Martin Chuzzlewit

Old Martin Chuzzlewit has a great fortune, but to whom can he leave it? He and his likable grandson, young Martin, have fallen out. Beyond that, a tangle of sly, grasping relatives coil about him. Throughout, the reader is rooting for the gentle Tom Pinch and his lovely sister, Mary. But before all can be decided, Dickens puts both Tom and young Martin through murder, mayhem and a brief purgatory in the United States. Reader Davidson quickly tunes into Dickens's ferocious irony, but his paramount strength is his uncanny ability to find and maintain the perfect voice for each of the vintage characters: drippy, insinuous, vicious, sly, bold American backwoods, or London Cheapside. Each is a distinct creation! Dickens lovers will treasure every tape in this two-volume masterpiece. P.E.F. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, 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