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Blathering on about Bleak House, Part 5.

22 Sep

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 26-32

Mr. Guppy is up to no good once again. Grandfather Smallweed continues to be as nasty as can be, and Mr. Tulkinghorn tries to coerce the good-natured Mr. George into surrendering some writings that may or may not be in his possession, that may or may not have belonged to a Captain Hawdone, who may or may not have been the unknown Nimrod/Nemo who died in Mr. Krook’s dreary upstairs room.

The Dedlock plot starts to unravel as Lady Dedlock makes a crucial discovery. Caddy Jellyby makes her match and finally escapes the thrall of her mother’s passion for the African cause. And most curious of all, Mr. Krook becomes the victim of spontaneous combustion.

Though Lady Dedlock’s discovery was a bit predictable given the clues provided by Esther’s reaction to the similarity between herself and that Lady, it was still exciting to have my suspicions confirmed. Though not the usual sort of detective novel, there are plenty of mystery elements in Bleak House to keep the reader engaged… I think this may be one of the reasons that I am finally enjoying Dickens–it almost reminds me of a Sensation novel.

This is the second novel I’ve encountered that makes a point of defending the possibility of Spontaneous Combustion striking a person–the other novel being Brockden Brown’s Wieland. It makes me want to look further into the “evidence” that Dickens cites to support his claims (and argue against Mr. Lewes’s skepticism… George Henry Lewes, partner to George Eliot). Combustion seems to be used in both cases to indicate some sort of inner wrongness in the victims, though Dickens’s description of the aftermath of Mr. Krook’s death is much more disturbing than Brockden Brown’s. It’s been a while since I last read Wieland, but I recall that Wieland just sort of goes out like a light… a burst and poof. Krook sort of smolders and releases a dirty, greasy ash and smell, like something rotten. The thing is, I never read Mr. Krook as a particularly malevolent person. It seems to me there are plenty of other characters who warrant death by Spontaneous Combustion as a means of revealing their moral decay… Krook seemed like a harmless old drunk to me. Unless there is more that Dickens has yet to reveal regarding Krook’s involvement in Chancery?

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Blathering on about Bleak House, Part 4.

15 Sep

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 20-25

Oh, the Smallweeds, what an impossibly sycophantic lot. Mr. Smallweed’s oaths when tossing cushions at Mrs. Smallweed are some of the funniest lines I have read. I can just imagine this old pair–one blissfully unaware in her dementia, the other bitter to the end and unwilling to let anyone be more pleased than he. What a pair. Miss Smallweed, old before her time and the perfect match for her grandfather, and young Mr. Smallweed, just as described–a small weed leaching off of Mr. Guppy. The Jellybys and Turveydrops almost seem models of familial bliss compared to this lot. My copy of the text contains the illustrations from the first edition by ‘Phiz’ (Hablot Knight Browne) and the illustration of The Smallweed Family (p 340), with Miss Smallweed looking down on their poor, overworked and underfed maid, Charley, reveals such a miserable, shriveled up bunch that you cannot imagine any good cheer or fellow-feeling among that group.

But good things can happen, even in dreary, foggy London, despite people like the Smallweeds. Mr. Jarndyce saves a few more lost souls and brings the deserving Charley into his home as Esther’s maid. Caddy and Prince manage to overcome their parents’ obvious lack of enthusiasm and manage to piece together a wedding service, and establish a living space where they will be well out of the way, allowing Mr. Turveydrop to continue displaying his fine Deportment in the best light (and in the best rooms). Richard makes a go at a military profession after falling into debt, though he must put his engagement to Ada on hold. And Jo receives a few scraps of kindness.

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Blathering on about Bleak House, Part 3.

8 Sep

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 14-19

The plot thickens like a fine pudding! When Esther joins Mr. Jarndyce and Ada on a friendly visit to Mr. Boythorn’s home, even more questions are raised into the matter of her unknown origins.

Attending the Sunday service, Esther’s first glimpse of Lady Dedlock strikes a chord. While Esther knows she has never seen Lady Dedlock before, she finds that there is something strangely familiar between her and that lady. The hint of a previous association between Mr. Jarndyce, Lady Dedlock, and her sister stirs things further, while Lady Dedlock’s apathetic manner when she encounters Ada and Esther acts as a counterpoint to Esther’s increasing awareness of Lady Dedlock.

