In this work Dickens occasionally became a bit long winded in descriptions and in the speeches of some of his characters, and the characters themselves are often a little too much a caricature. And yet, I really cared about them and wanted to know what was going to happen to them all, even the villains. The riot scenes were utterly chilling as I could easily see their parallels even today as I am sure Dickens could see them in his time.
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2020: A book written by an author in their 20s

This one was my least favourite of all of his Dickens' work that I have read so far. I think D started so many threads that it became sort of messy. I loved reading about a lot of characters but they just disappeared for the longest times from the narrative (like hello Jo Willet?). And it took its sweet time to get where it was going.
Although there were SO many interesting things in this book, it felt choppy at times.
I'm just glad Dickens' decided against writing a trial for Barnaby (which he loves to include in almost all of this books) at the end because I was ready for this book to be over

Barnaby Rudge is set during the Gordon Riots, an 18c anti catholic convulsion in London. Avoids the mawkishness of some of Dickens’ work replaced by an extra shot of social commentary and the most urbane villain ever. I enjoy Dickens for the immersion into our past and Barnaby Rudge is one of my favourites.

One of the last Dickens I'd still to read, it's easily better than The Old Curiosity Shop and (for my taste) Hard Times. It's got that wonderful mid-period Dickens feel when you can sense him plotting more carefully despite the apparent freewheeling nature of the narrative and he's not quite into the realms of characters being grotesque just for metaphorical ends.

Barnaby too is an unlikely hero and despite the Victorian penchant for sentimentalising, he's often frequently unlikeable. The scenes where the prison is stormed have a cinematic sweep and are quite unforgettable, building to a nailbiting climax.

Dickens fans who have overlooked it should jump to it!

How have I never really heard of this novel - only sort of, but not with any sort of specifics? I don't know a writer who knows people better than Dickens. I've read a lot of amazing writers, but, Geez, I can't get over this writing and I love that I have another favorite novel and that it is by Dickens. His description of mobs is hair-raising and unsettling: people getting caught up in the violence of mob rule for various reasons, and the "justice" that occurs when everything is over that often falls on the weaker and more vulnerable, and the power brokers getting away with having caused the chaos, it's all so eerily true, and unfortunately resonant today. A complaint about Dickens is often his long descriptions, but the descriptions of what happened during the Gordon Riots were riveting. And, again, the way that people behaved in particular: there are no "good guys" or "bad guys," just people, generally operating out of self-interest. I actually vaguely remember hearing something about the Gordon Riots, but I had NO IDEA what happened - wow! Just like with so many events like this economics is a great motivator for people to look for a scapegoat, in this case, Catholics, and people get worked up, take out their angst against this perceived group of evil-doers, and the real blame falls on the powers that be. It's complicated, it's interesting, but I digress. What did I love the most about this novel? The characters! They are all so complex and interesting. A few are hatable and remain so, but some that I wanted to scream at, ended up being more complex. There were some interesting examples of BAD PARENTING and then there was Gabriel Varden, and - oh my heart! - Geoffrey Haredale (whom Dickens is going to have to answer to me about, because I think he was done dirty a bit). I LOVE Gabriel Varden, and I love Joe Willet, and - Oh! Barnaby is just such a beautifully unique and fascinating character. And I love, love, love Grip and agree with Poe that there should have been more of him. Sir John Chester is just the worst, along with a couple of others, but I'm unsettled by Dickens' attitude towards Hugh. There seems to be a little social Darwinism at work, maybe? Maybe, not. But this novel made me laugh out loud and cry and I just loved it so!

DNFing this for the second time…I may have overestimated myself.

