The Old Curiosity Shop

Dickens milks pathos for all it's worth in this famously tear-jerking account of the trials and tribulations of Little Nell and her poor grandfather, proprietor of the title emporium, at the hands of fate, a feckless relative, and, especially, an evil dwarf. Nell's death scene is one of the most famous passages in all of Victorian literature. The fustian prose and numerous memorable characters are ably represented by Anton Lesser. Vocally, he paints a cloudy sky over the entire oral landscape, neglecting the irony and touches of humor that occasionally relieve the gloom. The abridgment he reads from retains much of the style, as well as the plot, of the original. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine


This BBC production of Dickens' evergreen tearjerker could benefit from Callow's showmanship and understanding. It exemplifies the generic house style of the London studios in the 1970's and '80's, as opposed to some of the more contemporary and dynamic work being done at the time in the Beeb's regional operations. Competent but superficial, efficiently adapted and performed, deficient in personality, enjoyable if not first rate. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine