Bleak House

4.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has carried on in England's courts, essentially unchanged, for generations. One party, though, a Jarndyce himself, tries to mend fences by taking on two others as wards. But the personal relationships turn out to be just as complicated as the case itself.

Review
It's been a long time since I read much Dickens, and even though he was one of my favorite authors growing up, there are plenty of his books I haven't read. Bleak House was one of those, and when I happened to pick up a free paperback copy a while back, I added it to my pile. When I started to read, though, I almost immediately shifted to an e-book version that I already had; this is a heavy book!

It took a little while to settle into the book; Dickens starts with some very dry, abstract, philosophical musings about Chancery, equity, and the law in general. It's only a few chapters in that we get down to to the personal story at the heart of it all.

Bleak House is famous for its critique of English law, in the form of a case that has carried on for generations, sapping the strength of one person after another. There's plenty of societal and governance critique here as well, and weighty in import, though generally not too heavy-handed. And there are plenty of the odd, colorful characters Dickens does so well.

With all that, I did feel that the book was longer than it needed to be. Granting that Dickens was writing serials for money, it's not surprising, but I felt the core story would have been better served with a little less atmosphere and a little more attention to plot. For one thing, there are so many of those colorful characters, and they express themselves so obliquely, that it was hard, at times, to keep track of what was happening and to whom. And, to my taste, the protagonists were just a little too black and white to be appealing.

Unlike some, I don't find this Dickens' best book, but it is both fun and interesting, and a quick read despite its heft.