Read by Debra Lynn, Simon Evers, vlooi, John Rose, roolynninms, Euthymius, Patti Brugman, Alan Chant, John Schell, Kirsten Ferreri · 57 chapters · 32 h 00
Mr. Samuel Pickwick, founder of the Pickwick Club, sets out with three friends to observe the world and report on what they find. What follows is a long, warm and uproarious chain of adventures: coaching journeys, country inns, cricket matches, elections, quarrels with landladies and encounters with lawyers, rogues and eccentric storytellers. At the heart of it is the kindly, gullible Pickwick, and the cheerful, quick-witted servant, Sam Weller, who steals every scene he is in. Dickens's first novel made him famous overnight. In fifty-seven chapters and about thirty-two hours, read by LibriVox volunteers, it offers a feast of comedy, character and invention for those who like their novels long. Whether you meet Pickwick for the first time or return to an old friend, the novel is hard to resist. It is perfect for those long evenings when you want to be carried away by a generous and good-humored voice.
Introduction
Charles Dickens (1812 to 1870) was only in his early twenties when the first installments of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club appeared in 1836. They were written for serial publication, and the novel grew out of a commission to supply text for a series of sporting illustrations. Dickens soon took control, and the result became a publishing sensation that made him the best-known writer in England.
The book is a loose sequence of episodes rather than a tightly built plot. Pickwick and his companions travel, meet strangers, fall into scrapes and tell each other tales, and the pleasure lies in the comedy of situations and the richness of the characters. Alongside the farce there are moments of unexpected seriousness, including a sojourn in a debtors' prison that anticipates the social concerns of Dickens's later novels. The humor is exuberant, and the language is full of play.
This recording, read by LibriVox volunteers, runs for around thirty-two hours across fifty-seven parts. It is a commitment, but also a rewarding companion, a book that can be heard in small doses over weeks. For those who know Dickens only through his darker works, Pickwick shows him in a mood of high spirits, and it is hard not to share it. The chapter titles, in the manner of the age, are themselves a pleasure. Dickens also introduces many characters who have become part of the common stock of English literature, and the long list of chapter titles gives a taste of the book's mock-solemn style. Whether heard a little at a time or in one long marathon, it repays the effort.
Public domain
Charles Dickens died in 1870: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
