Martin Chuzzlewit

The Audible Dickens Collection

By: Charles Dickens, William Boyd - introduction

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, William Boyd - introduction

This exclusive recording of Martin Chuzzlewit starts with a unique introduction written and narrated by William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart and A Good Man in Africa.

First published in 1842, Martin Chuzzlewit is the last of Charles Dickens' picaresque novels. Despite poor sales at the time, Dickens considered it his best work, and it is now regarded as one of the most significant literary depictions of 19th-century America.

Horrified by the ongoing use of slavery in the self-professed 'land of the free', Dickens returned home after his first trip abroad with an extreme distaste for American laws and, equally, their frequent use of spitting tobacco. Dickens turned to his pen once again and created a story which satirically centres around the selfish and greedy Chuzzlewits.

About the book:

Deeply distressed at thought of his singularly money-minded family circling around his inevitable death bed, when Old Martin Chuzzlewit comes across a young and kindly orphan girl, he immediately decides to take her into his employment. Offering her a comfortable living in exchange for her care and protection, Martin rests easy in the knowledge that her comfort will last only as long as he does; upon his death, Mary the orphan will find herself on the cold and dirty streets from whence she came. To his great dismay, Old Martin's plan is foiled when his own grandson and main heir, Martin Chuzzlewit Junior, declares his undying love for Mary and his consequent intention to marry her.

This Audible Original dramatisation follows the Chuzzlewit household from this point on, as relationships are born and tested, old feuds are reignited and the ever-present vultures start to close in. A lesson in the dangers and consequences of looking only after number one, the narrative remains highly relevant to this day and is expertly narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi.

About the author:

With his father incarcerated, Charles Dickens had to abandon his studies at a young age and set to work in a factory so as to support himself. Despite his short-lived education, Dickens went on to write 15 novels, various articles, novellas and short stories. These include Hard Times, Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Barnaby Rudge, Little Dorrit and A Tale of Two Cities. He lectured and led campaigns for children's rights and education and arguably became the ultimate self-made man.

About the narrator:

Sir Derek Jacobi is an English actor and stage director, best known for his illustrious stage career and his appearance in films such as The Day of the Jackal, Gladiator, Gosford Park and, most recently, Murder on the Orient Express. He is the recipient of two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy, and in 1994 he was knighted.

Sir Derek has also recorded over 100 audiobooks, including Roald Dahl's George's Marvellous Medicine, Anthony Horowitz's Moriarty, and many works of classic fiction. A lifelong Dickens fan, Sir Derek is delighted to lend his dulcet tones to this recording of Martin Chuzzlewit as part of Audible's Definitive Dickens collection.

©2018 Charles Dickens (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Derek Jacobi is MAGNIFICENT!!!

Especially his rendition of Sarah Gamp is fantastically funny. So good at the voices. What a wonderful performance.

Loved it.

Dickens at its sarcastic best.
Spectacular performance by Derek Jacobi.
I know readers and performers are a matter of taste, but I am not sorry to have chosen this performance.

Far from his best

Legend has it that Dickens thought Martin Chuzzlewitt was his best novel. He was wrong.

Mr Dickens

Mr Dickens, bravo sir - as usual. And very well performed. I liked this. There are some things that recur in his books: there’s always an orphan, always a rich relative, always a villain. But while the events of the book revolved around old Martin Chuzzlewit’s actions, the book, in my opinion, was about Tom Pinch. You have to conclude that by the ending. Charles didn’t kill off a beloved character in this one, as he usually does. And Tom is much like Smikes from Nicholas Nickleby. He did not get his beloved in the end - but he did stay alive, and was the hero of the novel.

Dickens in his finest humor

I, like Dickens himself, don’t understand how this delightful tale was not better received. His wit and insight are as sharp here as any of his more acclaimed works. Loved every minute of it!

Slow burn but great surprise ending!

Great reader and a complicated long-winded but enjoyable romp. I’ve listened to just about every Dickens novel in the last two years and this one had the best twist. It’s a little darker than David Copperfield or a Nicholas Nickelby, but a good one nonetheless!

Definitely Underrated

Dickens apparently thought this was his best book at the time he published it (his other choices were The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge). He probably wasn't right about that - I've read the first three of those and they are all better, but this book is definitely underrated and has probably become a bit of pile on book for people looking for missteps by a genius. I think that is very unfair and this is, for the most part, a worthy entry in the canon.

First, I want to clear up something I've seen in other reviews. Derek Jacobi does an amazing job narrating this book. I've seen a few reviews where he is criticized for being "overdramatic," but, I mean, the book is a drama and Sir Derek is one of the geniuses of our time. This is part of a series of books Audible has done covering the entirety of Dickens' major works, and Jacobi delivers the finest narration so far. Frankly, I think they probably gave him this one because they knew people thought it was a lesser entry into the canon and wanted to bring out a star to read it to bring in listeners. Mission accomplished. They are lucky he said yes.

With regards to the narrative, let's start with what I liked best - the chapters in America. These were controversial in their day, but they are laugh out loud funny and some of his best writing. I'm American and I absolutely loved his satire of what our country was like in its early days. He hits us with so many hilarious characters so quickly that I actually bought a paperback copy of the book and went back and re-read those chapters. And I laughed again. The reaction abroad probably prevented this in its day, but I would have love to have read one whole Dickens book set just in America.

Dickens' great strength is obviously his characterization. It's about the journey with him, not the destination. This book definitely delivers its fair share to his hall of fame. The most famous at the time was Mrs. Gamp - deservedly so, as she also had me laughing out loud. Mark Tapely, Tom Pinch, and Montague Tigue are also great entries. And Jonas Chuzzlewit is rightly considered a great Dickens villain - one that most people have never heard of.

The problem here is the the title character (or at least one of them) and the supposedly main villain. Martin Chuzzlewit the Younger is so poorly defined that it becomes hard to root for him. He is no Nicholas Nickleby, and his foil, Seth Pecksniff, is no Ralph Nickleby. I actually went back and checked to see if this book came before Nickleby, to see if Dickens was testing some themes with them, but this book came after, and it was a step back in the nephew-uncle antagonism theme. Pecksniff is often cited as a classic Dickens villain, but at least in my view, he never quite got there. And Jonas Chuzzlewit is so loathsome that, at least in my opinion, he shoved Pecksniff a bit into the background. Martin Chuzzlewit the Elder (whom some may say the books is actually named after) if a fine character but gets very little time on the pages.

Martin Chuzzlewit isn't the timeless masterpiece we get with David Copperfield, Bleak House, or Great Expectations, but if you're working your way through Dickens' works as I am, you won't be very disappointed in this stop along the way.

Characters come alive

I keep listening to Dickens books, and each time I listen, I decide ‘that’s my favourite book’, but by far this has been my favourite. Very well read, all the characters come alive with the narrator. Recommended and will likely listen all over again.

A wonderful and rousing performance by Jacoby.

Much of the humor is lost to us today.Though Dickens Painted this story with high satire throughout, He has done so at the expense of creating very few likable characters. I would have been glad not to have been introduced to Mrs Gamp at all. The insufferable Pecksniff brought no joy and little levity to the story. l was quite stunned at the contempt which Dickens expressed toward America of the 1840s. There is so much better of dickens to enjoy that I would not recommend spend

Not my favorite

As I go through the great Dickens books via audible format, this one was the most difficult. I started one with a different reader and gave up; I couldn’t bear his accent/voice. Thankfully I tried this one and his performance made it a fine experience. The plot and theme were so relevant to modern times that I cringed through it. Not much of human nature seems to change.