One of my favorites moments in this section is the introduction of Mr. Turveydrop and his Deportment (almost a character in itself). Sweet, neglected Caddy Jellyby has fallen in love with the estimable, young Prince Turveydrop, but it is his father who steals the scene. Between Mrs. Jellyby and Mr, Turveydrop, it is a wonder that Caddy or Prince have any idea what it means to make a match and maintain a household. But Caddy’s predicament does not begin to compare to poor Jo’s miserable existence. Every social ill comes to be embodied in Jo–illiterate, starving, orphaned, at the mercy of people both high and low. Of all the wretched, neglected youths in Bleak House, Jo is the most wretched of all.

Sooo much happened in these chapters, it’s difficult to summarize. Even the most repulsive, opportunistic characters–the Chadbands, Mr. Guppy, Mr. Turveydrop–are absurd enough to redeem themselves as comic fools, though only just.

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Blathering on about Bleak House, Part 2.

1 Sep

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 8-13

I think what I am most enjoying about this novel is the variety of characters. There are so many of them that it reads like a complex web of interconnected lives and situations. Esther remains one of my favorites, though Mr. Jarndyce and the oddball Jellybys (as a set) with their mad house and philanthropic matron are a close second.

Several seemingly unrelated events have taken place in this section, but I know better than to truly believe that they are unrelated. Lady Dedlock’s eternal boredom must surely signify something and her sudden interest in an unknown copy writer’s hand can only lead one to question why this one detail was capable of drawing her out of her general ennui. That the copy writer is eventually found by Mr. Tulkinghorn in a rather unfortunate state only adds to the mystery of the case and that Lady’s interest.

Esther continues to remind me of Marian from The Woman in White, particularly her noble-hearted feelings for Mr. Jarndyce, Ada, and Richard. Ada and Richard remain… well… rather useless if optimistic about their state. Though these two are the wards in Jarndyce, I find that I have little interest in their relationship. Ada seems the perfect, prim young miss, and Richard a decent, mediocre sort of fellow without ambition. They almost blend into the background amid the demanding presence of the other characters. Esther is the sort of self-deprecating, plain Jane that deserves more credit than she is willing to admit, but her voice is one of the liveliest ones and her accounts the most enjoyable (or so I find).

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Blathering on about Bleak House, Part 1.

24 Aug

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 :)

Mistress Pat

16 Jul

Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery

Mistress Pat picks up a shortly after the end of Pat of Silver Bush. At ease in her role as mistress of Silver Bush while her mother recovers from the surgery that left her terribly weakened, Pat spends her days in the company of her younger sister Rae, who refuses to go by the old nickname “Cuddles” now that she’s all grown up, and the ever indomitable Judy Plum, whose stories continue to retain their fantastical charm for all Pat has grown too old to continue to believe in witches and fairies. Now 20, Pat has learned to accept the inevitability of change, though she still dreads its arrival. For Pat, there is still no better place than Silver Bush and no beau whose charms can compare with the charms of her beloved home. Beaus may come and go, their company making for a nice time, but Pat knows that it will take more than a good time with a cordial companion to make her want to get married and leave the familiarity of SIlver Bush.

Like the Green Gables series, the two Silver Bush novels cover a lengthy span of time. Mistress Pat alone spans an 11 year time period, and Pat is only around 7 when she is first introduced in Pat of Silver Bush. My calculations are terrible, but I believe Pat is 27 or 28 when the novel ends…perhaps even 30, there is much speculation on the great-aunts’ part that Pat is permanently “on the shelf”. However, I never felt like the story dragged; Pat is such a lively, spirited character with incredibly modern (dare I say feminist?) sensibilities that I felt like I was getting to know a dear friend’s life story. Pat and Judy’s friendship is as lovely as ever, and her relationship with the grown up Rae adds a new dimension to Pat’s character as we get to see her interacting with an equally independent and modern sister. The Gardiners continue to be a funny and fussy bunch, but Pat can now manage her relatives without feeling the least bit downtrodden. There is a good dose of melodrama in the story, but it wouldn’t be an LMM novel without it. Thwarted loves and misalliances abound, but they are in the background and serve to counter Pat’s own level-headed attitude towards marriage. A few scenes are also quite saddening, particularly in the final chapters when Pat must face the inevitable loss of several dear friends. Nevertheless, Pat’s is a hopeful and optimistic story, though bittersweet at times, and I feel very glad to have found copies of these two wonderful books.

