Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Even though I love Dickens, I had never before read this one, probably because it so thick that it is intimidating and because the title sounds really depressing. It took a little while to get through, but the effort was worth it. I thought this one of the best of the Dickens novels.

As is typical, Dickens is up on his soap box about injustices in the England of his day. In this instance, he is railing against the inefficiency and corruption in the Court of Chancery, which dealt with matters pertaining to wills and estates. The novel centers around the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, a case which has been considered, and reconsidered, and considered yet again for untold years. Obsession with the case has already destroyed one of the Jarndyce family, and begins to exert its tragic toll on the mind of a younger member of the family.

Dickens also includes caustic criticisms of lawyers who are like vampires, sucking their clients dry; of do-gooders who spend time and effort in various great causes, while ignoring their families; of parents who are so self-centered that their families suffer; of a government which takes better care of its prison inmates than of the honest poor.

Of course all this social criticism is slipped into a melodramatic and touching story of a young orphan girl with a mystery-shadowed origin, who is befriended by a kind and sensible guardian. Along with her story, we get a murder mystery with a very clever detective. Naturally, coincidences abound (this is Dickens, after all), as the many threads of the plot come together.

In this jaded era, perhaps it is considered as a criticism when a book causes a reader to cry. Yes, Dickens is melodramatic, and, yes, he can make me cry time after time. I love that.

I also love the Dickens names: Mrs. Jellyby, Mr. Krook, Harold Skimpole, Allan Woodcourt, Esther Sommerson. So many times the names are clever reflections of the personalities of the characters. I also love the way Dickens can portray characters so that I can see them in my mind. They are all slightly exaggerated, but so often remind me of someone I know.

I will have to say that I find many of Dickens's female characters to be almost insufferably self-sacrificing and self-deprecating. That includes the heroine of this novel, Esther Sommerson. Perhaps Dickens considered these to be very desirable female traits. I sincerely doubt if he ever found a woman this perfect. If he did, I'll bet she was probably boring to him eventually.

If you like an old-fashioned good story, if you appreciate clever satire, if you have the time to read 800 pages, you will like this book.