Lodge, who wrote the screenplay, did a magnificent job.

It’s hard to believe that this book was a flop, when released.

I absolutely loved it! I did not have a moment of boredom.

It was published as a monthly serial between January 1843 and July 1844, so it’s totally acceptable to read it in small doses and savour those moments.

Yes, it’s very wordy and it seems plotless, but the writing and the storytelling are delightful and the characters are unforgettable!

The story is about greed and moral, dishonesty and change of heart. As the blurb says, it’s a brilliant study in selfishness and hypocrisy.

It’s simply brilliant and I was completely entertained, so I cannot rate it less than 5stars.

Paperback (Penguin Classics - edited with an introduction by P. N. Burbank): 942 pages, 54 chapters - includes original illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (and yes, I own a copy of this edition but switched to the ebook noted below while using the public transportation or walking - back to the paperback when I was in the comfort of my home)

ebook (Kobo) Delphi Classics: 1255 pages (default), 341K words - this ebook contains all original illustrations (and I paid $1.29 for it)

The audiobook narrated by Derek Jacobi, from Audible, is terrific and a great accompaniment to the book (I listened as I read the physical book). The reading is faithful to the written book, word by word (excluding the notes, appendix and the sorts).

1. Dickens rambled and rambled for 35 pages before he finally introduced a character. Plus the book didn't get interesting until page 200 and something. But if you are reading this right now, try getting there. You'll find out that the novel you are currently holding in your hand is truly one of Dickens's finest. It's witty. It's sarcastic, it's ironic. It's sardonic. At times, Boz could be unmerciful, especially when he wrote about the Yanks.

2. Halfway through the book I said to myself, boy, almost everyone in this book is a fraud. They're selfish and manipulative. Then I thought maybe, just maybe the falling out twixt Old Martin Chuzzlewit and Young Martin Chuzzlewit, maybe it wasn't because Old Martin was evil. But because young Martin was selfish and wouldn't hear anyone's opinion but his own. And you know something? I was right.

3. I love how the villains are paranoid to one another. Also when the dust settled, you could see who the number 1 villain is between Seth Pecksniff, Jonas Chuzzlewit and Tigg Montague.

4. My favorite characters are Mark Tapley and Nadgett, two fringe characters. Tapley was Mr. Brightside, always cheerful and helpful, man, he was too good to be true. Nadgett, well, Dickens sure knew when to put him on. An appearance of his really turned the story around (not to mentioned it made me gasp, as though watching an episode of Lost and found out it was John Locke in the coffin) (yeah, I couldn't get through a page of anything without thinking of Lost. Duly noted).

5. These characters don't show up much but they're very important!
Chuffey, Lewsome, Nadgett, Anthony Chuzzlewit, Old Martin and Thomas Pinch.

6. Whenever Mrs. Gamp is bla-bla-blaing you can just skip to the next page. Nothing she said has anything to do with the way the story turned out. I hate it that she has the best one-liner in the book. ("He'd make a lovely corpse.")

7. I love that Dickens made a reference about 'cannibalic pastry', an obvious reference to the legend of Sweeney Todd. He also made the same reference near the end of Little Dorrit.

8. After the number 1 villain died, Dickens sort of took his time in tying up the loose ends. Maybe after he worked on it for a year he was very attached to these characters. But when a minor character suddenly showed up after presumed dead in a carriage accident...well...maybe you should've finished the book 20 pages ago, man.

9. My favorite-est quote from Martin Chuzzlewit (boy oh boy it's a good one):
"But there is a much higher justice than poetical justice. And it does not order events upon the same principle. Accordingly, people who read about heroes in books, and choose to make heroes of themselves out of books, consider it a very fine thing to be discontented and grouchy and misanthropical, and perhaps a little blasphemous because they cannot have everything rendered for their individual accomodation."
Said by Thomas Pinch to his sister Ruth

Now how come a guy who had been dead for almost 140 years could write something so accurate about me??

The fact that this novel is called Martin Chuzzlewit is the most misleading thing about it. There are two characters called Martin Chuzzlewit, and neither can be said to be the most compelling in the book. The fact that this novel is by Charles Dickens more accurately tells you what you need to know. It’s a long, sprawling, lovable, digressive story full of ridiculous characters, freewheeling exposition, glorious comic set pieces, and a more than a few tender moments.