Pat of Silver Bush

13 Jun

I’m almost done with my class reading project, so I managed to sneak in the final chapters of Pat of Silver Bush before starting the next book for class.

Pat of Silver Bush is another one of L.M. Montgomery’s books about girls growing up on Prince Edward Island. Like many of Montgomery’s  heroines, Pat is a self-assured girl who takes no-nonsense from boys or hoity-toity misses. Pat is just as poetical and dreamy as LMM’s other girls, but she is also very practical. A bit of an odd duck, Pat hates change and wants to keep Silver Bush just as it is. Of course, everything changes with time and Silver Bush is no exception. Idealistic though she may be, Pat learns to adapt to change, though she regrets it at times.

What makes Pat different from Anne is that while Anne loves Green Gables, she is willing to move on and strike out on her own as a teacher; Pat earns her teaching license but has no wish to teach. For Pat, there is no place better than Silver Bush and she is always finding ways to remain there. While she experiences love, she is very much aware that she has no desire to get married to the boys who want to marry her. There is a frankness in Pat’s awareness of herself as a woman. She’s not the prettiest or the smartest, but there is something about her open sensuality that makes her attractive. One of the funniest parts of the story is Pat’s experiment with nude moon-bathing, a dreamy scene that is broken by a nosy aunt who tries to shame her into acknowledging her naughtiness, but Pat refuses to believe she did anything wrong and only regrets that she was found out.

—

I received my copy of Pat by mistake when I ordered a copy of Emily’s Quest, but this was a nice case of bookish happenstance and I am glad that I got a chance to read this story. For me, reading L.M. Montgomery’s novels is like slipping into an idyllic land filled with charming scenes and friendly faces. Though life is not always pleasant for LMM’s characters, they always persevere and find joy in the small things. Of course, I’ll be reading Mistress Pat as soon as I finish my project… looks like my self-assigned reading list is going out the window.

The Count of Monte Cristo

17 May

After years spent on my to read shelf, The Count of Monte Cristo has finally been read! I was 16 when someone recommended that I read it, but though I soon bought a copy, I put it off until now. Maybe it was because I’m not the biggest fan of adventure/revenge tales, at least not when it comes to reading material. I’m still not. I can’t say that I really enjoyed the novel. It wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t as intriguing as I was led to believe. This is one of those rare cases when I find myself admitting that I enjoy the film more than the book… I actually really like the 2002 version with Jim Caviezel as the Count. Now that I’ve read the source, I find that what I like about the film is that it condenses all the main plot elements, draws them together, and eliminates the subplots littered throughout the novel. And there are a lot of subplots.

To summarize…

Edmond Dantes is a humble sailor. His father loves him, and he is betrothed to the beautiful Mercedes. When the captain of his ship becomes ill and dies, Edmond is charged with securing a letter from the Isle of Elba, where the fallen Emperor resides. Edmond is a faithful servant and completes his mission, but greed and avarice dog his steps and he becomes the victim of a cruel plot to separate him from all he cherishes. Edmond is sent to perish in the dungeon of the Chateau D’If, where he begins to lose hope until he meets a cunning Abbe who becomes his unlikely benefactor.

Reborn as the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond lays a plot to destroy those who would destroy him…

Monte Cristo is brimful of Hidden Treasure! Poison! Cunning Plans! More Poison! And Foiled Plots!

It is not the most carefully crafted mystery, but it is entertaining. It’s very dramatic, classic fluff. And this review is mostly fluff because I find I don’t have much to say about it, but I’m quite proud that I finally got it off the shelf. It was alright; not the most absorbing read, but I enjoyed some of the threads–Haydee’s story, for instance.

The Watsons

18 Apr

The Watsons is one of Jane Austen’s unfinished novels–the tale of Emma Watson, a young lady returning home for the first time after spending fourteen years in the care of her well-to-do aunt. Austen began the novel around 1803 but abandoned it not long after. The reason behind Austen’s choice to leave The Watsons unfinished is unknown, but it is commonly held that the death of her father may have prompted her to leave off working on the piece.

Like many of Austen’s works, the reader is introduced to most of the principal characters in the first chapters of the novel. We soon learn that Emma Watson is returning home after a fourteen year-long stay in her aunt’s home. Accustomed to the well-appointed style of living that she enjoyed in her aunt’s home, Emma is somewhat unprepared for her family’s reduced circumstances. A stranger among her brothers and sisters, Emma tries to make the most of the situation, but soon finds herself preferring the company of her infirm father to the studied civility of her siblings and their fashionable neighbors. And that is where Emma’s story abruptly ends.

My copy of the text is only 40 pages long, leaving me wanting more. While several writers have completed their vision of Austen’s Sanditon, I have only been able to find 2 continuations of The Watsons–The Watsons by Jane Austen and Another Lady (Helen Baker) and The Younger Sister by Austen’s niece, Catherine Anne Hubback (copies of both can be found on Amazon, though The Younger Sister appears as a facsimile of the original published in 1850).

While brief, the fragment does raise several issues regarding the place of unmarried daughters, especially those without fortunes to attract eligible gentlemen. Here is one of my favorite passages:

Your lordship thinks we always have our own way. That is a point on which ladies and gentlemen have long disagreed–but without pretending to decide it, I may say that there are some circumstances which even women cannot controul [sic].–Female economy will do a great deal my Lord, but it cannot turn a small income into a large one.

From the little we have to go on, it seems to me that The Watsons would have had elements similar to those explored in Sense and Sensibility with regards to poverty and womanhood (and the selfishness of brothers). We’ll never know. I will, however, look into those completions that I found.

From Trafalgar House to Knightsbridge

13 Apr

After reading Jane Austen’s unfinished last novel, Sanditon, for the Austenprose read-along, I was left with the need to know more about the characters that populated that quiet seaside resort town. I had put off reading Sanditon for that very reason–I knew that when I read it, I would be left wanting more and there would be no more to be had. Like the last bite of a wonderful desert, I would cherish the sweetness of that last bite but would be left unsatisfied. Like Austen’s other novels, Sanditon offers a look at the little dramas that mark small-town living. However, this time, Austen takes her readers away from the country to the coast when the observant Charlotte Heywood is invited to stay with the Parkers in their home in Sanditon, a budding seaside resort town that Mr. Parker hopes will become as lucrative as the more well-known bathing spots. In Sanditon, Charlotte is introduced to a fascinating cast of characters, from hypochondriacs to impoverished, but highly romantic wards. Sadly, we only get to know these characters briefly before the fragment ends.

However, in 1975, Marie Dobbs, under the pen name “Another Lady,” took up the challenge to complete Austen’s Sanditon and the result is a delightful and satisfying treat. Another Lady takes up her pen where Austen left off and continues the tale. There is no jarring shift in the narrative style, Another Lady adopts the language and style of Austen, developing the plot and characters in a careful and believable manner. Her Sanditon has all the fun and novelty of Catherine Morland’s adventures, Fanny Price’s astute observations, and the eventfulness Emma’s of close-knit town life.

—-

After finishing Sanditon, I was in the mood for another social comedy, so I took up Ada Leverson’s Love’s Shadow (received from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program). A close friend of Oscar Wilde’s, Leverson’s style and tone is similar to Wilde’s biting, quick wit. Love’s Shadow offers an engaging look at the ludicrous things we do for love. Like Wilde, Leverson offers a meddlesome cast of characters whose actions only serve to confuse one another. At the heart of the story are the Ottleys, Bruce and Edith, a very ordinary middle-class Edwardian couple wishing for a little more excitement in their very ordinary lives. Edith’s friend, Hyacinth Verney has all the excitement and independence that Edith craves, but only wants for the attention of Cecil Reeve, a young man who only has eyes for a much older woman who refuses to indulge his fancy.

Love’s Shadow is a fast-paced, amusing romp, Leverson revealing the foibles of her characters in a series of vignettes. It almost reminds me of Colette’s Claudine and Annie, particularly the dissatisfaction that seems to accompany love as experienced by Edith and Hyacinth.

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