Friday, March 23, 2012

Bleak House Read-a-Long Week 4

Once again, this week I found myself begin grateful that I'm working on this one as part of a group, with a sense of obligation to keep reading so that I can join the discussion. During the same period I was trying to wade through this week's chapters, I was also
reading The Sun Also Rises. Boy, did Dickens give me an appreciation for Hemingway's succinct style!

What I Liked This Week: 
Some of the characters are starting to overlap stories. The household Jarndyce chanced to meet up with Lady Dedlock, a new character brings up a tie to Esther that Guppy learns about, and a mysterious "servant," who is clearly a lady (methinks Lady Dedlock) asks Jo to show her the haunts of Nemo, a character we have only met in death.

What I Didn't Like This Week:
Really, Dickens? More new characters?  At least this time there appears to be a reason for introducing them but did we really need so much buildup of them? My husband read this book as part of a college English literature course. I can't imagine trying to keep track of all of these characters and be able to ascribe a purpose for their inclusion even as you are trying to race through the book to get it read in the short period of time you have to read a book in school.

4 comments:

  1. Dickens always does have a lot of characters, doesn't he? It sounds like there is a lot to keep track of in this story!

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  2. I almost spit out my lunch at your statement about characters. Ha! Have you counted just how many there are?

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  3. I haven't read this one, but Dickens is generally not my favorite. The only longer book of his that I've enjoyed was Great Expectations.

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  4. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of the characters but I'm hanging in there!

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