Oliver Twist, Wrap-Up

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003
Originally published 1839
466 pages
Classic; FITG
4/5 stars

Source: Own

This ends the month readalong of Oliver Twist, hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey.  All of the threads introduced by Dickens are wrapped up and a very happy ending ensues.  Oliver discovers his family, Rose and Harry can marry, friendship abounds, bad is punished.  I do wonder if Oliver will get to meet children his own age; while the adults love him, it's not the same thing. Or is that idea a contemporary conception? I expect he'll be pretty happy just to be fed and loved rather than starved and driven through a life of crime.

Fagin, Sikes, and Dodger are all punished; the first two with death and the latter with transportation.  At least I think that's Dodger's fate.  It seems like that will be his ending but I didn't see it definitively stated (Did I skip over that part?)

The part I had been anticipating for the entire story was Nancy's death, the aftermath of which is particularly well-described.  Sikes sat all night in the same room as her dead body until the sun starts pouring in and he comes to with the realization of what he's done. I found the description fantastic and this was one part where I didn't mind that Dickens was so verbose.

In conclusion, I'm very glad for this push to read this classic novel.  I think it could definitely be recommended to Dickens newbies as it's very accessible, fairly fast-moving, and not filled with zillions of coincidences.

Post 1
Post 2

Read for FITG Challenge.

Oliver Twist, Post 2

This is from the 2007 Oliver Twist mini-series (It's quite good; I have it on DVD with the 2008 Little Dorrit.)

Part 2 of Oliver Twist Readalong as hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey

This part was weird and seemed divided into roughly two sections.  The first section was boring to me as it talked about everyone but Oliver, suggesting that the boy was left dead in a ditch as Bill Sikes ran for his life. I knew of course that Oliver wasn't dead although that would have been a very interesting twist!  For me, I found these chapters to be more stereotypically Dickens with many long sentences and description.

I much preferred the second section where Oliver meets good people who love him and want to take care of him, helping to turn him into a healthy little boy.  The only problem is that there didn't seem to be much plot.  I know that Oliver has to return at least once more to Fagin and the gang before achieving a happy ending for himself but there were just chapters of Rose being ill and then recovering (how did she even get sick?) and the aftermath.  I did feel like it could have been shortened though.

I'm very excited for the last third which will a. explain who Monks is; b. give Oliver's history; c. probably make me cry, re. Nancy; and d. wrap everything up.  It's about 160 pages (including illustrations) which would be enough for most people but as Dickens is, ahem, long-winded, I hope I don't feel cheated or rushed too fast to a false-feeling conclusion.

Oliver Twist, Post 1

Oliver Twist Readalong, hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey

I'm actually quite familiar with the basics of Oliver Twist thanks to the films Oliver!, Oliver and Company, Oliver Twist, and Oliver Twist. But obviously they truncate and change parts wholesale so it's always good to return to the text itself.

However I have found those adaptations to be fairly faithful to the text so far; while there were some changes, from what I can remember most plot points and characters remain the same. I only have a couple of immediate thoughts:

• The "Please sir I want some more" scene.  This seems to translate wholesale on screen.  Of course there's the irony of the fat wealthy men and their presumed "goodness" in maintaining Oliver and the orphans in such style.  I really like the confrontation scene between the men and Oliver on screen because the visual irony is fantastic.  These plump men surrounded by mountains of food and poor Oliver who only wants a bit more gruel.  The inequities are depressing.
• I'm also struck by Oliver's innocence and basic goodness; he wants to do right and would probably be content earning a simple honest day's wage if he could only have the opportunity.  Instead he's forced in with a band of criminals and away from good people who worried about him.
• I've always heard of this book as particularly anti-Semitic and Fagin is almost constantly mentioned as "the Jew" rather than by his name. I'm not entirely sure why that decision was made; this is something I'd like to know more about and to discuss later. 

