Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book

leynes's Reviews > Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Rate this book
Clear rating

by
45198798
's review

liked it

Why do we still read Dickens in the 21st century? What does he have to offer to our times? Most readers turn to his novels for their brilliant social criticism, the universal humor and comedy that is human existence, and Dickens' reformist temper. When we come to Dickens we expect to learn, have a laugh, and maybe a good cry, too.

Many critics consider Bleak House his best work. I've been recommended this book numerous times ever since I fell in love with Great Expectations and cried over A Tale of Two Cities. Many reviewers and friends whom I trust have given this book a 5 star rating. Let's just say, my expectations were high. Maybe too high. Luckily, Bleak House isn't bleak at all, it's quite cheerful in places and full of hope and light. However, it's probably a good 300 pages too long. I hate to be the one who was to say it but Bleak House has no business being 1,000+ pages long.

I understand that it was published in a serialised format in 20 chapters over the course of one and a half years – and I acknowledge that the length might have worked better that way, but when you read Bleak House over the course of two weeks (like I did, and most modern readers will) it is bound to end up dragging and being quite boring and redundant in places.

Bleak House centres around the long-running case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Dickens’s fictional, but possible, case had begun as a simple dispute between two parties over a will, but has, at the novel's beginning, already pulled in countless defendants and remains unresolved after more than a generation. Dickens focuses on exposing the abuses of early 19th century England#s corrupt and outmoded Court of Chancery. Over the years this court had spawned a thousand useless regulations and procedures requiring so many documents and so many different types of legal personnel for every case, that the Court moved at snail's pace, if at all.

With jurisdiction over civil matters directly influencing people's personal lives, like disputes over wills, trusts, land law, and infant guardianship, Dickens found the Court of Chancery#s corrupt machinery a necessary target for moral outrage, and wrote the novel in part to attack it. Bleak House shows what happens when these systems (government, businesses, families etc.) reach the point of enriching or supporting the people who run them instead of the individual people they are supposed to serve.

Personally, I didn't find the court case at the centre of the book to be all that interesting. What makes Bleak House worthwhile are the variety of people that inhabit the novel. For example, one of the first fictional police detectives, Inspector Bucket. With his charm, his ostensibly humble demeanor, his understanding and sympathy for humanity, his doggedness, and his incisive intelligence, Bucket has been a fan-favorite from the start.

One of the most iconic scenes in the novel, and maybe all of Western literature, is the spontaneous combustion of Mr. Krook. Krook is an illiterate, grasping old man who attempts to profit from buying collections of old legal documents in the hopes he can find something he can sell or blackmail people with. Completely devoid of the milk of human kindness, dry and inhuman, Krook bursts into flame and burns down to a puddle of wax and ash that leaves black smears on the windowsills. Subjected to lots of discussion and outrage when first published, that scene is still being discussed by scholars and literature students up to this day. I just found it hilarious!

Similarly, another infamous literary character stems from Bleak House: Mrs. Jellyby – best known for letting her home fall apart, her husband and her children living unattended in squalor while she devotes all her efforts to raising funds to settle Europeans in African Borrioboola-Gha to civilize the natives. Dickens's humor shines through when it comes to her character. I don't think his intent was to shit on charity work, but rather arguing against neglecting your family while you do it. Written in a Victorian framework in which the women was supposed to be the main caretaker of the house and children, Mrs. Jellyby and her sole focus on her work and her individual purpose can be read as quite subversive from a modern standpoint, even though Dickens doesn't portray her favorably.

Bleak House is narrated by two voices, a third person narrator who speaks in the present tense, in a voice by turns melancholy, sardonic, and prophetic, and Esther Summerson. Esther is a sweet, caring, hardworking, self-effacing young woman. Naturally, I couldn't stand her. She joins the ranks of virginal and innocent Dickensian women that are nothing but male fantasy. Some may find her sticky-sweet, but I find her hypocritical, she often insists that she is humble and untalented, but then insists on being praised by everyone for her kindness and humility. Funnily enough, Nabokov seems to agree that Esther should've never narrated parts of this novel. Woo hoo!

What's brilliant about Bleak House is that it shows how different people react whilst waiting for closure – in their case: a final verdict in a court case that never seems to come.

Some people seethe continually with anger, like Mr. Gridley, the man from Shropshire. His case began 20 years ago as a simple dispute over a few hundred English pounds, with costs now mounted to many times the amount of the original suit. He just stays angry all the time, jumping up every day to petition the court and haunting lawyers' offices.

Some people go mad, like poor little Miss Flite, a woman from a working family who can no longer even remember the cause of her legal dispute. She lives in a garret and attends the court every day with a bag full of worthless documents, always expecting a judgment "very soon."

