Goodreads | Bleak House (The Complete Classics)

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Bleak House	2	23	04/09/2008 09:47AM

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0553212230)

12/02/07

bookshelves: crazy-ladies, social-work-school-or-relevant

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: fresh young people who have not yet ruined their eyesight

Shivering in unheated gaslit quarters (Mrs. Winklebottom, my plump and inquisitive landlady, treats the heat as very dear, and my radiator, which clanks and hisses like the chained ghost of a boa constrictor when it is active, had not yet commenced this stern and snowy morning), I threw down the volume I had been endeavoring to study; certainly I am not clever, neither am I intrepid nor duly digligent, as after several pages I found the cramped and tiny print an intolerable strain on my strabism...more Shivering in unheated gaslit quarters (Mrs. Winklebottom, my plump and inquisitive landlady, treats the heat as very dear, and my radiator, which clanks and hisses like the chained ghost of a boa constrictor when it is active, had not yet commenced this stern and snowy morning), I threw down the volume I had been endeavoring to study; certainly I am not clever, neither am I intrepid nor duly digligent, as after several pages I found the cramped and tiny print an intolerable strain on my strabismic eyes. Straightening my bonnet, I passed outdoors into the frigid, sooty streets, where shoppers bustled by in a frenzy, now rushing into the 99-cent store, bedecked with PVC Santa Claus banners, now into Nelson's Xmas Shoppe, in search of glistening ornaments. Bowing my head perversely against busy crowds and fierce wind, I stepped into a subway, which conveyed me to a winding street down which I hurried until I reached a peculiar establishment, the shingle for which had been battered by the strain of city winters, by pollution, and no doubt by the small mischievious hands of vandals, who had modified the sign with their colorful signatures and illustrations, but upon which could still be read - with some effort - Amperthump & Hagglestern, Booksellers.

I entered to a sound of tinkling bells affixed to the heavy door, the hinges of which creaked as I propelled myself through its narrow passage. Proceeding forward, I heard a sullen voice squeak, "Check yer bag, miss?" and glanced up to see an urchin, nearly lost amidst piles of remaindered volumes, beckoning with one grubby hand while clutching a wrinkled comic in the other; I refused, smiling gently, and passed into the densely cluttered shop, where I was intercepted by Mr. Amperthump, the proprietor, a gentleman of about three and forty, whose thick-rimmed spectacles and corpulent physique recall two of a tragic trinity of dead singers, who upon seeing me took my cold hands in his ink-stained ones and kissed them. "How can I assist, my dear?" he boomed so loudly that a little one-eyed spaniel started from its slumber, and the urchins shelving books glared up at their master with undisguised annoyance.

Drawing out my small copy of Bleak House, which I had obtained from the Queens Public Library -- supported, to wonderous effect, by the subsciption of tax dollars, and no doubt supplemented by charitable impulses of certain gentleladies -- and endeavored to explain, as simply as I could, that I desired an edition of the same narrative writ larger and in more mercifully legible print. However Mr. Amperthump appeared distressed and could not remain silent long, flinging my book away. "NO!" he cried. "You are too young and pretty" (at this I blushed and tried to protest, for I am not pretty, in fact I am plain) "to be reading this antiquated rot! Here, instead, is the latest experimental fiction from Rajistan D. McGingerloop." At this he placed in my hands a queer volume, unlike any I had seen before. "Throughout his controversial career McGingerloop has exploded one by one conventions of the novel... in this latest work he has done away with pages!" And indeed, when I examined the book I discovered he was quite right, and that the book I held was a brick of paper, and could not be opened, having as he indicated, no pages at all. I thanked Mr. Amperthump for his solicitude, at which point he pressed that I try Petunia al Gonzalez-Mjobebe's story of a love affair between an Iranian transexual and a Chinese android, a meditation, Mr. Amperthump assured me, on globalization and identity, but also, he said, a suspenseful legal thriller in its own right, albeit one subverting the conventions of that genre - quite, he added, subversively. Finally I was given to understand that in addition to Mr. Amperthump's conviction that I should not be reading Dickens, he had none in stock, and finally I gave my thanks for all his kindness and passed out again into the filthy snow and gloom....less

