The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Version 3)

Nicholas Nickleby was Dickens's third novel following on from Pickwick Papers and Oliver twist. It has a cast of wonderful characters that include Wackford Squeers, the reprehensible and villainous headmaster whose reign of terror at his school in Yorkshire resulted in the abuse and deaths of many of his unwanted and orphaned children, Mr Vincent Crummles and his hilariously inept touring company, the munificent Cheeryble brothers, Ralph Nickleby, Nicholas's uncle, a mean spirited man who is driven by avarice and irrational hatred of his nephew, Smike a boy brutalised by Squeers and his family leaving him mentally and physically handicapped and Mrs Nickleby, Nicholas’s mother, who is pretentiously genteel and somewhat garrulous.

There are many more finely drawn characters who combine to make this not only a comic masterpiece of the period but more than one love story threads its way through the dialogue. Probably what we would call today a ‘Romacom’ and as such Nicholas Nickleby never ceases to delight. (Summary by Peter Keeble)

Chapters

Select a chapter to play

Authors Preface	12:05	Read by Peter John Keeble
Chapter 1- Introduces All The Rest	12:49	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of Mr Ralph Nickleby, And His Establishments . . .	28:27	Read by Peter John Keeble
Mr Ralph Nickleby receives sad tidings of his brother . . .The reader is informed how he liked Nicholas . . .	25:10	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas and his Uncle . . . wait upon Mr Wackford Squeers, the Yorkshire Schoolmaster	28:23	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas starts for Yorkshire. Of his Leave-taking and his Fellow-Travellers . . .	24:38	Read by Peter John Keeble
In which the Occurrence of the Accident . . . affords an Opportunity . . .to tell Stories against each other	52:21	Read by Peter John Keeble
Mr and Mrs Squeers at Home	18:32	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of the Internal Economy of Dotheboys Hall	30:40	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of Miss Squeers, Mrs Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr Squeers . . .	34:33	Read by Peter John Keeble
How Mr Ralph Nickleby provided for his Niece and Sister-in-Law	30:37	Read by Peter John Keeble
Newman Noggs inducts Mrs and Miss Nickleby into their New Dwelling in the City	12:30	Read by Peter John Keeble
Whereby the Reader will be enabled to trace the further course of Miss Fanny Squeer's Love . . .	25:17	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas varies the Monotony of Dothebys Hall . . .	31:48	Read by Peter John Keeble
Having the Misfortune to treat of none but Common People . . .	27:45	Read by Peter John Keeble
Acquaints the Reader with the Cause and Origin of the Interruption . . .	30:24	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas seeks to employ himself in a New Capacity . . .	45:51	Read by Peter John Keeble
Follows the Fortunes of Miss Nickleby	21:45	Read by Peter John Keeble
Miss Knag, after doting on Kate Nickleby . . . makes up her Mind to hate her for evermore . . .	31:57	Read by Peter John Keeble
Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr Ralph Nickleby's . . .	37:43	Read by Peter John Keeble
Wherein Nicholas at length encounters his Uncle . . . His Resolution.	27:05	Read by Peter John Keeble
Madam Mantalini finds herself in a Situation . . . and Miss Nickleby finds herself in no Situation at all	29:39	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas, accompanied by Smike, sallies forth to seek his Fortune . . .	34:07	Read by Peter John Keeble
Treats of the Company of Mr Vincent Crummles, and of his Affairs, Domestic and Theatrical	29:21	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of the Great Bespeak for Miss Snevellicci . . .	38:36	Read by Peter John Keeble
Concerning a young Lady from London . . . and an elderly Admirer who follows in her Train . . .	31:08	Read by Peter John Keeble
Is fraught with some Danger to Miss Nickleby's Peace of Mind	25:06	Read by Peter John Keeble
Mrs Nickleby becomes acquainted with Messrs Pyke and Pluck . . .	34:49	Read by Peter John Keeble
Miss Nickleby, rendered desperate by the Persecution of Sir Mulberry Hawk . . . appeals. . . to her Uncle for Protection	39:36	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of the Proceedings of Nicholas, and certain Internal Divisions in the Company . . .	21:12	Read by Peter John Keeble
Festivities are held in honour of Nicholas . . .	37:25	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of Ralph Nickleby and Newman Noggs . . .	17:19	Read by Peter John Keeble