Many more people put their lives on hold, thinking life will be great and all problems solved when the lawsuit is finally won, like Richard Carstone, John Jarndyce’s ward. A likable young man, Richard was born into the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. He thinks he will inherit a lot of money when the case is settled, and therefore has trouble concentrating on taking up any pursuit that will prepare him to look after himself.  A likable young man, Richard was born into the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. He thinks he will inherit a lot of money when the case is settled, and therefore has trouble concentrating on taking up any pursuit that will prepare him to look after himself. He tries being a physician, a lawyer, and finally, a soldier, but none will do. He throws his ambitions to the wind, so he can spend more time and borrowed money trying to forward his suit.

But we also meet characters who refuse to be the victims of the justice system. John Jarndyce, the owner of the literal Bleak House, is the loving "fairy godfather" of the book, who refuses to become embroiled in the lawsuit. He draws on his other, independent means in every way he can to aid the people who have been hurt by it. He adopts three young people who were wards of the court because they were orphans of Jarndyce families involved in the suit. He offers affection and kindness to everyone within his circle and refuses to define the world based on the terms of the nightmare lawsuit.

The young physician Alan Woodcourt, whom Esther loves and admires, also does his part to offer succor to the suffering wherever he may. Other strong characters, like Mrs. Bagnet, the ex-soldier’s wife, and Mr. George, the shooting gallery owner, try to help the downtrodden.

As Bleak House poignantly shows, the damage wrought by bad systems is inhumane and far-reaching. But as much as possible, this novel suggests, life and love should not be put on hold until that day when reform is accomplished and justice is finally served. And so Dickens shows his readers: Illuminated by love, John Jarndyce's Bleak House is not bleak at all.
130 likes · flag

Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Bleak House.
Sign In »

Reading Progress

January 1, 2022 – Started Reading
January 1, 2022 – Shelved
January 3, 2022 –
page 156
15.04% "I am actually so shocked by the fact that I am NOT liking this books so far ... I need my man Dickens to come through in the next 150 pages or ELSEEEE"
January 7, 2022 –
page 366
35.29% "listen besh I am INVESTED but hella CONFUSED ... what is happening? who are all these PEOPLE???????"
January 10, 2022 –
page 520
50.14% "Listen ... Charley is literally MY FAVE and Mr Skimpole can choke (he is soooo fucking annoying)!!!!!"
January 12, 2022 –
page 620
59.79% "Mr Guppy can SUCK MY DICK ... what a sorry excuse of a man, I CANNOT! Esther never wanted to marry you anyways, you stupid fool!!!!"
January 15, 2022 –
page 816
78.69% "Lady Dedlock could kill me and I'd thank her for it. [Also, the female characters in this are far superior to the male ones, I am shocked ... Dickens, is that really you???]"
January 18, 2022 –
page 941
90.74% "I need my man Woodcourt to come through because I WILL NOT accept any other endgame ... also Lady D. BETTER RISES FROM THE ASHES or else Dickens will catch those hands"
January 18, 2022 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Cedricsmom (new)

Cedricsmom Definitely a chunker.


Sharonb Glad u enjoyed this. My favourite Dickens so far


leynes Sharonb wrote: "Glad u enjoyed this. My favourite Dickens so far"

My favorite Dickens will probably forever be Great Expectations (I have such a soft spot for that book) but this one comes in second place for me! :)

Cedricsmom wrote: "Definitely a chunker."

Yup. Over a thousand pages! :O


message 4: by KatForsyth (new)

KatForsyth I saw a guy reading this on the underground last night, and I thought of you!


leynes KatForsyth wrote: "I saw a guy reading this on the underground last night, and I thought of you!"

Oh my, how cool! That makes me smile! :)


message 6: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Wooo! I am reading this as well at the moment but only about 150 pages in. Enjoying it so far 😊


leynes Sarah wrote: "Wooo! I am reading this as well at the moment but only about 150 pages in. Enjoying it so far 😊"

It gets wild af, so brace yourself! :D Worth the read though!


message 8: by KatForsyth (new)

KatForsyth It was much chunkier than the two Dickens' I've read! (Tale of 2 Cities and Great Expectations)


leynes KatForsyth wrote: "It was much chunkier than the two Dickens' I've read! (Tale of 2 Cities and Great Expectations)"

For me, Bleak House falls right between the two. Expectations was better, Cities was worse. :D


message 10: by [deleted user] (new)

I didn't even finished one yet... wow, just wow! :D


leynes bookishbluets wrote: "I didn't even finished one yet... wow, just wow! :D"

no pressure, it'll all come at the right time :) happy reading!


message 12: by LoneStar1836 (new)

LoneStar1836 I hope what I saw was a typo.


leynes LoneStar1836 wrote: "I hope what I saw was a typo."

typos galore 'round here


message 14: by Laura (new)

Laura The BBC adaptation of this is better than the book imo. And it has Gillian Anderson in.


Graham “Smell the Ink” Great review.


leynes Graham “Smell the Ink” wrote: "Great review."

Thank you. :)


back to top