Bleak House Week 1 - Chapters 1-7

[Theresa]

Also you can click on the link above the comment box on the right...where it says (some html is ok) link instructions are the second item on the list.

[Lily]

Theresa wrote: "as explained here"

Thanks! And I like this version:



http://www.hyperlinkcode.com/new-wind...

New Browser Window

Except it didn't work! I guess goodreads may not support that version.

Thx for all the help, Theresa! Finally, will be able to use, albeit in same window, not a new one.

[Lisa]

I've been behind and lost in fog for most of this book. Decided to start over as everyone else is enjoying it. Now I'm plodding through the streets of London.

Chapters 1-3
I like the uniqueness of the opening lines in London, the setting is there and easy to picture, and probably familiar for Dickens's readers at the time.

Bizarre though, he speaks about a megalosaurus. I don't equate the Victorian era with dinosaurs but then again isn't that the same era for Darwin?

Jarndyce and Jarndyce is a convoluted, messy case. The only person who understands it is Mr Tangle (the descriptive naming base been discussed in later chapters.

[Lily]

Lisa wrote: "I've been behind and lost in fog for most of this book. Decided to start over as everyone else is enjoying it. Now I'm plodding through the streets of London...."

Lisa -- hope you enjoy having hit the restart button. Like many of the great, convoluted classics, this one is difficult to "get" in a first read if one doesn't have the time or interest to devote to it -- at least that is my experience of BH. I just spent much of the morning hopping around the CD's so I can return the first half and pick up the second. Picked up any number of tidbits not "heard" previously. I hope the library will accept the insert of chapter names and corresponding disk:track numbers I intend to include, although I suspect it shall run afoul of some generally well-grounded guideline against reader insertions or notes.

[Lily]

Lisa wrote: "Bizarre though, he speaks about a megalosaurus. I don't equate the Victorian era with dinosaurs but then again isn't that the same era for Darwin?..."

You peaked my curiosity:

"Megalosaurus was, in 1824, the first genus of non-avian dinosaur to be validly named. The type species is Megalosaurus bucklandii, named in 1827. In 1842, Megalosaurus was one of three genera on which Richard Owen based his Dinosauria. On Owen's directions a model was made as one of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, which greatly increased the public interest for prehistoric reptiles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalosa...

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs: "Commissioned in 1852 to accompany the Crystal Palace after its move from the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park and unveiled in 1854, they were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world, pre-dating the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by six years...."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_...

BH published: March 1852 - September 1853.

So, looks like "Megalosaurus" was probably very topical at the time.

[Lisa]

Lily wrote: "You peaked my curiosity:

"Mega..."

Thanks Lily. The mention was just so unexpected, now I've learnt something. And the image of foggy, muddy London with a wallowing dinosaur is just so attention grabbing and funny.

In England a few years ago, my husband got this idea to find the Crystal Palace gates- they were left in Hyde Park after the CP was dismantled. Essentially this meant wandering Hyde Park with the book he was reading until we found them. The original gates now guard one of the entrances that is not at all ornate and their original purpose is largely forgotten. (Excuse my rambling). It made me wonder how much of London has lost or gained meaning since the nineteenth century.

I'm enjoying the reread, having now acquired the luxury of time. My new commute to work is long and I'm off to the bib to acquire the audiobook for BH tomorrow.

[Theresa]

The libreVox recording - version 3 - is entertaining. I listen to it sometimes.

[Lily]

Lisa wrote: "...My new commute to work is long and I'm off to the bib to acquire the audiobook for BH tomorrow...."

My library system has the Tantor version, unabridged, read by David Case, some 30 or 31 disks in length total. I have just finished the first sixteen. If you get that version, I'll put up the CD:Tr# for the first half on the resources page. (Obviously, the second half isn't done yet.)

Bleak House

[Everyman]

Lisa wrote: "Bizarre though, he speaks about a megalosaurus. I don't equate the Victorian era with dinosaurs but then again isn't that the same era for Darwin?"

The Victorians were passionate for science and exploration. It isn't surprising to me at all that he would use a scientific reference here.

[Lisa]

Thanks Lily. I'll let you know.

The shift in environments is interesting. From the foggy London streets, to Chancery, to the world of fashion. A
Though all three are vividly described, I wonder if the stark contrast between Chancery and fashion is as stark as initially perceived.

The similarities would be that both worlds can appear glamorous to an outsider; both hide behind a veneer of superiority compared to the common man; both have their own unwritten rules, complexities and vendettas.

Sir Deadlock seems far more smitten with Lady Deadlock than she with him, I'm interested to see how their stories unfold.

The Jellyby's: Mrs Jellyby's distant and removed cause appears ironic when compared to the reality of Caddy and Peepie who seem a bit neglected in appearance and behavior.

[Cass]

Lisa wrote: "I've been behind and lost in fog for most of this book. Decided to start over as everyone else is enjoying it. Now I'm plodding through the streets of London.

Chapters 1-3
I like the uniqueness o..."
I have nothing to add, I just wanted to cheer you on as you do the reboot.

[Lisa]

Thanks Cass.

At Lilly, there is not a single Dickens audio book available in the library system in the Western Cape... Now looking for podcasts.

[Lily]

Lisa wrote: "At Lily, there is not a single Dickens audio book available in the library system in the Western Cape... Now looking for podcasts."

Well, you know one possibility to request if you make that next Friends of the Library donation!

[David]

Lisa wrote: "The similarities [between the Chancery and fashion] would be that both worlds can appear glamorous to an outsider; both hide behind a veneer of superiority compared to the common man; both have their own unwritten rules, complexities and vendettas."

Lisa, nice comparisons you have there to add to the comparison and allusions that Dickens gives. I was quite impressed with, "Both the world of fashion and the Court of Chancery are things of precedent and usage"

Additionally I also thought fashion is two things that court should not be but too often appears to be: arbitrary and highly subjective.

[Jess :)]

Lisa wrote: "Thanks Cass.

At Lilly, there is not a single Dickens audio book available in the library system in the Western Cape... Now looking for podcasts."

Lisa, do you have a tablet? I got an audiobook for $3 with Amazon Whispersync. The catch is that you need to "buy" the free Kindle ebook first. ;)

[Lisa]

E:) you re a legend! Thanks