false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180792496m/1077274.jpg 31242 173 <I>Bleak House</I> is a satirical look at the Byzantine legal system in London as it consumes the minds and talents of the greedy and nearly destroys the lives of innocents--a contemporary tale indeed. Dickens's tale takes us from the foggy dank streets of London and the maze of the Inns of Court to the peaceful countryside of England. Likewise, the characters run from murderous villains to virtuous girls, from a devoted lover to a "fallen woman," all of whom are affected by a legal suit in which there will, of course, be no winner. 2960365 book 1853 Bleak House total:5656|5:2128|4:1817|3:1192|2:363|1:147| 5656 22395 9370 667 509685 0553212230 9780553212235 52 10 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175375900m/509685.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509685.Bleak_House 4 43 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 23 09:15:31 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 11:01:00 -0800 2007 more...]]> 437135 0141439726 9780141439723 196 33 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174765628m/437135.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/437135.Bleak_House 5 12 false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 19:25:15 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 19:33:41 -0700 2008 bleak in the title doesn’t exactly scream “summer fun”. Nevertheless, this was a page-turner with more laugh-out-loud moments than any book I've read in recent memory. Who could have seen that coming?? And it's gripping enough that I can understand ...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 5 false Sat Jan 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jun 01 06:33:01 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 25 20:37:22 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 76921 0451528697 9780451528698 46 16 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170899776m/76921.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76921.Bleak_House 5 12 false Sat May 03 19:01:42 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 20 21:05:29 -0700 2007 Sat May 03 19:01:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 437135 0141439726 9780141439723 196 33 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174765628m/437135.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/437135.Bleak_House 4 4 false Thu Nov 27 21:30:18 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 14:03:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 2 8 false Fri Aug 22 11:50:19 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 12:12:36 -0700 2008
"Bleak House" is the story of a lawsuit, or rather, the people surrou...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 2 2 false Fri Sep 28 16:52:32 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 17:00:59 -0700 2007
Still, I like Dickens. And this is supposed to be good Dickens - but I thought it was totally second-rate. His best characters (he only has about five actual characters, overall) stink in this, and ...more...]]> 400891 0140434968 9780140434965 74 13 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1235764355m/400891.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/400891.Bleak_House 5 3 false Mon Jun 25 06:18:46 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 15:33:59 -0700 2007

My generic comment about Charles Dickens:
Fi...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 4 2 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 23:06:07 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 23:06:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 2 false Thu Jun 18 16:20:33 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 18:32:13 -0700 2009 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 2 1 false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 27 12:00:13 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 06:29:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 437135 0141439726 9780141439723 196 33 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174765628m/437135.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/437135.Bleak_House 4 1 false Thu Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 10:02:17 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 20:12:13 -0700 2008
Bleak House is a massive, sprawling novel teeming with a multitude of characters. About 1/3 way in, I began to make a Who's Who chart, it was getting to be ...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 1 false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Wed Jul 18 04:16:18 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 07:29:07 -0700 2007 Bleak House remains my favorite. It is big, sprawling in fact, it is complicated, the whole Jarndyce v. Jarndyce case is m...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 4 1 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 06 07:52:35 -0800 2007 Fri Mar 28 19:55:31 -0700 2008
Dickens is such a master of creating scenes and cha...more...]]> 1984 0375760059 9780375760051 589 81 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1159411011m/1984.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1984.Bleak_House 5 1 false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Jul 01 17:49:53 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 17:57:44 -0700 2007
One of the things about this book that continues to fascinate me is the character of Esther, the partial narrator....more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 1 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jul 04 12:18:41 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 04 12:19:16 -0700 2007 I understand that many consider Bleak House Dickens' best novel. I can't say that, not yet anyway, because I haven't read all his novels. But I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it's his best. It is very good.

The narrative alternates between third person and first, a device Dicken...more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 1 false Wed Jul 09 20:56:49 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 04 10:27:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 5 0 false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Feb 17 20:25:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 20:25:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 31242 0143037617 9780143037613 4325 428 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168272815m/31242.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31242.Bleak_House 4 1 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 15 05:37:12 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 05:40:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 437135 0141439726 9780141439723 196 33 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174765628m/437135.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/437135.Bleak_House 3 0 true Thu Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 21:21:28 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 21:21:28 -0800 2009 Once Bleak House because I wanted my first foray into his work to be a fresh experience with a story I didn’t know anything about. I did enjoy reading it and many times wished for an English teacher/cliff notes to alert...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1077274