«‘What I want, is frankness, confidence, less conventionality, and freer play of soul. We are so dreadfully artificial.’» (Chapter XXI) ~ «‘How are the mighty fallen! . . . Pride shall have a fall, and it always was and will be so!’» (Ch. LIX) ~ «… if we are not true to ourselves, nobody will be true to us.» (Ch. LIX) ~ #Finished: #DombeyAndSon by #CharlesDickens. • Rating: 9/10 • *spoiler alert* The prideful, stern and wealthy owner of a shipping firm, #PaulDombey Senior, pays too dearly for his favoritism of his son, Paul, over his daughter, Florence, whose love and loyalty he disdains; and his disastrous and ill-advised second marriage proves that money can't buy love and that pride comes before a fall. This melodramatic #novel is probably the most tear-jerking by #Dickens, offering a criticism that is sensational for its age, bashing the gender bias and misogyny, and can be called one of the earliest examples of feminism in Victorian literature, thanks to the characters like #EdithGranger, extremely proud and unprecedentedly insubordinate to her husband, and #SusanNipper. Besides Edith, my favourite characters are #NedCuttle, the benevolent and friendly captain with a hook hand, who, undergoing some betrayals and comical anxieties, greatly helps Florence, as well as his lost friend Solomon Gills and Gills' nephew #WalterGay; the unrequited lover #MrToots; and the antagonist #JamesCarker, #MrDombey's feline and always-grinning employee, an iconic, plotting manipulator who meets a too violent and unforgettable end. Not my favourite Dickens due to a few really dull parts, but still it's a powerful must-read. ~ «There are yielding moments in the lives of the sternest and harshest men, though such men often keep their secret well.» (Ch. XXXV) ~ «Some philosophers tell us that selfishness is at the root of our best loves and affections.» (Ch. VIII) ~ «‘… it would do us no harm to remember oftener than we do, that vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!’» (Ch. LVIII) ~ #Dombey #FlorenceDombey #CaptainNedCuttle #englishnovel #victoriannovel #book #books #bookstagram #literature #bibliophile #booklove #reading #read #bookworm #instabook #classics https://www.instagram.com/p/CUZ2Ic9oNeW/?utm_medium=tumblr

«… But what was a girl to Dombey and Son! In the capital of the House's name and dignity, such a child was merely a piece of base coin that couldn't be invested—a bad Boy—nothing more.» (Chapter I) ~ «Surprises, like misfortunes, rarely come alone.» (Ch. VI) ~ «But a frank, free-spirited, open-hearted boy, is not much given to analysing the nature of his own feelings, however strong their hold upon him…» (Ch. IX) ~ #CurrentlyReading: #DombeyAndSon by #CharlesDickens. I've been greatly enjoying this book so far, as a part of a read-along with @kittyfurious. *possible spoilers* Starting with the birth of Paul Dombey Junior, the son of #PaulDombey, who is a misogynistic, stern man proud of his family name and the wealthy owner of a shipping firm, and with the death of the latter's wife shortly afterwards, the novel shows how #MrDombey firmly builds great expectations about his son as his heir, ignoring and disdaining his daughter #FlorenceDombey, whom little Paul adores. Paul grows up to be a dreamy and peculiar kid, who, for some reasons the readers can see as the #novel proceeds, will show that fate has different plans and bring his father's hopes to a halt. The Dombeys are connected with the nautical insturments-maker and seller Solomon Gills, his nephew #WalterGay, who becomes Mr. Dombey's clerk, and the two Carker brothers: the Manager and the Junior, also working at Dombey's firm. #Dickens presents, yet again, a great deal of interesting characters besides those mentioned above, such as the helpful Captain #NedCuttle; the grim boardinghouse keeper #MrsPipchin; Florence's impetuous nurse #SusanNipper; Paul's affectionate wetnurse #PollyToodle; and superstitious second nurse Mrs. Wickam. ~ «‘It's necessary for you to make an effort, and perhaps a very great and painful effort which you are not disposed to make; but this is a world of effort you know, Fanny, and we must never yield, when so much depends upon us.’» (Ch. I) ~ «A learned enthusiasm is so very contagious…» (Ch. XI) ~ #Dombey #JamesCarker #JohnCarker #englishnovel #victoriannovel #book #books #bookstagram #literature #bibliophile #booklove #currentread #reading #read #bookworm #instabook #classics https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmMo3Nsq3j/?utm_medium=tumblr