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Dombey and Son cover art

Dombey and Son

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: David Timson
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Summary

Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2009 Naxos Audiobooks

What listeners say about Dombey and Son

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Range of Voices

This is the first review which I have submitted to Audible, but I felt that I had to comment on the excellence of the narration. Each character's voice is distinctive and appropriate and the narrative sections are paced beautifully. Dickens wrote rather better books than "Dombey and Son" and the last few chapters are weak, but for David Timson's reading of it fully merits the four stars.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding!

I had reached 67 years on this planet without reading this book, despite Charles Dickens being one of my favourite authors. Thank heavens I rectified that error by listening to this outstanding narration. Even at nearly 40 hours it still came to an end too soon.
The relationship between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances......it's all there!
If he were alive today I suspect Dickens would have made a great therapist.
Every character came alive but Captain Cuttle was my favourite, possibly because David Timson literally became him! Wonderful.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A more subtle Dickens

Whilst not lacking the usual Dickens characters, always good for a laugh, the greatest satisfaction I got from this novel was from the rich and thoughtful narration. Many of his novels are somewhat predictable, but I found that Dickens pursues a very open plotline. There are some detours which are perhaps over long, but the net result is an excellent yarn

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Utterly fabulous

Such a wonderful story, told with passion, energy and excellence. I could listen to Timson's voice all day.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly recommended

Dombey and Son is not fast-paced so needs an ebullient performance from it's reader to bring it to life.
David Timson manages that admirably and I would highly recommend this audiobook.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Mixed Bag

There are some wonderful aspects to this book, and some great writing. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of cloying sentimentality - and the attitudes to the duties of children (especially daughters) to parents are dated and often distasteful. I also felt it ran out of steam for quite a while in the last quarter.



I give it 4 stars because it has great moments, but it also needs a lot of leniency of the 'it was written a long time ago' sort.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Forgotten Classic

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

Definitely yes, I've come to really enjoy the longer books in my collection, when well read like this of course, they allow you to inhabit their world.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dombey and Son?

"Let him remember it in that room, years to come" I first came across those words over 30 years ago, they've haunted me ever since.

What does David Timson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I love a good story really well read.

Any additional comments?

Dombey and Son is one of Dickens novels that is less well known which is a shame. Dickens characterisation is always phenomenal but he I've always thought he surpasses himself with
Mr Dombey who is his greatest monster

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfull novel.

I was already familiar with Dombey and Son having read it twice before without the accompaniment of this Audible book. I always read the novels in hard copy while listening to achieve maximum enjoyment and in this case the experience has been sublime. John Timpson's reading is excellent and his many voices present these rich characters to perfection. I cannot recommend this audiobook more highly.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dickens at his best.

Brought to life by narrator David Timson. Truly excellent and moving novel. Wonderful characters described so well one can picture them.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

David Timson shines once again

By far my favourite narrator of Dickens, David Timson has an astonishing ability to give a convincing voice to each of Dickens' broadest and most complex collection characters. The story is, of course, edge of the seat stuff!

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2 people found this helpful