Bleak House

The through-line of this story follows the long-standing court case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, and the family swept up in the litigation. Mr Jarndyce takes guardianship of Esther Summerson, along with Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. Esther is a typical angelic do-no-wrong character which is pretty common for Dickens. Even Esther’s most negative traits are that she criticises herself for doubting or letting people down. Ada and Richard fall in love, but Richard is consumed - as many have been - by chasing the seemingly never-ending legal action in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. His turn to the dark side as he' is consumed by selfishness is one of the best turns in the book.

There are many many sub-plots and characters scaffolding the central narrative. That of young Jo, the tragic homeless boy who’s at the centre of a murder tied to the suit, drawing Mr Bucket - a detective - in to investigate. Bucket - as I wrote about for Allan Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue - is an early fiction detective, full of confidence and quirks, there’s even something of a chase scene later in the book when he and Esther track down her hitherto-unknown birthmother, Lady Dedlock. There’s also George Rouncewell who crosses over into Jo and Esther’s stories, with a family mystery of his own. These sub-plots serve to paint a rich and varied world of interweaving characters, some you hate - the skulking Mr Vholes - and some you love - the jolly Mr Boythorn with his effervescent laugh “ha, ha, ha!”.

Bleak house is bright and warm and dark and cold. Heart-breaking and joyous. It made me laugh and cry in equal measure, this is Dicken’s greatest strength - his range. He can at once paint a desolate picture of Victorian London, full of woe and tragedy, and simultaneously write as one of the best satirists in fiction, with a perfect rhythm and ear for phrasing. In one of my favourite passages, he writes of the political situation in the country:

Lord Coodle and Sir Thomas Doodle - supposing it to be impossible for the Duke of Foodle to act with Goodle, which may be assumed to be the case in consequence of the breach arising out of that affair with Hoodle. Then, giving the Home Department and the leadership of the House of Commons to Joodle, the Exchequer to Koodle, the Colonies to Loodle, and the Foreign Office to Moodle, what are you to do with Noodle?

It’s positively Seussian! Not to mention it’s parallels to England today. It doesn’t matter here who the players are, what matters is the political system is bloated and over-complicated. A great theme of the book. This is an all-timer for me, straight into the favourites alongside The Pickwick Papers. I can’t wait to be surprised again by England’s finest author.