At the novel's core is long-running litigation in England's Court of Chancery, Jarndyce v Jarndyce, which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. The litigation, which already has taken many years and consumed between £60,000 and £70,000 in court costs, is emblematic of the failure of Chancery.
Though Chancery lawyers and judges criticised Dickens's portrait of Chancery as exaggerated and unmerited, his novel helped to spur an ongoing movement that culminated in the enactment of legal reform in the 1870s.
About this edition: This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
I have to say that Goodreads has opened me up to many books that I probably never would have read. Through groups and friends I keep finding books old and new to read and enjoy. Some more so than others.
When I started Bleak House in one of my groups reads I had a feeling that I wouldn't understand a lot of what was going on in the book. And I found out through the same group that there was a mini series about the book. I rushed right onto Amazon Prime and watched the whole thing. Let me tell you this helped me so very much in understanding some of the things in the book. I'm not that smart so certain things or way things are written go right over my head. This is a beautiful book, but I needed a little help.
Upon watching the show I could see some of the things taking shape in the book over the course of a few weeks. No, the show is not exactly the same, but it's almost damn near because hello . . . it's a tome and they made a mini series instead of one movie that cuts half the crap out of a book.
Gillian Anderson played Lady Dedlock perfectly in the show, but that is just my opinion. Lady Dedlock is married to Sir Leicester, he is many years older than her but he is very good to her. Even when he finds out some secrets he was going to stand by her side. This part of the book was very bleak and sad. But those were the days when you couldn't have what you wanted in life. You had to let things you loved go.
My favorite characters in the book are:
Esther,
Ada,
and Mr. Jarndyce.
These were three very caring people. They were fun and nice in the book and in the show. Mr. Jarndyce took in Miss Ada Clare, Richard Carstone and Esther Summerson and he was very good to them.
Richard was a little flighty to me. He couldn't settle on anything and then he got all wrapped up in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case that had been going on since the beginning of time. If the case was ever settled it could help Ada and Richard forever. Or so they thought. Ada and Richard fell in love and they were so sweet to see. But it was hard to watch Richard put himself through so much and getting sicker and sicker.
There are a lot of hard things in the book and they will make you cry. Or maybe it's just me since I cry when I read a lot of books or watch shows.
There are evil people in this book. There are killings, lies, hopelessness, disease, death, sadness - but it's not all Bleak. There are some really happy times. The ending it so very happy and it was so wonderful to see some good things happen to these people that went through so much.
There are also some funny characters and other fun times. Don't think this is just a bleak, dreadful story.
There are revelations made that were happy and sad. I can't give away the spoiler. In any case it made me cry.
But through it all Mr. Jarndyce was wonderful to the three people he took in among other things. And in the end I was so glad to see Esther happy with Mr. Woodcourt. So many things she had to go through when she was young, all of the bad things said about her and revelations she found out were just sad. But even through all of that she was a kind person. She did as many good things as she possibly could. I loved her.
If you were ever wanting to read this book I would suggest going ahead and take your time. Watch the show like I did if you need to understand what they are talking about at times. I would never have come to love the people I did in the book if I never gave it or the show a chance.
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1603186511
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Bleak-House-Charles-Dickens/dp/0143037617/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470425652&sr=1-1&keywords=0143037617
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