Martin Chuzzlewit

Charles Dickens is not known for subtlety, and MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT is typically unsubtle, satirical, often quite funny, and, in this case, vastly improved by the expertise of Sean Barrett. There are so many distinct and consistent characters here, and Barrett nails them all, especially the two Martin Chuzzlewits, the gruff grandfather and the feckless grandson. The younger Martin goes to America with the most optimistic man in the world, Mark Tapley, who has a slightly Cockney accent and a "never-give-up" tone. There they find racism, a land scam, and a fever that almost kills them. Barrett's gushing and wheedling portrayal of Seth Pecksniff vividly renders this hypocritical character whose fall brings about everyone's happiness in truly Dickensian fashion. Also noteworthy is Barrett's portrait of the deluded and drunken Sairy Gamp, a nurse you would not want in your hour of need. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


If the BBC doesn't have a monopoly on dramatizing Dickens, it should. The "good, hard, griping stock" of young Martin, who is cut off from his inheritance and goes forth to make it on his own, is brought to life with clarity, humor, and warmth. Listeners will feel as if they're in a drawing room with the entire cast of characters. Dickens, the inspired storyteller, was also a satirist. He used broad strokes to paint his portraits of the humble, bleak, and grotesque, especially when it came to Americans. The author had been appalled by the rough-and-ready United States he'd found on his 1842 visit, and his experience is evident in his stinging dialogue and observations. The BBC cast has a grand time faithfully reflecting Dickens's views with over-the-top renditions of nineteenth-century American accents from down east to down south. B.P. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine


Neither Dickens's funniest work nor his most memorable, MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT is still a treasure trove of shameless scoundrels and delicious melodrama. The subject is hypocrisy, and Pecksniff is its avatar, though the drunk nurse Sairy Gamp isn't far behind him. Sean Barrett's Pecksniff is the epitome of smarm, hilariously unrepentant even when cornered. There are some production flaws--some levels inaudibly low and some edits too obvious--but nothing mars the pleasure of Barrett's performance, not least of crafty, old Martin Chuzzlewit himself. Chuzzlewit plays the gullible invalid for much of the story, querulous and difficult. The deep, full-throated virile-old-man voice Barrett switches to when he reveals his true nature is marvelous, like the tearing away of a curtain. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine