Chalk-up another great novel by Charles Dickens. And now I'm finally getting into the heart of his works, as evidenced by my beloved David Copperfield, the next in his series of major novels.
Dombey has a familiar feel to it, but its overall presentation and my enjoyment of it was close to that of Copperfield.
The story centers on Florence (oddly enough, given the title of the book that features a man and his son), the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Mr. Dombey's life is consumed with business, his place in the World (personified with a capital W throughout the book) and the World's opinion of him. There is no room for little Florence, who wants nothing more than to love her father and be loved by him.
The stone cold father barely acknowledges his daughter's existence even as a child living within his own him. Instead he's obsessed with his younger child Paul, heir to the family business. When little Paul dies Mr. Dombey writes an epitaph that includes a reference to "the death of my only child". The gravestone maker has to remind him that he actually still has a living child in Florence.
For most of the book sweet Florence yearns for love from her father, climaxing in a scene where he strikes her without so much as a word. This finally pushes her to run away, later marrying and establishing a happy life on her own.
The story concludes happily after years of separation between Florence and her father. The demise of his business, fortune and health leave him in desperate straits, contemplating suicide at the exact moment Florence returns to welcome him back into her life. She takes him under her wing and he discovers the error of his ways. He dies shortly thereafter, happier than he was at the peak of his fortune and fame.
As usual the book is filled with extraordinarily lively, eccentric characters. The imagined antagonism between Captain Cuttle and his landlady Mrs. MacStinger is hilarious throughout.
These books are absolute treasure, and getting better as I advance through them chronologically. I'm so blessed to have them in my life.
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