To me, the real heros of the novel are Tom Pinch and Mark Tapely. At first, I didn’t like Tom Pinch, because his slavish devotion to the hypocritical Pecksniff was too pathentically unquestioning, like a beaten dog or a sad robot. But as the novel went on, I grew to appreciate him and even be moved by his kindness. The chapter where Tom finally gets wise to Pecksniff’s scumbag nature is one of the best in the book. As Tom leaves behind his old life, the sense of freedom is exhilerating:

It was startling, thrilling, vast, difficult to undersand; it was a stupendous truth, teeming with responsibility and self-distrust; but in spite of his cares, it gave a curious relish to the viands at the Inn, and interposed a dreamy haze between him and his prospects, which they sometimes showed to magical advantage.

Mark Tapely is more of a typical Dickens character in that he's got a “thing,” a sort of exaggerated mindset that defines his character — specifically the belief that it’s only creditable to be jolly in the face of difficult circumstances. Poor Mark, he’s so positive and helpful and resilient that even the worst of circumstances — even serving young, selfish Martin, even being swindled into purchasing a desolate, swampy farmstead in the Southern United States — can’t justify his happiness.

Neither Tom nor Mark is an especially realistic character — their goodness is too good — but I found both to be legitimately inspiring. Tom represents the true Christian virtue of being kind to one’s enemies, and Mark shows what it means to persevere against despair. I’ve already found myself drawing on their examples in the face of everything from challenging work colleagues to global pandemic.

Chuzzlewit, while not the most famous of Dickens novels in the 21st Century, is still most famous for its comic characters. We’ve got Pecknsiff, who Dickens treats with an almost aggressive irony, such that it took me about 20 pages to confirm that, yes, this guy is actually a jerk. There’s Mrs. Gamp, the drunken nurse whose conversation is peppered with creative mispronunciations and references to the fictitious Mrs. Harris. There are a whole host of crazy Americans, each of whom is hailed as “one of the most remarkable men in the country,” but is more likely to

hang about a bar-room, discussing the affairs of the nation, for twelve hours together; and in that time could hold forth with more intolerable dulness, chew more tobacco, smoke more tobacco, drink more rum-toddy, mint-julep, gin-sling, and cocktail, than any private gentleman of his acquaintance.”

Dickens’s language is really the star of this show, both in describing his characters and the world they live in — which is really our world. Looking back over the passages I’ve highlighted, there are just so many great, funny, insightful lines, I can’t help myself from including a few more:

On the wind: Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it.

On being cold: For as Mr Pecksniff justly observed—when he and his daughters had burrowed their feet deep in the straw, wrapped themselves to the chin, and pulled up both windows—it is always satisfactory to feel, in keen weather, that many other people are not as warm as you are.

On a good meal: …so he had his little table drawn out close before the fire, and fell to work upon a well-cooked steak and smoking hot potatoes, with a strong appreciation of their excellence, and a very keen sense of enjoyment. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it.

Ah, Dickens! This isn't up there with his best (A Tale of Two Cities, Our Mutual Friend, etc), but I almost couldn't bear giving it anything less than 5 stars b/c it has one of his loveliest characters in Tom Pinch, and of course who can't love Mark Tapley, one of a noble line of sturdy, jolly man-servants, right up there with Sam Weller and Sam Gamgee. A fun, lighthearted piece that I'll definitely go back to ~ although i'm sure Mark would agree that "there's no credit to being jolly" under any circumstances after you've read it. :-)

Evet, zor okuma oldu benim için ama hem İngiliz hem Amerikan insan yapısını o tarih içinde okumak ayrı bir keyif. Tavsiye ederim. Charles Dickens'ın en hacimli ve dolu kitaplarından.

