From the Bookshelf of Classics for Beginners…

Bleak House

Charles Dickens

Start date: January 1, 2015

Finish date: March 31, 2015

Discussion: Tri-monthly Read

Discussion leader: Emily Krauss

Why we're reading this: Selected by readers for January - March 2015 read.
[close] Selected by readers for January - March 2015 read.

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Tri-monthly Read

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By ☯Emily , moderator · 6 posts · 56 views

last updated Sep 10, 2016 02:17PM

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By ☯Emily , moderator · 1 post · 17 views

last updated Jun 26, 2016 01:50PM

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What Members Thought

Dec 26, 2014 ☯Emily Ginder rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, read-in-2015

I am not a Dickens fan and this book is a prime example of why. It is long and wordy and really needed an editor. Yes, I know he got paid by the word, but so did other authors, like Trollope, Gaskell and Collins: however, their books are readable and enjoyable.

I have tried to read this book in the past and never succeeded. However, this time I finished although it took more than 130 days or 4 1/2 months.

The basic idea behind the book is how a defective court system destroyed people's lives. Unf ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2014 Erika B. (SOS BOOKS) rated it really liked it

Shelves: classic

“What connexion can there be, between the place in Lincolnshire, the house in town, the Mercury in powder, and the whereabout of Jo the outlaw with the broom, who had that distant ray of light upon him when he swept the churchyard-step? What connexion can there have been between many people in the innumerable histories of this world, who, from opposite sides of great gulfs, have, nevertheless, been very curiously brought together!”

4.5 glittering stars! The quote that pretty much sums up Bleak H ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2015 Henry Le Nav rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: readathon-day-2015

Enjoyed the story although it had about 300 too many pages and 25 too many characters, but none the less I enjoyed this book very much. If Dickens had not been paid by the word, I may have given it 5 stars.

This Penguin edition has an introduction and extensive notes which helps explain some of the archaic terms and usages, and the Kindle format was good with an active table of contents and footnotes.

http://www.amazon.com/Bleak-Penguin-C...

This kindle version also includes the original illustra ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2013 Ali rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: university, 2013

Dickens. I just can't get into you. Stop using so many words all the time. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 19, 2012 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1305, 12-long-listbooks-2013

Every once in a while a book comes along that takes your breath away. Bleak House was one of these novels for me.

The construction of Bleak House is unique. The cast of characters is impossibly large and the beginning seems to be impossibly boring. Aside from the character of Esther, the reader is left with very few characters to attach to and names become easily confused. The role of the court case, on which the whole novel hinges, does not make full sense through much of the novel. However, wh ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 21, 2014 Jeremy C. Brown rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-e-book-located

What a great book! Of course how to go wrong with Dickens? It’s easy to see how it was written in installments and put out a bit at a time because you’ll get a lot of those mid story cliff hangers just like you do in a tv series. Also, just like watching netflix, you can turn the page and keep moving on, or flip the page and keep reading if you just can’t put it down! :-)

I really found this book very insightful and entertaining. I’ve got loads of favorite quotes below. I’m realizing many are rem ...more

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May 09, 2012 doug bowman rated it liked it · review of another edition

Another book I vividly remember reading. The day before the test, Victorian Literature class. I stayed up all night in the basement of Hoover Library reading it. Got a B on the test

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