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Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439726)

09/01/08

bookshelves: classic

Read in July, 2008

I know, something about a 900 page book with 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 in recent memory. Who could have seen that coming??And it's gripping enough that I can understand why it was a bestseller, in spite of Dickens’ harsh social criticism and his rather daring innovation of dual narratives. But the story is a winner largely because of the dual narratives. It open...more I know, something about a 900 page book with 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 in recent memory. Who could have seen that coming??And it's gripping enough that I can understand why it was a bestseller, in spite of Dickens’ harsh social criticism and his rather daring innovation of dual narratives. But the story is a winner largely because of the dual narratives. It opens with an omniscient narrator describing the thick fog that pervades every part of London, suspending the city in a static morass of mud and smoke. In the center of the pestilence, where the fog is thickest, lies the High Court of Chancery — a place where cases become trapped in the quagmire of self-perpetuating legal proceedings, suffocate, and die. The most Byzantine of cases is JARNDYCE AND JARNDYCE, which has been going on so long that at least one generation of Jarndyces has expired while waiting for a judgment, and not even the lawyers most closely connected to the case have any grasp on its intricacies. The second chapter describes the similarly static aristocracy, specifically the wonderfully named Lord and Lady Dedlock. Then, out of this somber drone of diseased stagnation emerges the other narrative, told by Esther Summerson. At first her story (related with so much self-deprecation that you begin to wonder if she’s for real) seems to be the sort of story Victorian audiences were familiar with: a sweet young orphan overcomes her sad situation, finds a family, and lives happily ever after. However, this sweet young orphan is introduced as being tied obscurely to JARNDYCE AND JARNDYC, and thus even before the two narratives get underway we know the melodrama narrative will be infected by the social criticism narrative.

My favorite aspects of this novel, besides Dickens’ ability to turn a phrase better than anyone else, are the interwoven story lines, the very clever character doubling, and the unexpected depth he gives characters who could easily have remained garden variety. In fact, the most poignant moments were courtesy of totally unlikely minor characters, not the poor children/dying babies situations that you’d expect from a Dickens novel (and they’re in Bleak House a-plenty). Of course I cried at those moments also, but the others were better.

Dickens goes for broke with his humorous characterizations and bizarre names, but where this book really stands apart is the thematic relevance of its structure — what looks like a traditional melodrama being embedded in a social criticism. Read it and watch genius at work. Also fun is the way he presents all sorts of “detectives” in the story, but makes the reader into the real detective. Again, read it and watch genius at work, which, for $12, is a bargain.

(Personal note: Dickens’ hatred of the law — and especially lawyers — was born of his own experience clerking as a youth and wrangling over copyrights as an adult. Though Bleak House is an actual house in the story, it's really a metaphor for London, where multitudes of people lived in squalor and poverty just steps away from the oblivious middle-class. But it’s also a metaphor for a court system so tangled and corrupt that plaintiffs got sucked in for years, never to emerge with both health and sanity intact. Spookily relevant as I read the novel while dealing with the absurd mess of my grandfather’s estate. I felt like mailing copies of it to the more appalling members of my extended family, but of course cautionary tales are never understood by the people they’re meant to caution.)
...less

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Dave rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528697)