My second to Last Dickens novel and the one I knew the least about. Martin Chuzzlewit is, above all, an examination of greed and the ways in which it distorts us and the way we view the world. This book is particularly noted for Dickens’s intense skewering of the United States, which was entertaining though I’d say the portions set in America were my least favourite and where I felt the pace dragged. His humour is especially sparkling in Martin Chuzzlewit - the comedy so visual and delightful in its ridiculousness, including a scene where Mr Peckniff drops a single tear on Martin Chuzzlewit’s head, pauses to wipe it away, then continues his speech. Dickens created some truly lovable characters here too, particularly the too-pure-for-this-world Tom Pinch and the lovable and loyal Mark Tapley. However, I think this is my least favourite novel by Dickens, its main detriment being its ending. Dickens loves sentimentality and I usually love that about him but I think the closing chapters of this book went a little too far for me. It was twee and sickly and, even though I wanted good things for the characters, I was left a bit nauseous from just how sweet the ending was. Nonetheless, this was a great book that I thoroughly enjoyed but it’s certainly not Dickens’s best work.

After the abysmal "Barnaby Rudge" and the laughable "Old Curiosity Shop", Dickens comes into his own as the hilarious and touching chronicler of that unflappably absurd animal, Us.
There's a lot to praise here, and people jerk-off academically to novels like this, so I'll just hit on a few salient points that should draw you in:

1) The main character, if there can rightly be said to be one, is the villain.
That's right. Dickens' most adept and cretinous character, Seth Pecksniff, sort of an uber- outturned Scrooge is really the star of the show. The Martins Chuzzlewit of the title, aren't as engaging nor are their arcs as fleshed out as Pecksniff's.
2) There are lots of main characters.
Remember, haters, that Dickens serialized his novels and was living off the money he made, so he jumps around a lot and introduces a lot of varied characters, most of whom shine. Actually, the least interesting one is Martin Chuzzlewit the Younger, though he has a satisfying arc, all the same.
3) The American bits are hilarious and surprisingly still relevant.
Dickens wasn't impressed with America and it shines through here, in outrageous sections set in the US. What is best about these sections is how spot-on and poignant they still are! Young Chuzzlewit goes to make his fortune in the land of hypocritical lynching-lovers and dubious financial speculators, where freedom is liberty and is awesome and slaves are still around and blacks trod upon. The media is a tentacular fucky-mouthed beast vomiting out load of garbage after garbage, the country itself is the best in the world and you best not forget it lest you be stabbed, and remarkable man after remarkable man are paraded before the reader literally and figuratively.
4) Dostoevsky.
He read Dickens, I think, and was a big fan. It's startling here, especially in the dark murder sections, how much he cribbed off of Dicky.
5) It's cheerful.
A lot of bad shit happens in this novel, and it can get downright grim, but it's ebullient and cheerful and there's a nice springing forth of hope, which literature seems to lack these days.

Dicken's 6th novel, one that he liked and was peeved when the original serial didn't sell as well as his previous works. The life, times and adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a bit of a strange read, set in, and heavily satirising America and dabbling with a rather insipid romance - on the other hand Dickens goes all out with his comedic scene setting and dialogue which reaches it peak with the Pecksniff's London adventure. Considered one of his seminal works by some critics and definitely a must-read for lovers of classics. 8 out of 12.

2009 read

For the last number of years, when fall comes around I like to pick up a Dickens book. Overall I really enjoyed this one, but I wouldn’t put it quite on the same level as David Copperfield or Bleak House. It did include the usual colorful characters, plot twists and turns, and societal issues that Dickens is known for. The characters were well-drawn and two of my favorites were kind, loyal Tom Pinch and the insufferable, hypocritical Mr. Pecksniff. One unique aspect of this book is that part of it takes place in America. Dickens waxes quite satirical in his ideas and opinions of Americans in the mid 19th century, which was pretty humorous and interesting.