Barnaby Rudge è forse il romanzo meno conosciuto di Charles Dickens. La mancanza di trasposizioni televisive o cinematografiche e l'irreperibilità (attuale) sul mercato italiano (tranne nelle biblioteche e in qualche mercatino dell'usato) certo non giocano a suo favore.
Barnaby Rudge è il primo dei due romanzi storici dell'autore inglese ed è ambientato in un periodo storico che personalmente non conoscevo: i disordini protestanti e anticattolici del maggio 1780 noti con il nome di Gordon Riots. E' “ufficiosamente” composto da due parti, interconnesse tra di loro ma allo stesso tempo separate, con un salto temporale di cinque anni a dividerle.
Nella prima parte la vicenda ruota attorno alla locanda La Cuccagna, nel villaggio di Eppings, sulla strada di Londra e a poche miglia dalla città, dove assistiamo alle vicende di una piccola comunità di personaggi su cui incombe il mistero dell'omicidio di Reuben Haredale, avvenuto 22 anni prima che abbia inizio la storia.
Nella seconda parte, dopo un salto di cinque anni, irrompe la grande storia e le vicende dei personaggi si intrecciano alla sommossa anticattolica che terrorizzò e mise a ferro e fuoco la città di Londra per ben quattro giorni.

Il libro parte lento, ci vengono presentati i vari personaggi, le loro vicissitudini, le loro interconnessioni e sebbene Barnaby Rudge dia il nome al romanzo non è il vero è proprio protagonista, perché quello vero e proprio è la folla che come un mare in tempesta rumoreggia, travolge e infrange ogni cosa al suo passaggio.
Il romanzo pullula di personaggi indimenticabili, tutti ben caratterizzati e appartenenti alle diverse classi sociali dell'epoca. Al fianco dei personaggi immaginari troviamo quelli realmente vissuti come Lord George Gordon; sono talmente tanti (come in ogni buon romanzo dickensiano) che è impossibile ricordarli tutti ma alcuni rimangono stampati nella mente e sono memorabili: Barnaby, giovane idiota, allevato dalla madre, desideroso di sole e vita, con le piume di pavone sul cappello, che ha come amico inseparabile un corvo loquace, Grip, indimenticabile e fantastico animale; la famiglia Varden composta dal padre Gabriel, simpatico fabbro, la bisbetica e lunatica moglie Martha, la bella figlia Dolly, l'invidiosa e petulante domestica Miggs (mi ha fatto sbellicare come Dickens l'ha tratteggiata) e il presuntuoso e sciocco apprendista Simon Tappertit; il locandiere John Willet e suo figlio Joe; il “centauro” Hugh, tuttofare della locanda, il frutto maturo del nero albero della forca; Dennis, il boia; poi sir John Chester, Geoffrey Haredale, Emma Haredale, Edward Chester e tanti altri ancora.

Questo romanzo è un buon romanzo storico e Dickens è fedele nel raccontarci i fatti che accaddero in quei quattro giorni in cui la folla è stata al centro degli avvenimenti. La folla formata da derelitti e dagli ultimi della società, uomini e donne senza volto che vengono trascinati da passioni, odi (anche personali), fanatismo, ignoranza, vendetta e vigliaccheria si rende protagonista di atti folli, distruzioni, incendi, saccheggi, devastazioni e morti inutili verso i cattolici accusati ingiustamente di aver fatto abolire le restrizioni nei loro confronti.
Un romanzo che è un mix di mistero, commozione, divertimento, tragedia, comicità e romanticismo, in cui Dickens delinea magnificamente la città e i tumulti tanto da sembrare scene cinematografiche soprattutto l'assalto al Parlamento, alle case private, la distruzione della locanda e l'indimenticabile assalto e incendio della prigione di Newgate.

Questo libro ha confermato il mio giudizio positivo su quest'autore, ineguagliabile nel suo stile, nel descrivere la città e nel creare personaggi come solo lui sa fare. Insomma un romanzo un po' diverso dagli altri libri dickensiani ma che gli amanti dell'autore inglese non dovrebbero farsi mancare.

Be' quanto è meglio essere imbecilli, che savi come voi! Voi non vedete il mondo delle ombre, come quello che vive nel sonno, no. E nemmeno occhi nelle lastre di vetro nodose, né veloci fantasmi quando soffia il vento, né udite voci nell'aria, né vedete uomini camminare nel cielo... No! Io conduco una vita più felice della vostra, malgrado tutta la vostra intelligenza. Voi siete gli stupidi; noi siamo quelli illuminati. Ah, ah! Non vorrei cambiare con voi, intelligenti come siete... No davvero!

Dickens is a wonderful descriptive writer. This is certainly not a reader favorite, probably because it doesn't have a central character for the reader to really root for. The title character is more comfortable with his pet raven than with human beings; his mental abilities make him susceptible to the excitement of the crowd. Joe Willett disappears from the novel for the whole central section and reappears as worthy, but maimed.

