Whatever you are reading this summer, I suggest that you put it aside for a few weeks and read Bleak House instead. It is on my short list of Best Books In The English Language and it is sheer delight to come back to it. Or at least it is almost sheer delight. To be perfectly content I need some pals to chat with me about its delights. (And its occasional shortcomings. Slim informs me that she is only playing along if she can mock Esther. Is Esther plausible, do you think? Given her background, wouldn't you expect her to be a BIT more shriveled and bitter? You know you want to talk Dickens this summer, don't you?)
Thoughts from the first 60 pages: it's been four years since I last read a Dickens novel, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy his wordsmithing. From the first paragraph: "...with flakes of soot...as big as full-grown snowflakes -- gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun." I had forgotten, too, the intensity of his contempt for the legal system. This time through I know how it's all going to shake out, and maybe that makes it easier to hear the message -- give it up, people! Laws and lawyers will never bring you happiness. Is it true, do you think? It's hard for me to get entirely on board with his cynicism.
As I had hoped, it is delightful to meet these characters again. This time through it seems like a bold authorial decision to juxtapose Lady Dedlock in chapter 2 with Esther in chapter 3. I do love Esther, even though I can see where Slim is coming from. I think Ada is a little dippy, though I try to like her for Esther's sake. And oh, Mrs. Jellyby! And Mr. Krook! Better watch out, Mr. Krook!
The last time I read this book, I thought that Dickens was condemning Mrs. Jellyby for having interests outside her home. It annoyed me. But this time through, I don't think he's saying that she should give them up, just that she needs to re-prioritize. He's not suggesting that she should dismiss her servants and clean up her own messes, just that her servants (and her children, and her home) need some management. What say you? I'd love to hear what you think!
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