Progress Book 21 of 100
A few years ago I finally sat down
to watch the most recent BBC version of Bleak House starring Gillian
Anderson. This was a title I knew
nothing about and keep passing by every time I saw it in our Netflix queue. A few hours later I realized by passing over
the movie, I was just missing out. I was
immediately drawn into the film and it quickly became one of those few that I
remember standing out above the rest. When I saw that it was on our list of 100
novels I looked forward to reading this.
The novel takes place in England, from the countryside to London and all
around. There are so many characters,
after all it is a big book, so I’ll just touch upon a few. The main central theme of the novel was to
take on the English court system. The
characters we meet along the way are all tied together by a lawsuit Jarndyce
Vs. Jarndyce. This is a lawsuit that has
lasted years. People hoping for
settlement have let it run their lives, lawyers have used it to take advantage
of those waiting for funds, and the courts seem to be find spending day after
day arguing and making new issues to keep the case going.
My favorite character is the orphan
Ester Summerhouse. With her are two
wards of the lawsuit Ada and Richard.
Taking care of all three is their appointed guardian Mr. Jarndyce. Mr. Jarndyce is a kind man who is happy to
take care of those around him, but one of his friend’s Mr. Skimpole brings a
lot of pain to their family. Mr.
Skimpole claims to be a baby with no knowledge of money or how to run a
house. He lives on other people and
places ideas into Richard’s head about riches from the lawsuit. A complaint I have of the novel is I just
don’t understand how Mr. Jarndyce can consider him a friend and invite him into
his life. The novel is broken up into
chapters and every time we got back to “Ester’s Narrative” I got really happy
to continue along with their story.
Another lesson and common theme of
Bleak House revolves around the Jellyby’s.
The matriarch of the family Mrs. Jellyby uses all of her
time and resources to earn funds for her philanthropic cause in Africa. Her daughter Miss Caddy Jellyby spends her
time dictating all of Mrs. Jellyby’s correspondence. There are piles and piles of letters
everywhere. Their house is a mess and
the rest of the younger children are not taken care of and unhappy. Mrs. Jellyby is more concerned about charity
to people in Africa she cannot see that her family needs her. Luckily Caddy befriends Esther and is able to
improve her life and finds happiness.
This novel even has a murder and an
inspector on the hunt to solve everything.
With romance, mysteries and more happiness than Wuthering Heights I’ll
give this novel an A+ 96%
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