This is a beautiful novel and it's become my second favorite Dickens novel of all time! (My favorite is still David Copperfield!) The goodness of John Jarndyce will stay with me for a long while and as I enter into middle age, he is my model of character and behavior. And...the wind is often from the east where I live...

READ THIS BOOK, but be patient and enjoy the beauty of the language.

Bleak House is certainly a monumental work, but I never could have gotten through it without Cliff Notes, a grudging admission for me. There are so many characters, so many plots, so many intricacies and of course Dickens' writing style that it all combines to make a formidable read. The book goes on for some 800 pages and for me, it was work to plow through the chapters. Finally, I got to where I read a chapter a night and it became a battle of wits between me and Dickens: Would he wear me down or would I win. Kind of like the fabled lawsuit in the book, Jarndyce and Jarndyce. So, finally, it's over. I have to admit that I enjoyed it, mostly, and now I can look forward to what looks like an equally arduous task: reading Dickens' "David Copperfield". I imagine I'll be reviewing that when I get done reading it in a decade or two.....

It goes like this

You are introduced to a myriad of characters. These characters, display the full spectrum of the human condition: from wealthy to wretched, from saint to sinner, from wise to simple, from respected to scorned, from arrogant to humble from solid to eccentric...

Yet these characters are not one dimensional. While, their nature remains apparent their behavior twist and turns.

Slowly, as you become acquainted, you become aware of mysteries lurking in their separate backgrounds.

As your knowledge of the characters deepen the mysteries grow. The characters and the mysteries begin to entwine and from the entanglement a story emerges.

A great story, told with Dickens social insights, irascible characters and gentle humor.

Yes, you should read this.

Definitely

I enjoyed this book very much. The intricate plotting appealed to me, and the characters are memorable. However, the melodrama was rather thick for my taste. Dickens is certainly masterful at manipulating the reader's sentiments: there was nary a death or unfortunate event that was not hyped up to a fever pitch of pathos. But I found myself snickering at how transparent this reader manipulation was rather than responding in a genuinely emotional way. Perhaps I am heartless.

Also, the characters turned out to be too good. No matter how flawed a character seemed when first introduced, s/he eventually revealed a redeeming heart of gold, with the possible exception of Tulkington. I found this insistence on the inherent goodness of man, no matter how abused or downtrodden, ultimately unbelievable and undermining of Dickens's social consciousness message. Why not beat people down in poverty if they will simply be longsuffering and then go to their heavenly reward?

Finally, I was really bothered by the Esther Summerson/Richard Jarndyce engagement story line. How thoroughly creepy from a contemporary perspective (Woody Allen comes to mind)! But I have to believe that it would have been at least a little troubling from the Victorian perspective, too. A quite mature guardian engaged to his young ward who has always viewed him as a father figure? And this a "pity" engagement because she has been scarred by small pox? They would still consummate this marriage, wouldn't they? Eww. Dickens does not allow this horrific scene to come to pass, thank goodness, but the fact that it is offered as a good and charitable outcome for Esther and Jarndyce is skeevy enough.

I enjoyed the book and read it avidly, but found it manipulative and troubling enough to rank it in the mid-range.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

This is one of my favorite Dickens works, and will keep you entertained for hours. Written in 1853, when Dickens was at his peak, Bleak House is often considered Dickens's best novel.