The Old Curiosity Shop Audiobook (Unabridged)

" I can tell this is one of Dickens's early novels. It is not as well executed as some of his others. The framing device -- the "single gentleman" who narrates the first three chapters and then disappears, leaving the novel to be told from the third person omniscient point of view -- is pretty clumsy. I'm also a bit amazed that folks in 1840 allegedly met boats arriving in New York City from England to find out whether Nell lives, because one would have to be a pretty careless reader not to pick up on the, oh, hundred or so clues that Nell was not long for this world. At the end of the day, I am not a huge fan of the impossibly beautiful, kind, intelligent, gentle teenage girls who populate Dickens's novels. They bore me. I'll take the dirty, lazy, charming but ultimately good Dick Swiveller any day. "

" Dickens' prose is definitely not modern. If I was to edit his work today, his novels would be novellas and novellas short stories. But, the story told is timeless. I'll warn you that the ending isn't exactly a happy one and after 556 pages, I felt slightly cheated. What made up for this was the fact that the story makes you feel (rather than makes you think). At the end, I felt grief for one character while also feeling joy for another's success. It's rare to find a story that is more than words on paper, and this makes Curiosity Shop a classic in my eyes. "

" Dickens's books DO have plot in addition to character and setting! This is the story of a young girl, the ward of her grandfather, who has a gambling problem. I loved the word pictures, especially the factory at night with the dirty air and the hellish flames. "

" one more closer to completing the cannon "

" I know I read this book a long time ago, but decided to read it again as my 25th book from Marilyn Green Faulkner's 36 Back to the Best Books. We watched the DVD (4 hours worth!)before reading the book, and it was excellent. I was pleased to see as I was reading the book how closely the DVD had followed the story. Charles Dickens is truly one of my favorite authors. "

" Dickens is a literary god. What more can I say? The characters in here are wonderful and addictive. You'll laugh, you'll cry - it'll become a part of you. "

" Quite a good book. There are some very terrifying characters but also some characters for whom you want to physically leap into the book and help. It's sort of a sad tale. A good book to read if you enjoy the classics. "

" slow but riveting at moments "

" I loved Dicken's characters, descriptions, and subtle humor. But I was starting to think the story would never end. "

" A horrible lot of sentimentality, but as usual the comic characters were excellent. Quilp was great for just sheer nastiness. "

" Still trying to power through... "

" I started the *70* chapters on the librivox audiobook version and decided that it just wasn't interesting enough to stick with the book for 700 minutes. "

" Not one of my favorite Dickens novels. "

" I know this is a classic book but honestly I couldn't get into it and it kept putting me to sleep. "

" Kind of meh, I bascially skimmed through the latter half. Out of all Dickens' books I've read so far it's my least favourite. The only interesting characters were Quilp and Swiveller. "

" bu antikaci dükkani diye çevrilmisti galiba... "

" Not sure if it's because I had a lot going on, but this book seemed to take a lifetime to finish. "

" Reading for book club. I've never read Dickens and am surprised that it's not as unyieldingly dour as I anticipated. I'm enjoying it. "

" I'm finding the story a bit too intense, between Quilp's abuse of his wife and grandfather's neglect of Nell. Pretty dour. "

" The story was great, the characters loveable or truly villainous. However saying that this story was the toughest to say with out of the entire Dickens I have read or reread in the last year. A bit too Dickens so it is predictable and didn’t have the clever twist in it. "

" This is one of my favorite Dickens, and many people have never heard of it. It is the story of a grandfather who truly wants what's best for his granddaughter, but he is addicted to gambling. I loved the characters. "

" I had never read this Dickens classic about Little Nell who journeys with her old grandfather to escape the evil men who are searching for him. It's the usual florid Dickens prose with lots of serindipitious coincidences. "

" I must admit, I could not finish the whole book! There was so much nonesense and description, once you waded through it, you had to go back and see what they were talking about in the first place. I guess I am not meant for such culture! "

" Bucket list! My first Dickens novel begun and finished,(besides "A Christmas Carol." "

" Angel in the house hits the road and doesn't come back no more. "

" An interesting tear jerker. Rather typical Dickens. "

" A strange Dickens & one of my favorite Dickens. There's a lamp store on 8th Avenue in the 40s in Manhattan & EVERY time I pass it, especially at night, I think of this book. I really loved this one. "

" One of only two of Dickens' books (the other being Oliver Twist) which has made me cry like a baby. "