The book that nearly broke me: it may be that I had become a little too Dickens-ed by this point in my read-through of his works in chronological order, it may be that the section on America and the Americans was so thoroughly repetitive, it may be that here reside some of the most long-winded characters in Dickens' repertoire (there were moments, when I thought, "Oh hell no! Don't ask HER/HIM about it - we'll be here all damn day!"), I suspect a combination of all three, but it took me a month to get halfway. And then suddenly, the story gripped me and off I went. The hero's journey part for young Martin was just so tedious, and sometimes Dickens enjoys thoroughly roasting his villains all too well (or having them dig their own graves - it only took one chapter for me to have Pecksniff's - best name ever! - measure and to be thoroughly sick of his hypocritical moralizing, but apparently I had to endure him for a whole damn book), but the mystery parts, any part with the absolutely darling, JOLLY Mark Tapley, or the angelic and heart-wrenching, Tom Pinch, and the sections that characterized friendships in general were well-worth it. I loved Tom Pinch and John Westlocke's friendship and young Martin Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley's friendship - their interactions made my day. I sometimes find Dickens' romantic relationships a little twee: her tiny hands! her tinier feet! GAH! But loved the relationship between Mrs. Lupin and Mark Tapley a whole lot. I also find the sudden descents into real, painful, dark corners of real life - holy cow, Jonas Chuzzlewit, what a total bastard! - to be almost shocking amid so much ridiculousness and caricature (if I had to read one more Foghorn Leghorn American-type talk about American Instituuuuutions, I was going to lose it! - except it did give an opportunity for Mark Tapley's pithier reflections: "One of the most remarkable men of the country?" Bwahahahahaha!) Overall, it seemed like a hard slog and ended up being another worthwhile effort. I'm going to think about Mark and Tom often.

Loved buddy reading this with my friends Stephanie and Darryl! I absolutely think this is an underrated Dickens! The humor is delightful--possibly funnier than Pickwick for me--and there are some beautifully written passages. There are so many good characters: virtuous characters, comic characters (really comic!), and villains!

I think Dickens' novels that have names in the titles are so interesting. It makes perfect sense for Nicholas Nickleby and David Copperfield. It is less clear for Barnaby Rudge and Martin Chuzzlewit. I have a theory for Barnaby Rudge (see my review). The title 'Martin Chuzzlewit' is especially interesting because there are two Martin Chuzzlewits--the older (the grandfather) and the younger (the grandson). Is the title named for both of them? They both have significant character development throughout the novel that is very satisfying, so I understand naming the novel for them. Without them, the novel wouldn't be what it is. But the character closest to Dickens' heart in this novel certainly seems to be the guileless, the lovable, the goodhearted, the innocent Tom Pinch. I rated the full novel four stars because I think it is not as good structurally as some of his other novels, but there are some clear five star elements to it. Tom Pinch is a five-star character. A 10 star character! I love Tom Pinch!

Now that I have just one Dickens novel left to read (The Old Curiosity Shop), it's fun to take a step back and think about Dickens' novels as a whole. I am very struck by how Dickens writes about innocence. Both Barnaby Rudge and Tom Pinch are characters that embody childlike innocence, though they are grown men. There are many others in the Dickens' canon too, but I'm particularly interested in these two. I love that Dickens chooses men to embody innocence. The Victorian age was so rife with women being the embodiment of childlike innocence (certainly Dickens has his fair share of 'good angel' women!), so it stands out when men are Dickens' good angels.

I think I'm linking Barnaby Rudge and Tom Pinch because the villains specifically use their innocence to take advantage of them. And yet I never wanted Barnaby or Tom to lose that essence of innocence that makes them the characters they are. It's such a fascinating paradox. We in the modern age are so worldly wise with our endless media streams. I think characters like Barnaby and Tom force us, as readers, to take seriously innocence as a challenge to weary modernity and to learn again to value all that innocence embodies: wonder, goodness, rejoicing when others rejoice, loyalty, humility, and joy.

I think this is why I was so deeply moved by the ending pages where Tom is playing the organ while a child dances to his music. There is a relationship here of perfect trust and it is an echo of our relationship to God. 'Let the little children come to me,' Jesus says, and this is the root of why childlike innocence is so important for adults to embrace too. It is written into our souls to be children in the house of the Lord, and we all long for this. One of my favorite hymns ends with this line: "No more a strange or a guest, but like a child at home." Dickens can explore broken homes with the best of them, but ending this novel with both the childlike adult and his beloved child friend being perfectly at home together is a profoundly redemptive image. It's why I love novels so much because the images have the power to move us deeply and bring us gently into childlike innocence ourselves as we participate in the story as we read.

I really do recommend this novel. It was a slow read at times (especially the chapters set in America LOL), but so worth the investment. The act of reading itself is one of innocence and humility: you are opening yourself to the author's world. With the best authors, the world of the novel will make you laugh, wince, shake your fist in outrage, challenge you, and spur you onto goodness. Dickens is one of the best.