05/03/08

bookshelves: novels

Read in May, 2008

Finally finished it and it only took me four months [pats self on back, does a little victory dance and then weeps,:] but I'm so glad I read it. This is a book--like The Brothers Karamozov--that makes the subsequent books the author wrote seem superfluous. It contains multitudes. All of humanity is represented here (well, all of Victorian English humanity at any rate.) The truest--and shortest--sentence of the book is the first one: "London."
The organizing metaphor of the boo...more Finally finished it and it only took me four months [pats self on back, does a little victory dance and then weeps,:] but I'm so glad I read it. This is a book--like The Brothers Karamozov--that makes the subsequent books the author wrote seem superfluous. It contains multitudes. All of humanity is represented here (well, all of Victorian English humanity at any rate.) The truest--and shortest--sentence of the book is the first one: "London."
The organizing metaphor of the book is the Chancery Court where people come to await judgments that never seem to come, or when they do come, come too late to be of any use. Kurt Vonnegut summarizes the point of the book when he said (in a completely different context, not talking about this book,) "A purpose of human life is to love whomever is around to be loved." The paragon of this idea is John Jarndyce who has a big stake in the outcome of a court case, but completely ignores it, instead spending his time coming to the aid of whomever needs his aid. He is the goodliest, most charitable character in any book I've ever read. His antipode is Mrs. Jellyby, who spends all her time on a hopeless scheme to aid Humanity at the expense of those who really need her--her poor forlorn family. Dickens calls this Telescopic Philanthropy (a great phrase.)
To me, the most interesting character is Mr. Bucket, detective. When it comes to his job, he posses an almost god-like perspicacity, and does it with amazing compassion, but even he can't save everyone. That's what makes Dickens a great artist. He's cynical about "officialdom," tender towards the frailty of humans, but ultimately realistic about mankind's chances for perfect happiness. He further illustrates this in his depiction of Sir Leicester. Leicester's an upper-class twit, but one capable of great suffering. His fate broke my heart.
All that being said, what I didn't like about the book was the "sweetness and light" of some of the Esther episodes. Early on it made me want to put the book down (or throw it a puppy,) but eventually I got swept along by the amazingly complex narrative.
I realize this review is long and rambling (and getting longer and more rambling by this little postscript) and I could go on and on about fifty different scenes in this book that elated, saddened or otherwise moved me, so I'll just leave it at this: This book is sad, funny, tender, thrilling, heart-breaking, and Mr. Smallweed is kind of a dick. ...less

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annie rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

09/28/07

Now, I am ashamed to say that I like Dickens. I like him best when I'm in a bad mood.

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 having his most vapid character (the young woman) narrate is putting his worst foot forward. I want to strangle her, and she isn't even real. And I'm sure she would submit humbly to my strangulation. It al...more

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Brad rated it:

(review of isbn 0140434968)

06/27/07

bookshelves: novel

A more damning indictment of the use of the legal system to obstruct justice, protect the powerful and stymie social change would be hard to find. Naming a character Sir Arrogant Numbskull is just a taste of the novel's satiric bite.

My generic comment about Charles Dickens:
First of all, although I am a partisan of Dickens' writing and have read and relished most his works, I concede to three flaws in his oeuvre that are not insignificant. First, while he seemed to develop an almost endle...more

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Matt rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

08/22/08

I like Dickens in theory. I'm a fan of big, sprawling fiction, with lots of characters, lots of storylines, and a lot of room to really get lost in a world. Unfortunately, I haven't liked Dickens in practice.

"Bleak House" is the story of a lawsuit, or rather, the people surrounding a lawsuit. It is the trenchant deconstruction of Victorian England's legal system you've been waiting for.

The case is "Jarndyce and Jarndyce," involving a large estate that is shrinking d...more I like Dickens in theory. I'm a fan of big, sprawling fiction, with lots of characters, lots of storylines, and a lot of room to really get lost in a world. Unfortunately, I haven't liked Dickens in practice.

"Bleak House" is the story of a lawsuit, or rather, the people surrounding a lawsuit. It is the trenchant deconstruction of Victorian England's legal system you've been waiting for.

The case is "Jarndyce and Jarndyce," involving a large estate that is shrinking due to attorney's fees. Dickens describes the case as one in which no two lawyers could talk about it for more than a minute without disagreeing as to its purpose. This is a funny description, because it's true; I've been on cases exactly like this. After awhile, you forget what you're fighting about, but you keep fighting, because that's what lawyers do.

The novel centers around an orphan, of course, named Esther. If you thought Pip from "Great Expectations" was insufferably bland, prepared to want to gouge your eyes out with the sheer banality of Esther's existence. Esther is sent to live with Mr. Jarndyce, along with two cousins, Ada and Richard, who are heirs to the Jarndyce estate. Esther becomes the head of the household, while Richard and Ada fall in love. Richard also falls in love with the Jarndyce case, and retains a lawyer, Mr. Vholes, who, in good lawyerly fashion, screws Richard out of most of his money.

