Bleak House

Well, hello, and welcome to Bleak House 2012-13! I'm your host for this long ride. Now, right up front, I must apologize, for I am nowhere near as erudite and insightful as could be wished for a host, and as, I'm sure, many of you really are. And if you should tell me I am erudite and insightful, I think we both know that really, you are talking about yourself. But not in a conceited way, but in an erudition-ful and insightful way that doesn't even recognize your own brilliance, and your kindness in overlooking my simpleton ways while pretending that they are so much more fulfilling than they are--

Whoops, sorry, just channeling a little Esther Summerson there.

So. Here's the thing. I acquired the pretty Penguin copy shown above because it's, well, pretty. And then I acquired the Edward Gorey-illustrated version because, c'mon, it's Edward Gorey!! Then I worried that I needed some kind of critical edition--in order to perhaps have a whiff of a prayer of being erudite and insightful--and so acquired the Oxford University Press edition.

This weekend I gathered up all these Bleak treasures, settled into a cozy chair in my family room, sighed with contentment, looked up at the bookshelf by the TV, and lo and behold, what did I spy but the Norton critical edition?

It seems I am rather too well set for this read-along.

The bonus of finding the Norton critical edition that I apparently acquired and then promptly forgot about is that it has a very nice introduction with no spoilers, unlike the OUP, which warns you right up front that you shouldn't read the intro until you've read the book.

I want to quote something from the intro that helps set some context for this book, which Dickens thought to be his second-best book (David Copperfield was his first choice). In fact, Copperfield is the book he wrote before this one, and there was over a year between the completion of Copperfield and the starting of Bleak House. During that time,

"[M]ost of his energies during this interval were expended in areas other than literary. In particular he was keenly involved in directing a touring troup of amateur actors in a play by his friend, Bulwer-Lytton [yes, that Bulwer-Lytton, who, by the way, had some influence on the published ending of Great Expectations]...of greater significance in the shaping of Bleak House, was the assistance he provided for...slum clearance and the building of model housing. This activity...reinforced his awareness that behind the impressively solid front of mid-Victorian prosperity, the urban poor were living in a deplorable state of wretchedness and ignorance.

"Pollution was another related problem that engaged Dickens' energies at this time, an issue which since the ravages of cholera in 1848-49 [the book was begun in 1851] had become of pressing importance."

His concern is evident right in the very first paragraph of the book:

"Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snow-flakes--gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun."

Wow. Dickens just pulled me back 170 years and plopped me into a very vivid and very miserable scene. it made my mostly dormant asthma start to creak, just reading it.

Then that second paragraph about fog, which we also know is pollution, but it really sets a tone for this book--of pollution, of lack of clarity, and utterly sinister in tone.

In other words, I don't know about you guys, but I was sucked in hard by this opening.

The discussion of Lady Dedlock--oh, how I love Dickensian names--and fashion is reminiscent of similar discussions in Our Mutual Friend. And her ever-so-upstanding husband, Sir Leicester.

But how quickly we are able to forget about them when we arrive at chapter 3 and the introduction--in first person, no less--of the aforementioned Esther Summerson. Good lord, Dickens has really outdone himself with the pathetic orphan here. What a ghastly godmother! "It would have been far better, little Esther, that you had had no birthday; that you had never been born!"

No wonder her eventual arrival at the Jellyby home doesn't seem quite so bad, in spite of the chaos and lack of any kind of cleanliness or order and the obsession with Africa and coffee cultivation. At least Esther seems welcome and wanted there.

What did you guys think? Favorite quotes? Here's my favorite Gorey illustration from this section, with Mrs. Jellyby educating her new lodgers with tales of her work for Africa while her humiliated, ink-stained daughter looks on:

Next week, chapters 5-7. Enjoy!

 

Comments

[Heideland]

Knew I'd be charmed by Dickens' characters, but forgot how masterful he is w/ descriptive narrative! The aforementioned snowflakes in mourning as well as p. 51 (penguin ed) "...a narrow street of high houses, like an oblong cistern to hold the fog."

Great stuff! Very much enjoying.

[Miss T]

I'm *already* behind. Someone's got to bring up the rear, yes?

Although I loved the depiction of the polluted London atmosphere, what really got to me was his imaginings of a Megalosaurus stomping about. That was a vivid reminder that this was the time period when the great dinosaur bone hunts were going on, and countless specimens were acquired by museums, and curiosity cabinets were all the rage in Victorian homes. I almost couldn't concentrate on the rest of the chapter after that sentence, because it sent my mind off in so many directions.

[Patricia]

AACK. I completely forgot. Good thing I will have lots on time on planes and in the Chicago airport this weekend so I can get caught up. I won't be lugging my Penguin however, it will be the trusty ole Kindle for this trip.

[V]

So many characters. So many narrators. So many storylines. So much foreshadowing. So much to look forward too.

I have to admit: The book has been sitting on my shelf for years since I bought a cheapie paperback version at a discount sale. So I am glad to have reason to pick it up.

I'm really intrigued by the dual narration. From the reading I've done about the reading, that's supposed to be significant. But the last two chapters seen through Esther's eyes seem so much more memorable. Maybe it's all there is to digest at the start. But as I said, there is so much more to come.

[V]

In reaction to what's been posted so far:

Chapter 1 is the ultimate scene setter. In the end, it might be ultimate forgettable, especially with so much to digest in the first four chapters. But it also has some of my favorite graphs: the set-up of the fog, the cause (not case) that is a joke, the 18 men bouncing up and down.

But Chapter 4 is entirely too memorable: The kids with the head stuck, the sullen teen daughter who could be straight from the 20th century, the poor state of household affairs (which made me feel better about reading rather than doing chores).

I had to re-read parts of both, namely to go back at Chapter 1 one after digesting the first four or five. Also parts of Chapter 4 to make sure how I missed out on the drunk cook. It seems to me that was more remarked upon than laid out in actual evidence for the reader to observe.

[Girl Detective]

I find Esther ridiculous, so am deciding to behold her in this manner. She's so painfully good that she's either a character in a book, or she's deceiving us all. I like to imagine the latter, but know it's the former.

I think my favorite things are the names. I wish I had a small child I could nickname Peepy. I am gratified that I have already nicknamed my younger Guppy, as Mr. Guppy is my other favorite name.

That old woman is totally waiting for the decision in J & J and will eventually get rich by it, I bet. And Esther is the "natural" daughter of someone. Lord or Lady Leicester? Only speculation, here, but oh, it's fun to do so.

[Amy Rea]

Heidi, that opening was just amazing, IMO.

Miss T., I forgot all about the megalosaurus reference until you mentioned it, and I didn't realize that about the dinosaur bone hunts. Of course Dickens would be all over that.

Patricia, you have plenty of time to catch up!

V, I'm intrigued with the dual narration too. I don't remember ever seeing that in a Dickens book before. Not that I've read all his books, but enough to make assumptions. (Yes, I know what happens when you assume something.)

GD, my opinion on Esther is still out. She seems almost a parody of goodness, but that scene with her godmother and that totally awful upbringing has some sway with me. So, we shall see. I think we can all agree to be happy she made it to the Jellybys.

[Miss T]

Interesting story about Victorian dinosaur bone hunting here: http://www.unmuseum.org/vdinos.htm