Bleak House (Penguin Classics)
by Charles Dickens
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 3302)
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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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
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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Read in February, 2008
Upon re-reading Bleak House I was again struck by the powerful emotional pull of the story, but I also found myself dwelling on what the book had to say about the proper relationship between individuals. Dickens creates, through his characters, several models of relationships between individuals or between individuals and some sort of larger understanding of society, ranging from petty greed and myopia (Smallweed), a calculated grasp for power (Tulkinghorne), parasitism (Skimpole), an amo...more
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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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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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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
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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Read in June, 2008
Even though I have never been a fan of Charles Dickens, I was excited to read Bleak House. It has loomed over my head ever since college as one of those important, canonical, old-fashioned novels that needs to be read. While reading the book I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the double narrative used by both Esther Summerson and an omniscient third person narrator--I liked the social commentary and I really liked the eerie, dreamlike portrayal of London. I liked how Dickens gives his read...more
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Read in July, 2008
Thanks to the fabulous DailyLit.com, I finally finished reading Bleak House.
Rating it is difficult. It's hard to know how I might have perceived the story if I hadn't seen the miniseries first. Perhaps it suffers by reading it in tiny installments a little each day. But I think that regardless, this would not have been one of my all-time favorite Dickens.
Of course, I am a Jarndyce fan with book as well as series, so I can't l...more
Rating it is difficult. It's hard to know how I might have perceived the story if I hadn't seen the miniseries first. Perhaps it suffers by reading it in tiny installments a little each day. But I think that regardless, this would not have been one of my all-time favorite Dickens.
Of course, I am a Jarndyce fan with book as well as series, so I can't l...more
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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
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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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
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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Read in October, 2005
I love Charles Dickens. I would like to say that unequivocally that I think that he is quite simply one of the greatest novelists in the English language. And Bleak House is one of his greatest novels.
I started reading Dickens' novels chronologically so that I could pinpoint when he finally "got his groove" for lack of a better phrase. It's interesting to see him stumble through Pickwick Papers and then find his stride in Oliver Twist and then to do further exploration in Nich...more
I started reading Dickens' novels chronologically so that I could pinpoint when he finally "got his groove" for lack of a better phrase. It's interesting to see him stumble through Pickwick Papers and then find his stride in Oliver Twist and then to do further exploration in Nich...more
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Read in August, 2007
Jesus Christ, I get it Charles Dickens, orphans have it tough.
For crying out loud!
I haven't finished this book, but I'll get back to it someday. Once we left the law firm and got into the orphan stuff, it began to feel a little cliched. Or cliched for Charles Dickens anyway. Like most Dickens, I like the sentences more than the plots. For the life of me, I don't know why Dickens never gets his due for being as funny as he is, and there are some great lines in this one. Plus, I got a big kic...more
For crying out loud!
I haven't finished this book, but I'll get back to it someday. Once we left the law firm and got into the orphan stuff, it began to feel a little cliched. Or cliched for Charles Dickens anyway. Like most Dickens, I like the sentences more than the plots. For the life of me, I don't know why Dickens never gets his due for being as funny as he is, and there are some great lines in this one. Plus, I got a big kic...more
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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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To me some pieces are written to be read once for ever. Though I loved Oliver Twist or David Copperfield and even Bleak House when I read them first as a young man, but never again….
برخی از آثار یا نویسندگان در دوره ی خود در حد شاهکار بوده اند. بسیاری شان اما پس از یک زمان مشخص، تاریخ مصرفشان تمام شده است. می توانم تصور کنم که دیکنز یکی از آنهاست که در دو...more
برخی از آثار یا نویسندگان در دوره ی خود در حد شاهکار بوده اند. بسیاری شان اما پس از یک زمان مشخص، تاریخ مصرفشان تمام شده است. می توانم تصور کنم که دیکنز یکی از آنهاست که در دو...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who writes fiction, Mark
I finally finished listening to this on my Ipod. The unabridged version, with 60+ chapters, 29 discs, only took me two and a half months! It was worth it. I'll probably reread it now (in print), just to see how it works on the page.
The book reads like a serial--gripping plot turns, cliffhangers, a final chapter that tries to wrap everything up. I followed most of it, though I was puzzled by the whole Lady Dedlock in flight section--I couldn't quite follow Mr. Bucket's logic, though I liste...more
The book reads like a serial--gripping plot turns, cliffhangers, a final chapter that tries to wrap everything up. I followed most of it, though I was puzzled by the whole Lady Dedlock in flight section--I couldn't quite follow Mr. Bucket's logic, though I liste...more
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Read in July, 2007
A new favorite. It reminded me of War and Peace in scope.
I was thinking about what I love about War and Peace compared with what I love about Bleak House.
I love War and Peace because the characters ar so complex, changeable, prone to self-deceit -- just like myself and the people I know. And characters drift in and out of the story like people come and go in anyone's life, sometimes resembling each other, sometimes imperfectly remembered.
I love Bleak House because a few seconds a...more
I was thinking about what I love about War and Peace compared with what I love about Bleak House.
I love War and Peace because the characters ar so complex, changeable, prone to self-deceit -- just like myself and the people I know. And characters drift in and out of the story like people come and go in anyone's life, sometimes resembling each other, sometimes imperfectly remembered.
I love Bleak House because a few seconds a...more
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I spent an ENTIRE semester reading this book in one of my British Lit classes. I wanted to shoot myself. Report after report after report of this book drove me crazy. I think I may have actually enjoyed it if I didn't have to drag it out in 10 weeks. Also, I have not yet seen the movie with Gillian Anderson but I heard it's very good. It's newer, so I suggest if you're going to read this book to also watch the movie. I'm sure it will clarify a lot that the book didn't. I did however get t...more
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This was the first book I listened to after setting out to row from California to Hawaii (see http://www.rozsavage.com), and it had exactly the desired effect of helping me shift into a lower, slower gear. I’d studied this book at school at the age of 16, now 24 years ago, and it remains one of my favourite Dickens novels. An epic, rambling story, every single character nonetheless has a purpose and a point, as Dickens hits hard on the th...more
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Oh gosh but Dickens takes ages to explain anything and move the plot forward, dunnee?
However, reading his writing is great, and although it takes ages to get through, it is very nice to read eg: his description of a rainy day at Bleak House, where he desribes how all the horses, dogs and birds in the grounds might also be dreaming of warmer days, as well as the people.
But what is Jarndyce and Jarndyce? Who is Esther Summerson going to turn out to be the child / grandchild / godchild of? I...more
However, reading his writing is great, and although it takes ages to get through, it is very nice to read eg: his description of a rainy day at Bleak House, where he desribes how all the horses, dogs and birds in the grounds might also be dreaming of warmer days, as well as the people.
But what is Jarndyce and Jarndyce? Who is Esther Summerson going to turn out to be the child / grandchild / godchild of? I...more
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Bleak House is Dickens brilliant satire of the legal system. The descriptions of Victorian London are more vivid and imaginative than anything I've read. Every social class is depicted and brought to life to great effect and with staggering poignancy. I really enjoyed the central characters, as well as a host supporting characters. The psychological aspect of the novel is not quite as strong as David Copperfield, yet there was still plenty there in the Esther chapters to keep my attention. ...more
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