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Kalliope's Reviews > Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens
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it was amazing
bookshelves: fiction-english, literary-classics


Reading Bleak House has had a redeeming effect for me. Before this marvel took place Dickens evoked for me either depressing black and white films in a small and boxy TV watched during oppressive times, or reading what seemed endless pages in a still largely incomprehensible language. Dickens meant then a pain on both counts.

In this GR group read I have enjoyed Bleak House tremendously.

In the group discussion many issues have been brought up by the members. First and foremost the critique on the social aspects has been put on the tray, but also the treatment of women and/or children, the critique of the Empire and of the Legal profession and institutions, the interplay between the two narrators, he humour, the richness in literary and historical references, the musings on ethics, etc. All this makes for a very rich analysis.

For me this book is certainly a reread. And apart from all the aspects above, what have struck me most, because it has surprised me, were the very rich plot and the way it was constructed. That is why, if I read Bleak House again, I will do so while drawing a diagram that, similarly to those charting engineering processes, would plot the plot.

Using an Excel sheet as my basis, the graph I have in mind would be a two dimensional chart, with the X or horizontal axis extending up to the 67 chapters of the book, while on the vertical or Y axis I would mark out three different bands. These bands would correspond to what I see as the main threads of the story. I am thinking of:

1. The Chancery, with all the Legal aspects. In this story line belong the Court itself, and the legal offices such as Kenge and Carboy and Mr. Tulkinghorn’s. The characters related to these legal aspects would belong to this band.

2. Esther, with her upbringing and Godmother. And here belong major characters such as John Jarndyce and the two Wards, Ada and Richard.

3. Chesney Wold, with the Dedlocks, Mrs Rouncewell and Rosa, etc.

Each chapter would be plotted according to its number and to the story band to which it belongs, and so it would be drawn as a square. To each chapter-square I would give one of two colors, depending on who is narrating it. When Esther is telling the story I would color the square pink, and when it is the Narrator, it would be blue. For the early chapters, Band #2 would be mostly pink, while the other two would be mostly blue; but as the novel advanced, I think the pink would begin to invade other band stories and vice-versa.

In each chapter-square I would include little cells, each one corresponding to one character as they first appear in the story. As the chapters advanced and the characters reappeared, I would draw connecting lines for those reappearing cells which would trace clearly how those character-cells started to move from story-band to story-band.

I wish I could draw the graph I have in mind in HTML format for this GR box. But to give you an idea, I think it would look like a combination of the following graphs:




and this:




Then I would also mark when some episodes or stories within the stories, were presented. To these I would give the shape of a sort of elongated bubble or ellipse and they would be superposed on the chapter boxes, since they would not quite belong, nor not-belong, to the three story lines above. In this ellipse category I place the episodes involving the Jellybys, the Badgers, the Turveydrops, etc.

Some of the characters, even if they first appear in the context of one of the bands, eventually move from one story to another a great deal. In the end they do not really belong to any one of them in particular. These characters I conceive as major connectors in the plot. I would then mark them with bold big dots linked by lines and would eventually look like a connecting grid. I call these the Connexions, and Jo, Mr. Guppy, Mr. Smallweed, amongst others, belong to this category. Mr. Guppy, one of my favourite characters, has a major “connexion” function although he is succeeded in his ability to precipitate the plot by the most determinant of the connecters, Mr. Bucket. As The Detective, his role is precisely that of connecting everything and thereby reach or propitiate the conclusion.

There is another group of characters who have a lighter connexion function, because they do not really advance the plot, but help in pulling it together and make it more cohesive. To this class I place Miss Flint and may be Charlotte (Charley) Neckett. As we draw further to the right of the X-axis, the connecting lines linking the pivotal characters become increasingly busy and tangled as they extend over more and more boxes. The connecting nodes would become something like:






By the end, as we approach the final chapters, all the story bands would have conflated into Esther, and the graph would become something like this one in which the central heart stands for the All-Loving-Esther.






And Charles Dickens planned all this without a Computer.


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Reading Progress

May 3, 2012 – Shelved
May 3, 2012 – Shelved as: fiction-english
May 3, 2012 – Shelved as: literary-classics
February 17, 2013 – Started Reading
February 18, 2013 –
page 55
5.06%
February 20, 2013 –
page 5575
100%
February 20, 2013 –
page 75
6.89%
February 21, 2013 –
page 85
7.81%
February 25, 2013 –
page 110
10.11% "It must be the wind...!"
February 26, 2013 –
page 145
13.33%
February 27, 2013 –
page 180
16.54%
February 28, 2013 –
page 193
17.74% "Now, is this Charles Dickens or David Mitchell writing?