The plot is dense and incomprehensible. I do not have the time or inclination to attempt to explain it. There is the progress of the legal case; there is Ada and Richard's relationship; there is Esther's suitor, Mr. Guppy, who is spurned; there is the growing relationship between Mr. Jarndyce and Esther; there is the myster of Esther's mother, whom anyone who has half a brain knows is Lady Dedlock by the first page; there is Mr. Tulkinghorn's attempts to keep Lady Dedlock's secret secret, even though anyone with half a brain knows it by the first page; there is a murder; there is the appearance of English literature's first detective character, Mr. Bucket. As in all of Dicken's novels, there is a character who has been left at the altar and is now ossified by the grief of that moment. Finally, at the end, the case is resolved in a most ironic fashion.

What pleasure I got from the book I derived from the secondary characters, who are lively, quirky, and wonderfully realized. For instance, there is Mr. Skimpole, who tells everyone he has the mind of a child and doesn't understand money; therefore, he keeps going to others for help paying off his debts. Just at the point where you want to reach into the pages and kill Skimpole yourself, it's hinted that he's not as naive as he sounds, but is perhaps running a devious long con. I also liked the character of Mr. Tulkinghorn and Mr. Vholes, two devious lawyers with black hearts and sharp minds (these two lawyers do not compare, however, with Mr. Jaggers from "Great Expectations," who keeps the shrunken heads of his executed clients in his office).

Setting aside the wildly meandering plot, the unrelenting onslaught of characters late into the book, and the endless digressions, the thing that bothered me most about this book is Esther, the milquetoast center of the novel. "Bleak House" shares the same problem as "Great Expectations," in that its center character is a boring cipher that you would ignore at a party or, if you were in high school with him or her, taunt him or her mercilessly until he or she snapped and came to school with a trenchcoat and payback. Imagine a universe of beautiful stars and planets, all orbiting around the sun. With Dickens, the stars and planets orbit around a big boring abyss. Esther is not only bland as plain, instant oatmeal, but she is seriously grating. I don't know what's more irritating: her endless charity, goodness, and selflessness, or the fact that all the other characters continually tell her how charitable, good, and selfless she is.

"Bleak House" is why Cliffs Notes was invented. However, it is better than "Moby Dick," which was the worst classic I've ever read to make myself feel better about myself.

The slightly-inflated sense of superiority I got from reading this book does not make up for the endless hours I spent reading this book. ...less

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Jen rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439726)

08/17/08

bookshelves: 2008-read, english, fiction, lit-major

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who wants to sink their teeth into a long read.

My summer reading project has been completed. At 989 pages, I feel like Super Reader!! And I must say, it was well worth the effort.

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 so out of control. You couldn't afford to forget even a presumably minor, minor character, for he or she was bound to show up again.

The narration technique was a little strange--some chapters had the ol' ...more

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Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

07/22/07

bookshelves: college, favorites

Read in March, 2001

My favorite Dickens novels are the ones that deal with the refusal of English society to take responsibility for the abysmal living conditions of the poor. Of all these books, Bleak House remains my favorite. It is big, sprawling in fact, it is complicated, the whole Jarndyce v. Jarndyce case is mind-numbing at times, and it is certainly bleak but this novel exemplifies Dickens. Orwell says that Dickens is not a "proletariat" writer because he never really advocates for the a...more

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aisha rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

03/28/08

bookshelves: classics

Read in March, 2008

Well, I have finally finished it. I must confess that I wasn't sure if I would, but I persevered and am so glad that I did! It was a little heavier read than am used to, so I had to mix it up with some lighter diversions along the way.

Dickens is such a master of creating scenes and characters. He's amazing. For awhile I wondered how all of his many and varied characters would come together in the end, but Dickens ties everything up seamlessly.

The themes of irony, passion, and secrets...more

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Don rated it:

(review of isbn 0375760059)

07/01/07

Read in November, 2006

This was probably the fourth or fifth time I read this book, which leads me to think that this just may be my favorite novel (even better than Have Space Suit Will Travel).

