Dombey and Son

In preparation of reading Chesterton's book on Dickens, I decided to first read one of Dickens' novels. It was quite some years ago that I last read Dickens and I was pleasantly surprised. 'Dombey and Son' is a thick and rich novel, with a multitude of characters.
A couple of things struck me as characteristic of Dickens (as far as I remember): first a certain sentimentality in his description of Florence, the leading female character, and her brother. I remember being annoyed by the very long sentimental ending of 'The old curiosity shop', but in this book it is more palatable.
As I understand, the book was published in monthly installments, over more than a year. I also read very slowly, but this does not lessen the appreciation of the book. Sometimes, though, I wondered if Dickens himself knew beforehand where the plot would lead to.
Many of Dickens' characters are essentially good. Florence may be angelic, but Walter, Captain Cuttle, Uncle Sol, Mr. Toots, Susan Nipper, Miss Carker, Mrs. Richards, are all very good people (with some oddities). The one 'bad' person is duly punished; a few tormented persons repent in the end. All in all, one feels pretty good upon reading the end of the book.
Pride is the leading vice in Mr. Dombey, but as bad as this is, it is essentially an excess of a virtue (as Mr. Morfin points out). In the end, Mr. Dombey still has his chance of happiness; the same cannot be said for Edith. In women, the virtues of innocence and love are essential for happiness; Edith has neither.
One other interesting thing about this set of characters is they are a sort of universe in themselves: the same characters come back again in new roles (Mrs. Richards' being the most obvious of these, but in the end even the Blimbers come back).
One enjoyable surprise was Dickens' descriptions of passing time (the novel describes more than ten years): how the house changes with the time is beautifully rendered.
I plan to start Chesterton's book on Dickens tomorrow; I am curious what he has to say about this writer.