That being said, the novel mirrors our own upset times very well. Demagogues rile up the populace and set them rampaging through London. Dickens understood this mentality well and the formula hasn't really changed very much:

To surround anything, however monstrous or ridiculous, with an air of mystery, is to invest it with a secret charm, and power of attraction which to the crowd is irresistible. False priests, false prophets, false doctors, false patriots, false prodigies of every kind, veiling their proceedings in mystery, have always addressed themselves at an immense advantage to the popular credulity. . . . But when vague rumours got abroad, that in this Protestant association a secret power was mustering against the government for undefined and mighty purposes . . . . when terrors and alarms which no man understood were perpetually broached, both in and out of Parliament, by one enthusiast who did not understand himself, and bygone bugbears which had lain quietly in their graves for centuries, were raised again to hound the ignorant and credulous; when all this was done, as it were, in the dark, and secret invitations to join . . . . together blindfold in resistance of they knew not what, they knew not why; -- then the mania spread indeed....

Not much has changed since the 1780s. Fear of the "other" who might rise above, still is a powerful force. It doesn't take much to rile up the ignorant and fearful. The riots and mayhem Dickens describes lasted only a week before sanity and order prevailed. In our age fear continues to wreck havoc, from the holocaust to the current nationalistic fervors. Reading Barnaby Rudge do we take comfort, or are we more distressed, that this sort of turmoil didn't start recently and seemingly won't end soon.

Barnaby Rudge, a book report by Jessica G.

Barnaby Rudge is a book by Charles Dickens, who is very famous for his many books. Even though Charles Dickens is very famous, and I have read a lot of his books, I had never heard of Barnaby Rudge until two months ago. Barnaby Rudge is about the Gordon Riots, which I had also never heard of. In short: Barnaby Rudge is a good book, and I am once again questioning my education.

Anyway. I can see why people in America don't learn about the Gordon Riots, which happened during the War of Independence for us. But, for those of you who don't know, they arose after Lord George Gordon (represented here as the most Punchable Lord in Literature) tried to make it illegal to be Catholic in England, to strip Catholic citizens of property, and to tear down their "false idols and false altars." In the wake of his bill not passing, his many followers (who were stirred up by propaganda about the crafty Catholics with all their wealth- sound familiar?) took to the streets of London. Homes and churches were looted and burn, people died, it sounds absolutely horrifying. And Dickens does a stellar job of bringing it all to life. With his signature flair for character and description, he brings us a cast of heroes and villains, star-crossed lovers, criminals, and saints, and sets them against this backdrop. The style of the book reminded me very much, not of Dickens' other works, but of Sir Walter Scott's, Waverly in particular. And so, from never having heard of this book to deciding, yep, I'm gonna try and read that, I now place it solidly in my Top Five Dickens Novels That I've Read So Far. Definitely above The Old Curiosity Shop. And possibly even- GASP- The Pickwick Papers!

Barnaby Rudge is the worst Dickens novel by miles and I say that as someone who has read all of them, including Martin Chuzzlewit and The Old Curiosity Shop. More like........................Barnaby Trudge, am I right?

Have fair roared with laughter at some of the character descriptions (notably Miggs and her mistress). George Gordon is perfect Punch cartoon and star of it all is the Raven.

Don't be put off by 'them' telling you that a story is 'lesser' when the 'lesser' of Charles Dickens is far superior than anything written by 'them'.

I greatly enjoyed this novel. It was different from Dickens' other novels in that it did not employ much humor, instead of describing in detail characters (although of course their was excellent character development) it detailed events. This is one of Dickens' lesser-known novels and a historical novel which depicted anti-catholic riots in England. There were a lot of moving scenes. Some of these described the sad life of "mad" Barnaby Rudge and his mother and how Barnaby's insanity was used against him to coerce him into joining in on the riots. There were also love stories throughout, descriptions of the terrible riots and the lack of morality that can be in the world, and many examples of various relationships - husband and wife, lovers, fathers and their children, just to name a few. This novel gives you an insight into human kind and the depravity that exists as well as the goodness that God has given us. If you are a Dickens fan, I highly recommend this novel.