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Dodger  By  cover art

Dodger

By: Terry Pratchett
Narrated by: Steven Briggs
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Publisher's summary

Dodger is a tosher – a sewer scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London. Everyone who is nobody knows Dodger. Anyone who is anybody doesn’t.But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, suddenly everybody wants to know him.And Dodger’s tale of skulduggery, dark plans and even darker deeds begins

©2012 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about Dodger

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Familiar faces, even if it's not Discworld

Having read a number of Pratchett's non-Discworld books before, and enjoyed them, I was looking forward to this one. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Dickensian London and the squallid, aromatic streets of Ank-Morpork have a lot in common, and this story could have taken place in either.

The story itself is enthralling. Not actually Pratchett's best, which is the only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5, but still great, and Briggs performance is just as good as it always is.

If you're considering getting this, but don't know if you'll enjoy a non-Discworld book, I'd encourage you to give in and do it. It's either a credit, or money, well spent.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Differently brilliant, clever and enchanting

Would you listen to Dodger again? Why?

Most definitely. There is so much I might have missed. Also it was such a delight to listen
to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dodger?

Too many to choose from

What does Steven Briggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He made every character come alive in their own special way. What a magnificent reader he is. Would like to hear more of him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

His encounter with his dying 'grandfather'.

Any additional comments?

It must be one of the most wonderful books that I have read in many years and I am of 'many years'! Well done to all concerned.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Fog of Truth in a Fun Historical Fantasy

Terry Pratchett's historical novel Dodger (2012) is a fun read right from the opening stormy night scene, in which the eponymous seventeen-year-old protagonist saves a golden-haired damsel in distress from two thugs and makes the acquaintance of Charles Dickens. This sets in motion a chain of events that threatens Dodger's comfortable and unambitious life and identity as a "tosher" (earning his living by scavenging the labyrinthine network of sewers running beneath mid-nineteenth century London) with new emotions, revelations, responsibilities, reputations, dangers, and prospects.

In addition to being the "king of the toshers," Dodger is a "geezer," which means that he knows and is known by all the right people dwelling in London's underbelly and that he is sharp-witted, skilled at acting, and adept at reading people. Suiting his nickname, he's also quick and slippery, never to be caught by the police ("peelers") or other undesirables. Pratchett has taken the Artful Dodger from Dickens' Oliver Twist and reformed him with a handsome figure, a good heart, a salubrious mentor, and a less illegal occupation than pick pocketing (though he is accomplished at that as well).

Pratchett turns other fictional characters into "real" figures in his novel, including Sweeney Todd, a murderous though pitiable veteran suffering from war-trauma, and Solomon Cohen, a philosophical Freemason who has escaped in the nick of time from murderous anti-Semite mobs in seemingly every European city before ending up in London. Solomon, like Dodger, is a reformed version of his Oliver Twist persona, Fagin the Jew, who in Dickens' novel exploits street kids and corrupts them into lives of crime. In Pratchett's novel Solomon is a learned savant who repairs intricate watches and other valuable objects found by Dodger in the sewers in order to return them to their original owners for monetary rewards. He is Dodger's landlord and mentor, keeping him clean and fed, teaching him to read and write, educating him in the ways of the world and the scope of the universe, and generally helping him to grow his soul.

Pratchett, like Dickens, partly based his Jewish character on the historical crime lord Isaac Solomon, but unlike Dickens, writes a sympathetic character in Solomon. Other real life historical personages also appear in his novel, including Henry Mayhew, socially conscious co-founder of the journal Punch, Angela Burdett-Coots, independent woman of great wealth and connection, and of course Charles Dickens, a canny, crusading, and well-connected young journalist working to improve life for the impoverished masses. Dickens is also a burgeoning popular author, and through his dealings with Dodger he gains inspiration for titles of his future novels, like Great Expectations and Bleak House.

Pratchett writes vivid details about early Victorian London, like "honey wagons," "growlers," "flower girls," and "nobs." The foul London fog he turns into a metaphor for truth, an amorphous thing that people make into what they want it to be. From the toshers and their sewers he fashions an interesting sub-culture of London, with its own goddess of the sewers, the Lady, whom the Romans who built the sewers called Cloacina. And Pratchett, who highlights Dickens' role as social critic and reformer, does a fair amount of both himself by skewering politics, poverty, and wealth.

Sometimes Pratchett tries too hard to be constantly humorous, as when he plays with words like hubbub ("the epicenter of a hubbub that was loud enough to be considered a hubbub with at least an extra hub, not to mention bub") or refers too often to the strong odor of Solomon's dog Onan (who is unnecessary for the plot and exists in the novel for the many jokes about his bad smell and the pay off regarding his name).

As Pratchett says in his afterword, Dodger is a historical fantasy, and hence, I believe, has less of gravitas and believability and more wit and narrative expedition. And as he also says, he does "put a shine on things," for his characters, whether fictional like Solomon and Dodger or real life like Charlie and Angela, are all wittier, luckier, stronger, and kinder, and more interesting, capable, and effective, etc., than their real life avatars could be. Things are a bit too easy for Dodger. This novel is therefore entertaining but not so suspenseful or powerful. And I've found most of Pratchett's straight fantasy Discworld books to be more of all three.

If it is easy to read Dodger with a smile on one's face, this is due in part to Steven Briggs, who gives a great reading of the novel, speaking the accents and moods of the different characters and the witty flourishes of the narrator with engaging skill.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Nice Pratchett story, unfortunately not Discworld

What made the experience of listening to Dodger the most enjoyable?

I just love Briggss' narration.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I have the impression that Pratchett's last books (like Snuff) had a more complex and entertaining plot. This one has a simple straightforward story, above Pratchett's average in my opinion, but compensates with the historical references to old London. Can't be disappointed with Pratchett stories.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Nothing less than amazing!

This book Could have very well happened in dear old Ankh-Morpork. But it didn't. It happened in London, with names and places I recognized from history and stories.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a great story

a very good listen..briggs as usual is on form and brings the characters to life

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic read. Excellent book.

I really enjoyed Dodger. Moving out of the standard Discworld fare felt strange at first but the same loving care went into Dodger's London as was ever given to Ankh.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Pratchett charms again.

Would you listen to Dodger again? Why?

It is a brilliant and compelling story. The character is so strong - but it's all so well-written. I really want to know what happens to him and his lady.

What did you like best about this story?

I just loved the treatment of real people, like Disraeli, or Bazalgette.

Have you listened to any of Steven Briggs’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not heard it before but liked it very much.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sometimes the best people are found in the darkest of places.

Any additional comments?

Hope it gets to the actor that I loved the book but really thought the voice performance was great.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You will never get sacked for buying a Pratchett

What did you love best about Dodger?

I feels as if Pratchett was having fun writing Dodger.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dodger?

Dodger takes us on a Toshing Tour of London. Brilliant.

What does Steven Briggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pace, Energy and Comic Timing

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me laugh out loud while in the car in heavy traffic... not cool

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

yet again

Where does Dodger rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

hard to say, how can you really choose among Prathcetts books??
i for one can't rank them meaning i have about 40 books sharing first place :)

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dodger, because of his innocence and how it is used to further the storyline

What about Steven Briggs’s performance did you like?

i've always been a fan of Steven Briggs and he doesn't let me down this time either...
he is just a overall amazing reader

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, though i doubt i have the time to do so...

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