Dickens, from Pickwick to Dombey

by Steven Marcus

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1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Steven Marcus is George Delacorte Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Columbia University and was Dean of Columbia University from 1993-1995. He is also the author of Dickens: From Pickwick to Dombey and Freud and the Culture of Psychoanalysis and has edited, together with Lionel Trilling, the one-volume edition of Ernest Jones's The Life and Works of Sigmund Freud. His essays and reviews have appeared in many periodicals, including Commentary, The New York Review of Books, Partisan Review, and The New Statesman.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belongs on every Dickens lover's bookshelf. Insightful, nuanced, but not uncritical review of the novels through Dombey. Shows the extent to which Dickens craft improved as he moved from novel to novel. I thought Marcus was a little harsh when it came to The Old Curiousity Shop, a book which I found moving and dream-like. On the other hand, he opened up Dombey for me and I now want to revisit that book. A second book was planned to cover the last half of Dickens' oeuvre but apparently it was never completed. A shame.

[Richard Epstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does anyone know why Marcus never wrote (or, at least, had published) volume 2, which he announced in his introduction? In any event, this is a hard work to rate because its analyses have been so thoroughly absorbed into the general critical culture. One is tempted to say, "Everyone know that," before remembering how much of it Marcus helped teach us. It's like the old ladies walking out on "Hamlet" during Polonius's advice to Laertes because his speech is so full of cliches.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential book for all Dickens' scholars.

[Robin Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Dickens-o-phile you will enjoy this book. If you aren't, Steven Marcus gives a splendid book of insights and friendly conversation about Dickens' first seven novels. I found myself smiling, happily surprised at his observations and his digressions on the themes and threads of Dickens' work. I'm a Dickensophile, the kind who rereads Chesterton's merry and perhaps irresponsible book on Dickens every five years or so. I eke out my re-readings of Dickens' novels so I don't remember every word on the revisits. Marcus has greater rigor, and possibly less cheer than Chesterton, but he doesn't dissect the life out of Dickens; he resists any academic temptation to condescend. He gives us patterns and influences but all full of life and blood. If you want to be reminded of the forces that empowered Dickens' pen, then join Marcus in these pages for a great read. Lively, readable and perceptive.

[Murciaspain · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great read .i mean that in 2 ways. its really content filled with details and makes you stop to see it .also ,its a long read ,not meant for subway hangers or bus waiters.. dickens of course would have had great conversations with woody allen.
im steve marcus in murcia spain .