"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 ... 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!""
March 5, 2013 –
page 253
23.25% "The name of this old pagan's God was Compound Interest. He lived for it, married it, died of it."
March 8, 2013 –
page 295
27.11%
March 8, 2013 –
page 321
29.5%
March 10, 2013 –
page 365
33.55%
March 11, 2013 –
page 380
34.93%
March 18, 2013 –
page 450
41.36%
March 19, 2013 –
page 500
45.96%
March 21, 2013 –
page 560
51.47%
March 23, 2013 –
page 650
59.74%
March 23, 2013 –
page 830
76.29%
March 27, 2013 –
page 924
84.93%
March 30, 2013 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-50 of 64 (64 new)


message 1: by Ted (new) - added it

Ted I've ordered a used copy of the Norton Critical edition of the book. Hoping it will come soon.


message 2: by [deleted user] (new)

I just read this! I love Dickens.


message 3: by Ted (new) - added it

Ted I have the Norton edition now. It's illustrated, has copious footnotes, and the last 200+ pages contain an enormous amount of information: how Dickens wrote the novel; background information on pollution in London, and Government and the Law Courts of the time; and nine critical essays on the novel including one by G.K.Chesterton.


Nick Wellings 5 stars! Excellent. Looking forward to yor review.


Kalliope Nick wrote: "5 stars! Excellent. Looking forward to yor review."

Well, I think I am more generous with the five stars than you are, but I guess you would give it five very worthy stars too..!!!


Kalliope Elizabeth wrote: "Such a great book!"

Yes, this is a reread.


message 7: by Garima (new) - added it

Garima I'll give a more elaborate comment once I'll finish reading this book which I have finally started. I have merely skimmed through your review and can sense something really interesting and can confidently say, wonderful review, as always.


message 8: by Jan-Maat (new) - added it

Jan-Maat Ha! Love the spreadsheet/flowchart/diagram idea! But who knows, maybe Dickens got out his coloured chalks and a board to plan it out originally? ;)


message 9: by Jonfaith (new) - added it

Jonfaith Apparently it was those solitary nocturnal excursions.


Kalliope Garima wrote: "I'll give a more elaborate comment once I'll finish reading this book which I have finally started. I have merely skimmed through your review and can sense something really interesting and can conf..."

I know the feeling. Not until I had written mine did I want to read those already posted (Jan Maat's and Mala's). Do you have a lot further to go?.

Looking forward to your review...


Kalliope Jan-Maat wrote: "Ha! Love the spreadsheet/flowchart/diagram idea! But who knows, maybe Dickens got out his coloured chalks and a board to plan it out originally? ;)"

He must have had a system.. but still, not a computer...

I am very tempted in reading it again relatively soon and attempt the graph, which will not be esasy....


message 12: by Garima (new) - added it

Garima Kalliope wrote: "Garima wrote: "I'll give a more elaborate comment once I'll finish reading this book which I have finally started. I have merely skimmed through your review and can sense something really interesti..."

Oh I have just started, will definitely take some time, especially since I keep looking at those illustrations.


Kalliope Garima wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "Garima wrote: I have merely skimmed through your review and can sense something..."

The group read, with the weekly threads, should help you. There is also one list of the charactes with Spoiler alert.


message 14: by Fionnuala (new)

Fionnuala I love this, Kalliope. You have described the novel so graphically and so well that I see a painting in my mind, rather than a diagram.
I am glad you finally enjoyed your encounter with Dickens - I have reread Bleak House several times, and I will again.


Kalliope Fionnuala wrote: "I love this, Kalliope. You have described the novel so graphically and so well that I see a painting in my mind, rather than a diagram.
I am glad you finally enjoyed your encounter with Dickens - ..."


Thank you Fionnuala. I was just so surprised that the plot was so engaging.. I was expecting all social and political criticism, but the scheme of the action is so wonderfully constructed that it has been a surprise. In this first read I was just led along, so I felt as if enclosed in a maze, but if I read it again I would like to analyze the plot dynamics more closely.


Kalliope Fionnuala wrote: "I love this, Kalliope. You have described the novel so graphically and so well that I see a painting in my mind, rather than a diagram.
I am glad you finally enjoyed your encounter with Dickens - ..."


