I have never read a Dickens that I haven't ended up loving...even after a slow start. I love all the old "cliched" themes of retribution and redemption and forgiveness and the power of love and all that good stuff. Dickens was such a genius at creating memorable characters...villains, heroes, fools...all wonderful.

I am very pleased to have finished. This was an uphill climb, at times most arduous. The first 18 chapters lack drive and no character is egregious enough to build tension. On discovering, at that point, that there are 62 chapters, I almost despaired as I like to finish what I start. It does pick up, but I admit to skipping lengthy descriptive passages and digressions. Dickens makes powerful points about gender issues, class issues, commerce and parental responsibility but I was dissatisfied with the ending which whilst every loose end was tied, left untold the reason for the central hinge. Glad to have read it, but it isn't coming to my desert island!

My neighbor, a gentleman, suggested I read this Dickens as we share an appreciation for his books, but I'd never read it. He said "Dombey" is his favorite Dickens. Well I've still not read it, but I listened to it, and the story -- all about women, unique among Dickens' books I think -- and the reader were wonderful. He recorded this in the era when talking books were being recorded for the visually impaired. So this was a low-budget affair. It felt like just him and me in a room with a crackling fire; I could hear him stop for a drink of water from time to time, or to pause long enough to gather himself after a particularly emotional bit in the narrative. Anyway, great version. FYI the narrator of this Audible edition is John Richmond.
The story, though not my favorite, is up there. My fave still remains "Copperfield" -- if I'm using the shortcut true Dickens lovers use (jokes). Don't be in a hurry; it's something like 41 hours of audiobook. I listened for a good several weeks just driving around in my car and experienced several driveway moments. Since these books I believe came out in serial, it really put me back in time. Despite the fact I was in a modern conveyance, I could feel a little bit what it must have been like in the 19th century listening to our family's reader, probably trading voices when one tired. I highly recommend the experience.

One strength of this one: the action is quicker to begin. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

It is rare in Dickens that I am aware that he was paid by the word....but this one reminded me. Its storylines are uncharacteristically diffuse --to the point where it feels as if he's abandoned them. And, as in "A Christmas Carol," I found the spiritual transformation of one of the central characters contrived. However, there are searing and all-too-realistic portraits of emotional abuse here, brutal even for Dickens; compared to the victimised children in this book, his orphans were fortunate. As a parent, I found this an excellent how-NOT-to guide.

Made the decision to read Dickens in the publication order after reading Little Dorrit and Bleak House and being inspired by the YouTube Channel “Books and Things”. Dombey and Sons is first great novel Dickens published. The book is both comedy and tragedy as well as a morality play. He creates great characters, who we grow to care for, and uses them to tell a complex story. Highly recommend this book!

Clearly the best in our Dickens group reads so far. Plot cohesive, understandable and with purpose. Less characters (thank goodness), each well-developed in comparison with earlier books.