Relating chiefly to some remarkable Conversation, and some remarkable Proceedings . . .	24:36	Read by Peter John Keeble
In which Mr. Ralph Nickleby is relieved, by a very expeditious Process, from all Commerce with his Relations	16:15	Read by Peter John Keeble
Wherein Mr. Ralph Nickleby is visited by Persons with whom the Reader has been already made acquainted	36:02	Read by Peter John Keeble
Smike becomes known to Mrs. Nickleby and Kate. Nicholas also meets with new Acquaintances . . .	38:22	Read by Peter John Keeble
Private and confidential; relating to Family Matters . . . Mr Kenwigs underwent violent Agitation . . . Mrs. Kenwigs was as well as could be expected	18:38	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas finds further Favour in the Eyes of the brothers Cheeryble and Mr Timothy Linkinwater . . .	41:35	Read by Peter John Keeble
Comprises certain Particulars arising out of a Visit of Condolence . . . Smike unexpectedly encounters a very old Friend . . .	35:51	Read by Peter John Keeble
In which another old Friend encounters Smike, very opportunely . . .	20:19	Read by Peter John Keeble
In which Nicholas falls in Love. . . .	40:15	Read by Peter John Keeble
Containing some Romantic Passages between Mrs. Nickleby and the Gentleman in the Small-clothes next Door	27:35	Read by Peter John Keeble
Illustrative of the convivial Sentiment, that the best of Friends must sometimes part	25:03	Read by Peter John Keeble
Officiates as a kind of Gentleman Usher, in bringing various People together	33:42	Read by Peter John Keeble
Mr. Ralph Nickleby cuts an old Acquaintance . .	34:39	Read by Peter John Keeble
Containing Matter of a surprising Kind	29:41	Read by Peter John Keeble
Throws some Light upon Nicholas's Love, but whether for Good or Evil the Reader must determine	33:58	Read by Peter John Keeble
Mr. Ralph Nickleby has some confidential Intercourse with another old Friend. . .	36:59	Read by Peter John Keeble
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and positively his last Appearance on this Stage	26:46	Read by Peter John Keeble
Chronicles the further Proceedings of the Nickleby Family, and the Sequel of the Adventure of the Gentleman in the Small-clothes	36:55	Read by Peter John Keeble
Involves a serious Catastrophe	34:19	Read by Peter John Keeble
The Project of Mr. Ralph Nickleby and his Friend approaching a successful Issue, becomes unexpectedly known to another Party . . .	27:12	Read by Peter John Keeble
Nicholas despairs of rescuing Madeline Bray . . .	30:26	Read by Peter John Keeble
Containing the further Progress of the Plot contrived by Mr. Ralph Nickleby and Mr. Arthur Gride	39:31	Read by Peter John Keeble
The Crisis of the Project and its Result	27:09	Read by Peter John Keeble
Of Family Matters, Cares, Hopes, Disappointments, and Sorrows	29:10	Read by Peter John Keeble
Ralph Nickleby, baffled by his Nephew in his late Design, hatches a Scheme of Retaliation . . .	30:20	Read by Peter John Keeble
How Ralph Nickleby's Auxiliary went about his Work, and how he prospered with it	25:36	Read by Peter John Keeble
In which one Scene of this History is closed	14:25	Read by Peter John Keeble
The Plots begin to fail, and Doubts and Dangers to disturb the Plotter	35:35	Read by Peter John Keeble
The Dangers thicken, and the Worst is Told	27:02	Read by Peter John Keeble
Wherein Nicholas and his Sister forfeit the good Opinion of all worldly and prudent People	23:46	Read by Peter John Keeble
Ralph makes one last Appointment—and keeps it	14:30	Read by Peter John Keeble
The Brothers Cheeryble make various Declarations for themselves and others . . .	23:12	Read by Peter John Keeble
An old Acquaintance is recognised . . . and Dotheboys Hall breaks up for ever	21:38	Read by Peter John Keeble
Conclusion	7:01	Read by Peter John Keeble

Reviews

Well read, with evident enjoyment.

(5 stars)

David

I thoroughly enjoyed this reading. Peter is a fluent reader with good pace and excellent charactisation; I particularly enjoyed the Yorkshire accents of Squeers and Browdie. I have only admiration and gratitude for Peter and other volunteers who give so much of their time to provide enjoyment to us, so it seems petty or mean minded to criticise the occasional idiosyncratic pronunciation that jarred with me, but probably wouldn't worry anyone on a lower OCD scale!

Well Done

(4 stars)

TwinkieToes

Well read. I like this reader's pacing better than the other prolific Dickens soloist. Some wristwatch alarms and other extraneous sounds are in the recordings, but I shrug them off. LV doesn't claim or aspire to perfection. :)

Enjoyable story

(4 stars)

Becky

I appreciate this reader, who took his time and effort to share the book with us. Despite several distracting misprounications, the book is well read.