The Pickwick Papers

De: Charles Dickens

Narrado por: Peter Batchelor

Pickwick was a huge success. Chapman and Hall printed only 1,000 copies of the first monthly installment; at the end of serialization 40,000 copies were being printed. Pickwick had taken Britain, and later the world, by storm and had successfully launched Dickens to celebrity status. The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find. In the course of their travels, they repeatedly encounter the friendly but disreputable Mr. Jingle, who becomes a continual source of trouble for all who know him. Pickwick himself is the victim of a number of misunderstandings that bring him both embarrassment and problems with the law.

Public Domain (P)2014 Trout Lake Media

Great, Just Great

I cannot believe that I am more than a half a century old and have never listened to this. The speaker is wonderful, the story is wonderful. EVERYONE SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME

wonderful story and characterization

Charles Dickens is one of those authors who everyone reads in high school because they gotta.

After that first push, some people take his work as daunting... something you only read to prove how smart you are.

There are phrases and ideas in the book that do not hold up in today's times, but the pure humanity that Mr. Dickens shows in everything he writes is universal.

And... he's hilarious. The members of the Pickwick club are... a little absurd because they're gentlemen of the Victorian era. But that absurdity doesn't make them less lovable or the butt of the joke. You laugh right out loud at their antics but if you were there, you'd shake your head and help them out of their predicament. Like Sam Weller does.

I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to read something rather light-hearted... and spooky in spots.

Narrator impossible to understand

The reader's "lively" voice and accent for characters' dialogues is impossible to understand. Story is a good one though. Classic.

A true classic! Dicken's characters come alive.

Would you listen to The Pickwick Papers again? Why?

Yes, I loved it, it is hysterical in parts..and I found myself wiping away tears on occasions. I love Dicken's Characters..I am Sorry this 29 hour book ended.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It real is hard to separate them, as they all play off of each other..But I loved Mr.Pickwick, Sam and of course Mr. "V"eller.

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

No, but I will, he did a fantastic job.

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

Pickwick in debtor's prison, and when Sam would not leave MR. P

Any additional comments?

I love period pieces and the classics, there were a couple of times it got a bit dry, but picked up to fantastic hilarity in the next chapter. I LOVED Sam Weller' s tongue in cheek humor, you felt at times that he was stepping out of the novel just to say the quips to you, then stepped back in and continued on with his part. I feel this would be tough for a novice reader to take on, it is a hard read due to being written in many parts with the English that was traditionally used in the working class. Again, I loved it, I hope you will too.

Great book.

Love it. Love it. Love it.Love it.Love it.Love it. Good book. Great book.! ! !

Timeless

A most humorous essay of the relationship between the members of the Pickwick Club and their benefactor. An amazing cast of characters.

amazing performance

This book has long been gap in my Dickens library... and would have been ponderous to read & keep the variety of recurring minor characters straight... but the reader was so remarkably able to create individual personalities that it was a much richer experience. .. such a delightful cast of characters, and so informative of Dickens' sensibilities. .. delightful!

Almost stopped reading it at first... wow

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Almost stopped reading it at first... wow what a mistake it would have been... it took me a couple of chapters to get into the book, but once I did, I was hooked. Mr Pickwick was such a character.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sam Weller. Loyal to a fault and resourceful as few.

Which character – as performed by Peter Batchelor – was your favorite?

Again, Sam Weller.

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

I laughed out loud numerous times and chuckled repeatedly.

Any additional comments?

Mr. Batchelor is a gifted interpreter of all of the characters and as such I cannot imagine anyone else reading Mr. Dickens' works but h.im

A funny take on the frame story

Such a funny, enjoyable read. it took a while for me to get into it & understand the action, but once I did, my mind went directly to Canterbury Tales, butt even more hilarious. One of my favorite Dickens books now.

Absolutely marvelous in every way!

My father introduced my brothers and myself to Dickens by reading us David Copperfield when we very young. I read Oliver Twist and Great Expectations in school. Since then, I have read and reread at least nine other Dickens novels, but somehow I never got to Pickwick.

Perhaps it is because I first met the author in spoken form, or perhaps because the books were originally written in serial form to be read aloud to the largely illiterate public, but I find it a marvelous treat to listen to the books. I have them also as books and on my Kindle, to see the Phiz illustrations and catch up on points hard to hear due mostly to particularly idiomatic dialect.

The book, written when Dickens was in his early twenties, is undoubtedly a work of comic genius. Already he is a master storyteller with great empathy for the poor and downtrodden. Peter Batchelor brings it spectacularly to life with a staggering array of voices and tones, a truly astonishing performance.

Listening to this audiobook is a time-traveling vacation and I think we can all use a taste of it to see how much has changed and how so much of today’s political turmoil is nothing new at all.