Mmmm... seeing paintings in your mind.. Have you been reading Proust?


message 17: by Mala (new) - rated it 5 stars

Mala As Jan-Maat wrote,with your flowchart/diagram idea,you've given Dickens a very modern look, which ,hopefully,will attract cool kids towards reading him but honestly,Dickens is magic & magic shdn't be dissected...
And don't forget,he was a genius with many eccentric traits like going on long walks & talking to himself– I think he planned it all in his head!


Kalliope Mala wrote: "As Jan-Maat wrote,with your flowchart/diagram idea,you've given Dickens a very modern look, which ,hopefully,will attract cool kids towards reading him but honestly,Dickens is magic & magic shdn't ..."

Mala, thank you for your Like. I also find it interesting that you think the graphs and diagrams add a modern look and suitable for children.

My intention was to show how this book would appeal to the minds of logicians-mathematicians-engineers, because it is so well constructed that its inner structure is beautiful.

I also think of the 19th century as the age of the rise of the engineer.

I do not know how Dickens worked, may be a Dickensian may help me here, but he certainly had the mind of a genius, whether he thought his work while walking (some music composers do as well), or with paper and pencil (as other composers prefer to do).


message 19: by Jocelyne (new) - added it

Jocelyne Lebon THanks! Those flow charts are invaluable. I just had to mark it as a re-read!


message 20: by Kyle (new)

Kyle I couldn't find the 'Love' button for this review!


message 21: by Teresa (last edited Apr 14, 2013 09:07PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Teresa Kalliope wrote: "I do not know how Dickens worked, may be a Dickensian may help me here, but he certainly had the mind of a genius, whether he thought his work while walking (some music composers do as well), or with paper and pencil (as other composers prefer to do). "

Great review, Kalliope. Your review literally illustrates a part of the reason I love Dickens, and this book, so much.

Dickens' memory was prodigious, but, still, I think (if I'm remembering correctly) it was a combination of his composing while walking and his making notes for himself -- at least for the later works. I believe some of these notes may still exist.

His earlier works were not planned out and that shows in places. It was starting with "Dombey & Son," I think, that the plots became more intricate and were planned out ahead of time. Saying that, though, no one knows how he would've ended "Edwin Drood," which was unfinished before he died. So either he himself didn't know or his 'notes' were mostly in his head.


Kalliope Jocelyne wrote: "THanks! Those flow charts are invaluable. I just had to mark it as a re-read!"

Thank you Jocelyne. Yes, many people in the group were reading it for a second or third time. It is certainly a novel that grants several readings.


Kalliope Kyle wrote: "I couldn't find the 'Love' button for this review!"

Thank you Kyle. Always very kind.


Kalliope Teresa wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "I do not know how Dickens worked, may be a Dickensian may help me here, but he certainly had the mind of a genius, whether he thought his work while walking (some music composers d..."

Thank you Teresa for your information on Dickens...

It does sound that this complex book needed a very good and thoughtful planning. The way he plays with details of the characters who are presented almost simultaneously in different threads of the story under different names (George and the son of Mrs. Rouncewell.. etc..).

I had written in my draft a different conclusion, which I may still add, and that what is also curious about this book is how Dickens creates a mini-world, with personalities from several levels of society and geographical origin, who at first seem unrelated, but who eventually they are all form together a little universe.


message 25: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Brilliant review - and I like the diagrams.


message 26: by Dolors (new) - added it

Dolors Original and very instructive review... you can't imagine how identified I felt with that first paragraph, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (the later maybe not so much) were such hard works for me...
I should try the diagram approach or join a group read or maybe both...thanks for the enlightenment!


Kalliope Cecily wrote: "Brilliant review - and I like the diagrams."

Thank you Cecily.


Kalliope Dolors wrote: "Original and very instructive review... you can't imagine how identified I felt with that first paragraph, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (the later maybe not so much) were such hard works for..."

Thank you Dolors. This is a great novel. I also listened to a wonderful audio version who had me laughing out loud several times.

I posted the edition of the audio in the Group.


message 29: by Caroline (new)

Caroline I love visual representations of things, and you've brought a real lyrical quality to your diagrams.... and I love the progression of them, from where they start to where they end up.


Kalliope Caroline wrote: "I love visual representations of things, and you've brought a real lyrical quality to your diagrams.... and I love the progression of them, from where they start to where they end up."