One of the things about this book that continues to fascinate me is the character of Esther, the partial narrator. At first, she comes across as cloyingly sweet, innocent and pure--in short, the kind of character you really want to make fun of. And yet--over the course of the novel, you can't help by come to identify w...more

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David rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

07/04/07

bookshelves: dickens

Read in January, 2006

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 Dickens also used in David Copperfield. The first person narrative here is that of the character Esther Summerson. Dickens' characters, it seems to me, are often theatrical. His villains are made to be hi...more

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Heather rated it:

(review of isbn )

07/09/08

"Demanding" is the first word that comes to mind about this book. Almost nine hundred pages long and filled with four dozen characters, Bleak House required more from me than most books I've read lately, but I think that's why I admire it. Dickens presents some of his most memorable characters in this book, from the myopic Mrs. Jellyby who devotes her whole life to helping Africa while neglecting her children, to the narcissistic Harold Skimpole who thinks everything--even slavery--exi...more

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Diane rated it:

(review of isbn 319072959X)

11/20/08

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: A very patient lawyer

This book was up and down for me. There were parts that were very strong and other parts I thought would never end. As a lawyer, I was fascinated by the fact that the lawsuit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce so closely resembles today's legal system. I thoroughly enjoyed Dickens' wry commentary about the way the case was handled--the court appearances where legions of lawyers would show up, needlessly billing their overpriced time, the judges completely unable to render a meaningful decision, even the o...more

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Juliana rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

10/29/07

Read in February, 2002

recommends it for: people with really long attention spans

this will grow on you like a sickness.....like whooping cough or gout.

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Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0375760059)

10/28/07

bookshelves: classics

Read in September, 2004

My favorite novel of all time.

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Dad rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

11/07/08

Read in September, 2008

People who love to read are constantly looking for a great read. All to often they ignore the classics because they are too long. When Dickens is offered most people turn to A Tale of Two Cities or Oliver Twist because they are short and they come away not liking Dickens that much. All I can say is read the long ones. Bleak House is long but well worth the read. It's Dickens' second best book in my estimation (Martin Chizzlewit is my favorite). It concerns a property law case that has ...more

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bookyeti rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

11/03/08

bookshelves: classics, favorites, own, reviewed

quite possibly Dickens’ magnum opus

Bleak House boasts all the hallmarks of brilliant Dickens - a sprawling and ambitious plot (without the sacrifice of an iota of suspense or impetus), brimming with eccentric characters and an almost gothic thriller appeal.

With wit, complexity and lack of guile, Dickens’ winds through an unflattering vision of the Victorian legal system, to heartrending household drama, to an investigation of homicide. All characters are intricately drawn, hi...more

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Hava rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

09/03/08

You don't imagine that a book entitled "Bleak House" would actually in the end be a rather realistically feel-good story, but I thought it was. The book is over 900 pages. That and the Victorian language can present a somewhat daunting prospect, but it's definitely worth it. Dickens' satirical (and usually severely critical) take on all the levels of society is masterpiece, but what makes this book such a pleasure to read is the astonishingly good (and believable which I feel is impo...more

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Brianne rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439726)

07/07/08

Read in July, 2008

This was an interesting Dickens book for me. I love Dickens, but this one was so much different than the others I've read. I'm not saying it was bad, because I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great read, but Dickens' humor was not as prevalent, though there definitely were some hilarious parts, and he was as ironic as ever. Dickens was really reaching for the stars on this novel to try to capture every part of London life--from the slums to the richest of the rich. For the most part Dicke...more

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Akemi rated it:

(review of isbn 0143037617)

06/04/08

bookshelves: school

Read in March, 2008

Third book on the syllabus for 19th Century British Novel. As anyone who has read or even seen this book should know, it is very LONG. 1000 pages or so. Unfortunately, I did not really get into it until around page 800. This has to be one of Dickens' more ambitious novels, as he essentially tries to capture mid-19th century London, from the poorest urchin to the richest ladies and gentlemen. While it's an impressive attempt, it's also very confusing, which, granted, any real city is. You meet to...more

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Bleak House (The Complete Classics)

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