Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Chapters 1-7
Sending a suit to Chancery is on par with sending it into limbo–it will stay there for an age and a half, it will be talked of, looked over, but left unresolved until the Judgment Day.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce is a Chancery suit, long discussed and ever unresolved. It has become a blight to those connected with the original parties involved in the suit, long dead but still present in the lives of those who cannot rid themselves of the suit’s infernal legacy. A trio of young adults, Miss Ada, Richard, and Esther are involved in the suit, though the how of it remains a mystery.
Esther, an orphan raised by her godmother (whose true relation she only learns after that lady’s death), is taken in by Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House to serve as companion to his young cousin Ada, another orphan and a ward in the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Richard, also cousin to Ada, is also taken into the care of Mr. Jarndyce, whose goodness and affability must never be mentioned for fear of stirring up an ill wind.
Several parties, both high and low, follow the progress (or lack thereof) of the Jarndyce case. Among these is a slightly batty, lady whose interest remains unclear, but who will attend upon the case until the Great Seal should be opened. Her landlord, Mr. Krook, an illiterate, rag and bone shop-keeper, also maintains a keen interest in the affairs of Jarndyce. Sir Leicester Dedlock of Chesney Wold is unwittingly connected to the suit through marriage to his Lady Dedlock. Then there are all of Mr. Jarndyce’s dear friends, who are interested in the suit for the sake of their friend.
While Ada, Richard, and Esther remain mostly ignorant of the case, they are deeply involved in the suit…
I did vow to give Dickens another try one day, though I never imagined it would be so soon after my aborted attempt to read A Tale of Two Cities… Bleak House is proving much more captivating than my previous Dickensian run-ins, so I am very pleased to be part of Amanda’s Read-along 
.
Dickens has this way of making even the smallest, most inconsequential teacup appear vividly in the reader’s mind. His are some of the longest descriptive passages I have read (with the exception of Hawthorne and possibly Anne Rice), which could be a bit off-putting if I weren’t so interested in knowing what the description is leading up to–a kooky character, generally.
The novel opens with a lengthy description of fog, a mighty, dense pea-souper, so I could very well have tossed it at the wall in frustration and given the whole effort up then, but I read on and was intrigued by the difficulties of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the endless suit that lies at the heart of the story and connects the lives of several unwitting players.
In these first chapters, the reader is introduced to several characters, each more curious than the last. Dickens certainly plays with grotesques in his characterization, strange appearances and personality quirks playing a significant role. The virtuous, young orphans stand out all the more for their youth and innocence. The relationship between Ada, Esther, and Richard almost reminds me of that between Marian, Laura, and Hartright in The Woman in White… Esther and Ada serving as doubles, Richard as their Hartwright, and Esther’s narrative giving voice to past events in much the same way that Marian does in TWinW… plus, there are several characters that can serve as the “madwoman” in the case.
So why (and WHEN) is Esther relating these events? And how are they connected to the dealings in Chancery? More to come…
The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.
This is a sort of retro-post, as I’ve been reading ahead of schedule to avoid class/work/blogging timing catastrophes… but I am really enjoying the experience of a group read
Tags: bleak house, charles dickens, classics, readalong, victorian literature
I have to admit, the pages and pages of description are completely doing me in! I’ve always been one for setting a scene with a few brief strokes on the canvas, not filling in every little part. I can’t see any of these scenes or people at all. The only reason I know what’s going on so far is due to Sparks Notes (oh the shame…).
It gets better… I’m not much for overly descriptive passages either, but eventually the narrator gets into the real action. That said, the minute details do creep back in during the transition chapters :\
I remember my first experience with Dickens, when I read Great Expectations in high school; it didn’t pick up until around Chapter 38… I wanted to hurl the book across the room, but I was sucked in when Pip and Estella grew up.
I too had a failed attempt at A Tale of Two Cities. Haven’t read any Dickens since! But so far so good. Once I made it past the fog I’m quite enjoying it…
The fog nearly had me, I kept wondering thinking ‘surely, there must be some action soon’ as I was reading through the introduction.
I definitely agree about the characters–they have such personality and I love their names. I may hate Dickens’ endless descriptions but he comes up with such amazing names! You also left a great summary of what happened in the first part, which I find helpful even though I just read it myself. Hopefully I’ll like it more as I go deeper.
I have a habit of summarizing long novels as I go along just to keep the plot straight in my mind… glad it helped
That is a really interesting thought about the resemblance to Woman in White. I wonder if it was a conscious decision by Collins?
Dickens is such a visual writer! I loved the descriptions of the fog, Bleak House, and of the characters appearance. Can’t wait to learn more about them, Jarndyce & Jarndyce, and how they all fit together. After struggling with A Tale of Two Cities, I have high hopes for Bleak HOuse.
He is! The descriptions are so evocative, almost like a director setting the stage.