The Old Curiosity Shop

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Nell is on her way home to the dusty shop where she and her grandfather live a rather mysterious life. The old man disappears every night--visiting gambling dens with the naive hope of winning a fortune. Instead he sinks deeper and deeper into debt. Enter Daniel Quilp, moneylender, who becomes furious upon learning that the grandfather is a pauper and will never be able to repay his tremendous debt. Quilp seizes the curiosity shop and begins making lecherous overtures to Nell, so she and her grandfather steal away one morning to seek their fortunes elsewhere. But the demonic dwarf is never far behind.

Sound effects are employed judiciously and serve mainly as a springboard for the listener's imagination. The sound of a crying baby is enough to convey the image of crowded lodgings and genteel Victorian poverty, while raucous laughter and high-pitched squawks evoke the barely controlled chaos of an outdoor Punch and Judy show. The dramatization pares Dickens's weighty novel down to two and one-half hours, but does so skillfully, retaining Dickens's wit, marvelous dialogue, and delightful characterizations. (Running time: 155 minutes, 2 cassettes) --Elizabeth Laskey--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-12-Dickens story of contrasts: youth and old age, beauty and deformity, freedom and restraint.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile
This 1841 exercise in pathos and villainy defines "Dickensian" in all its fascinatingly repulsive excess, containing as it does one of the most celebrated scenes in all Victorian fiction--the death of Little Nell. The abridgment heard here excises many of the author's tedious redundancies (he was paid by the word) while retaining most of what makes Dickens Dickens. Scofield, one of the giants of the British stage, turns the redaction into a lesson in actor's tact. He has decided to meet the melodrama head on but with the utmost control. He gives us the lush narrative intimately, as if reading to us at our elbow, and engraves the characters with all the vividness of an aural Daumier or Hogarth. He pulls out the stops on heaviness and gloom without actually becoming bogged down by them, his warmth and love of the material keeping him buoyant. In addition to his histrionic acumen and artistry, he possesses one of the most distinctive and exciting voices of the English-speaking world. It would be a pleasure to hear him read the London phone book. Warning: Sensitive listeners should purchase a box of Kleenex to keep handy before playing this recording. Y.R. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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