Thanks Caroline.. not being able to post what I had in mind I had fun looking around in the web for suitable examples.


Jeffrey Keeten Fun! mixed with brilliance. Wonderful Kalliope.


Kalliope Jeffrey wrote: "Fun! mixed with brilliance. Wonderful Kalliope."

Thank you Jeffrey... I could not quite find the graph that suited my idea... but such is life...!!! LOL.


Jeffrey Keeten Kalliope wrote: "Jeffrey wrote: "Fun! mixed with brilliance. Wonderful Kalliope."

Thank you Jeffrey... I could not quite find the graph that suited my idea... but such is life...!!! LOL."


I know that frustration well, sometimes the right pic just can't be found for one of my reviews.


Kalliope Jeffrey wrote: "LOL."
I know that frustration well, sometimes the right pic just can't be found for one of my reviews.
..."


One could never tell.. you come up with wonderful illustrations, Jeffrey...


Gary  the Bookworm This review is such a treat. Can you imagine what Dickens would have achieved if he had a computer?


Kalliope Gary wrote: "This review is such a treat. Can you imagine what Dickens would have achieved if he had a computer?"

Yes! excellent thought... another of those marvelous "what ifs"..


message 37: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Gary wrote: "This review is such a treat. Can you imagine what Dickens would have achieved if he had a computer?"

I expect he'd have written far less, because he'd be too busy with emails, captioning funny pictures of cats, playing Tetris/Farmville/whatever and all sorts of other online procrastination. ;)


Gary  the Bookworm Cecily wrote: "Gary wrote: "This review is such a treat. Can you imagine what Dickens would have achieved if he had a computer?"

I expect he'd have written far less, because he'd be too busy with emails, captio..."


Haha! Very true. Even if I didn't have these distractions, I still couldn't have written BH. I'm glad for it-and my Internet distractions. (Goodreads has become my biggest distraction, but I've met such nice people!)


Kalliope Gary wrote: "Cecily wrote: "Gary wrote: "This review is such a treat. Can you imagine what Dickens would have achieved if he had a computer?"

I expect he'd have written far less, because he'd be too busy with..."


I wonder how many Followers he would have had. Can you imagine having Dickens as a GR friend?


Gary  the Bookworm I'd be afraid to friend him. I would definitely follow his reviews though.


message 41: by [deleted user] (new)

Mr Guppy is hilarious.He is my favourite character until now,too!


Kalliope Luís wrote: "Mr Guppy is hilarious.He is my favourite character until now,too!"

Yes!!!.. he is great... I also listened to an audio version with one single narrator but who could come up with a wide variety of voices and the one he had for Mr Guppy was amongst his best.


message 43: by Lada (new) - rated it 5 stars

Lada Exceedingly good review with an excellent insight into the workings of the court at Victorian times. Makesme feel helples when reading Dickens, and especially Bleak House, at Bleak Times


Kalliope Lada wrote: "Exceedingly good review with an excellent insight into the workings of the court at Victorian times. Makesme feel helples when reading Dickens, and especially Bleak House, at Bleak Times"

Thank you, Lada. Bleak House at Bleak Times... perfect!


message 45: by Lada (last edited Jun 13, 2014 09:23AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Lada It is a beautiful read. Dickens is the beat. English to the core


message 46: by [deleted user] (new)

Lada wrote: "It is a beautiful read. Dickens is the beat. English to the core"

But even in this way,that's not one my favourite book,until this moment of the read..


message 47: by Lada (last edited Jun 13, 2014 12:33PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Lada I must say Dickens is so thoroughly English. It is the English Victorian spirit plus his own genius . It works wonders.


message 48: by [deleted user] (new)

Yes,that's a wonderful writer,no doubt.It's on my favourites list..


message 49: by Lada (last edited Jun 13, 2014 12:38PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Lada Luís wrote: "Yes,that's a wonderful writer,no doubt.It's on my favourites list.."

I agree. Kalyope has just shown the srtucture, the brilianceof it. The movement. Glorius of the hell. The Chancery of London


message 50: by [deleted user] (new)

Lada wrote: "Luís wrote: "Yes,that's a wonderful writer,no doubt.It's on my favourites list.."

I agree. Kalyope has just shown the srtucture, the brilianceof it. The movement. Glorius of the hell. The Chance..."


She had done the structure perfectly well..


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