Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bleak House Readalong - Weeks Five and Six

I fell behind last week and had to read two weeks' worth of Bleak House this week. Seriously, the reading for last week tended to put me to sleep within a few pages. It was slow going this week!

What I liked this week:

True, they were new characters (and you know how tired I'm getting of all of these new characters - see below) but I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction of the Smallweed family. What a strange group they are!

BBC Bleak House's Grandfather Smallweed

The best thing this week? Wallace left us this week just as a major bombshell was dropped. Okay, it wasn't a total surprise. I'm willing to bet that most of those joining in the readalong had more than an inkling about who Esther's mother was. But it all came out so marvelously!

What I didn't like this week:
Really Charles, do we really need to learn so much about EVERY new character you're introducing? I've lost my ability to care about any of the background story for a lot of these people  - Phil, I'm sorry, but I'm looking at you.

It's getting hard to say anything about the book without giving things away, on the chance that you'll someday choose to pick this one up. I'm looking forward to the reading for the coming week, thanks largely to the last chapter this week. I think that maybe, just maybe Dickens is starting to bring all of these loose ends together.

4 comments:

  1. Gotta agree with you about old Chuck. He worries every word to death!

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  2. I find your reactions to this one so interesting because Dickens just never stops with the new characters and their weird proclivities. I hope that you are enjoying it, despite the wordiness!

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  3. I love the new updates. It's actually getting me possibly thinking about maybe reading a Dickens novel :)

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  4. I'm behind myself but I guessed very early on who Esther's mom was...must get back to reading this one!

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