Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Said to be one of Dickens' finest novels, Bleak House is different from most of his others partly because it spans a fairly brief window of time, and its protagonist is a woman. In addition, its main character is not a person at all, but a court battle over a will that has lasted for so many decades that no one is quite sure who is on what side anymore, and its primary setting is the famous Chancery Street of London, where civil litigation is played out in notoriously long, tortuous (or 'tortious' - lol; little play on words there) ordeals that leave only the lawyers alive. Much as our court system today!
There is a huge cast of characters - almost too many, really, because I had trouble keeping them straight and remembering their roles. Esther Summerson is the female protagonist who tells the story in the first person, although other perspectives are shown in between her narratives. Esther is a ward long denied knowledge of who her birth parents were, and is fortunate to find herself with a guardian, John Jarndyce, who cares for her like a daughter. Esther is a companion to John's young cousin Ada, who falls in love with another cousin, Richard, and it's Richard who falls prey to the Chancery Court drama over the complex Jarndyce fortunes. Then there's Mr. Smallwood, Tulkinghorn, Jo, the Snagsbys, Mr. Vholes, Dr. Woodcourt, Mr. Guppy, Charley, Caddy and the other Jellybys (these names!), Mr. Bucket, the Rouncewells, and Lord and Lady Dedlock, to name just a few.
I can't say much without giving the whole plot away, but suffice it to say that the long-overdue conclusion to the Jarndyce court battle finally comes, although not before taking a few more down with it, Esther learns the mysteries of her birth, and most things turn out fairly well in the end. I enjoyed it because Dickens really shows his dry sense of humor here, and because he so ably manages to make an epic out of a brief period in all these people's lives.
There is a huge cast of characters - almost too many, really, because I had trouble keeping them straight and remembering their roles. Esther Summerson is the female protagonist who tells the story in the first person, although other perspectives are shown in between her narratives. Esther is a ward long denied knowledge of who her birth parents were, and is fortunate to find herself with a guardian, John Jarndyce, who cares for her like a daughter. Esther is a companion to John's young cousin Ada, who falls in love with another cousin, Richard, and it's Richard who falls prey to the Chancery Court drama over the complex Jarndyce fortunes. Then there's Mr. Smallwood, Tulkinghorn, Jo, the Snagsbys, Mr. Vholes, Dr. Woodcourt, Mr. Guppy, Charley, Caddy and the other Jellybys (these names!), Mr. Bucket, the Rouncewells, and Lord and Lady Dedlock, to name just a few.
I can't say much without giving the whole plot away, but suffice it to say that the long-overdue conclusion to the Jarndyce court battle finally comes, although not before taking a few more down with it, Esther learns the mysteries of her birth, and most things turn out fairly well in the end. I enjoyed it because Dickens really shows his dry sense of humor here, and because he so ably manages to make an epic out of a brief period in all these people's lives.