Reflections on Dombey and Son

Have finally finished Dombey and Son.

This wasn't one of my favourite Dickens...I felt as if I was plowing through it (more so for the second half of the book) rather than enjoying it.

To me, it tied up loose ends and unresolved issues rather too neatly. This is not like Bleak House, which, despite its myriad plotlines and countless characters, brought everything together with a proper climax...and the aforementioned plotlines and characters wove together in a much more realistic way.

Having said that, there were certain aspects of the book I did find compelling, most of all the relationship between Florence and Paul Dombey, Junior. I always thought of my brother and I as a team; a brother and sister who truly understood one another. This seemed the case for Florence and Paul as well. I love the theme of Paul's insistence that the waves were speaking to him...and the allusion to his death in the chapter entitled simply, "What the waves were always saying". This chapter was written beautifully.

So...next up? A temporary diversion from Dickens...The Mill On The Floss by George Eliot.