Product Description

First broadcast as a serial on Radio 4 in December 1995, this is a dramatization of Dickens's tale of private lives and public events among the seething unrest of 1780s London, recreating the historical facts of the Gordon Riots.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1194866 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-03
• Released on: 1998-08-03
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio Cassette

Synopsis
First broadcast as a serial on Radio 4 in December 1995, this is a dramatization of Dickens's tale of private lives and public events among the seething unrest of 1780s London, recreating the historical facts of the Gordon Riots.

About the Author
Jon Mee and Iain McCalman are joint editors ofAn Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age (1999)

Customer Reviews

Why the Dickens is this one of his less read novels?
Having struggled with the frankly turgid "A tale of Two Cities" I stumbled upon this with some trepidation.
I was rewarded with an absolutely marvellous read.
Characters I cared about, though I concede the eponymous hero was not one of them, and a number of top notch villains - Hugh leading the way.
A good central story with interesting subplots and storylines. All in all - highly recommended.

"Better to be mad than sane, here. Go mad."
Focused primarily on the "anti-popery" riots in London in1780, and filled with wild scenes of carnage involving a large cast of characters from all levels of society, Barnaby Rudge is Dickens's first historical novel, and it includes the real Lord George Gordon, a virulent anti-Catholic who whipped the populace into a frenzy. The author sets the scene for the tumult by first painting a picture of quiet village society in Chigwell in 1775, five years earlier, often using humor to depict the numerous characters.

Geoffrey Haredale, a Catholic, has inherited the estate of his brother Reuben, who was murdered twenty-two years before. He has brought up his niece Emma, who is in love with the kindly Edward Chester, a Protestant, the son of the odious Lord John Chester, who lives nearby. Dozens of characters populate the book--including Barnaby Rudge (the developmentally disabled son of Mary Rudge, who works on an estate), the Willetts (who run the Maypole Inn), Gabriel Varden (a locksmith) and his daughter Dolly (who eventually works for Emma Haredale), mysterious strangers, ghosts, a sinister blind man, and even Grip, Barnaby's talking raven.

The action takes off when the time shifts from 1775 to 1780, and the focus changes from village life and the sometimes amusing domestic concerns of the people to the growing anti-Catholic sentiment being stirred up in London. The humor, which has been a big part of the first part of the book, ends, and Dickens concentrates on the growing hatred and the battles spawned by that hatred, with good people being drawn into brutality that they would otherwise avoid. Violence and several deaths take place, the populace becomes a mob, and rioting leads to the burning of properties. The love stories, which have been a large part of the first section of the book, are put on the back burner for the major part of the book.

Written in 1841, this is Dickens's fifth novel, one which suffers from its original serialization and loss of focus. Though the atmosphere and some of the characters rank among Dickens's best, and some of the humor in the first part is delightful, the tone is inconsistent, changing with the riots and ensuing action. As is always the case with Dickens, all mysteries are cleared up at the end, with Reuben Haredale's murder solved and the whereabouts revealed of several characters who disappeared between 1775 and 1780. With hints of some of the greatness to come, this novel precedes David Copperfield, Bleak House, and A Tale of Two Cities, and shows Dickens experimenting with his themes and ideas. Mary Whipple

On a par with..
Barnaby Rudge is probably one of the lesser known novels of Dickens. His other historical novel 'A Tale of Two Cities' is certainly more popular and perhaps superior in quality. Barnaby Rudge in terms of quality I feel is however on a par with another early book of his - the popular 'The Pickwick Papers' which is a good read.

Those of us who are not avid students of history can be forgiven for knowing nothing of the 'No Popery' riots of 1780. Barnaby Rudge provides an entertaining lesson in history.

The best comedy is supplied in the first third of the book which is set five years before the riots. A charming array of characters is introduced whom cover wide social strata. The Varden household dynamic and the society of apprentices provide almost pythonsque laughs. Grip, offers a surreal component as the pet of Barnaby Rudge who is himself unconvincing as a half wit. Convincing though are the baddies such as the uncouth criminal Hugh and the slimy deviant Sir Chester.

The second part which commences just prior to the riots lacks comedy but contains the best writing. It is a long novel but well worth the effort. I found myself impatient for the riots to begin, then when they begun I wanted them to finish, and then throughout the final chapters wished that there were more. Dickens serves out proportionately the comeuppance of each and actually rounds off nicely. So if you read Barnaby Rudge, savour, for it has a fine reward.