Oliver Twist Readalong

Allie at A Literary Odyssey is hosting a readalong for Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens through the month of Feburary!  This is one of the Dickens books that I own but haven't read yet so I'm very excited to sign up for this.

Because the book is divided into three sections, there will be three postings on the following dates:

Post about Book 1 on February 10th

Post about Book 2 on February 19th

Post about Book 3 on February 28th

Plus Allie has an extra copy so if you live in the US and sign up by Sunday NOON, you could win your own edition.  I already have the lovely Barnes and Noble copy pictured above but if you would like to win, go hurry on over and sign up!

A Tale of Two Cities (Film)

A Tale of Two Cities, 1935

Produced by David Selznick

Starring Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Edna May Oliver as Miss Pross, and Basil Rathbone as the Marquis de Everdeme (SP)

4/5 stars

Summary: An excellent adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic novel.

Thoughts: One problem I've had with versions of this story is the difficulty of finding Cartons and Darnays who look alike, which is an important plot point. This one did not succeed in that regard. But Ronald Colman is wonderful and was in fact my main reason for wanting to see this. Another reason was that it was produced by Selznick before he did Gone with the Wind and I wanted to see some of his other work.

Now this is one of the few Dickens novels I've read and of course a lot is cut or condensed but overall I think this is a very good production and worth seeing if you ever have the chance.

Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Barnes and Noble Classics 2005/Originally 1853
817 pages
Classic; FITG
3.5/5 stars

Source: Bought

Summary: A sprawling narrative touching on almost everything conceivable topic for 1850s London: love, death, religion, law, money, etc.  At the center is Miss Esther Summerson, a girl with mysterious origins.  Her guardian Mr Jarndyce is involved in a generations long law suit that seems like it will never be resolved.  Then there are Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, the latter with a secret she'd die to protect.  Additionally some of Dickens' famous comic characters occur here as does an instance of spontaneous combustion (seriously, I never get tired of that.)

Thoughts: I've been participating in a readalong of Bleak House where I posted more detailed thoughts but I wanted to do a proper review of the book as a whole. So if you're tired of BH, I'm sorry and feel free to skip.  I'm glad I did the readalong; with such a big (and often in the beginning boring) book, I probably would have given up.  I would love to read Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, or David Copperfield like this in the spring.  I liked reading what other people thought (generally they liked Esther more than I did) and where we agreed (mass hatred for Skimpole).

I'm really glad that I read this, both because it now means I've read three Dickens novels (along with Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities) and because it means that I can check off another book in my FITG challenge.  But I did not love this book although I wanted to.  Dickens just writes such long sentences and stuffs so much unnecessary information in there; he really wrote for his time which had a different attention span and different expectations of their authors than this time.

Overall: A big, sprawling read but I'm not sure it's a must-read for anyone.

Links: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, and Week 10.

Bleak House, Chapters 60-67

This readalong is based at The Zen Leaf. Today is the conclusion: a brisk 60 pages in my edition.

Chapter 60: Esther tries to move past her mourning and instead gets to thinking about Ada and Richard (who I had not missed in the previous chapters and had in fact nearly forgotten). Jarndyce asks her if she wants to stay in London so that they can be close. Woodcourt may be receiving a position in Yorkshire that will lead to good things, which unsettles Esther somewhat.  She visits Ada every day and sees how Mr Vholes is taking all of their money. Later Ada confides that she is pregnant but she fears that Richard will not live to see his child.

Chapter 61: Esther gets Skimpole to stay away from Ada and Richard and thereafter never sees him again.  He ends up publishing memoirs a la his inspiration Leigh Hunt.  Richard continues to get sicker and Ada more worried but Woodcourt is the bright spot there.  One night he walks Esther home and confesses his love to her.  She tells him about Jarndyce but thanks him ever so much.

Chapter 62: After seeing Woodcourt, Esther decides that she and Jarndyce should get married next month.  Then Smallweed arrives (I had hoped that we were done with him, maybe he could have died) with Bucket; they have a piece of paper (a will) with the signature of a Jarndyce.  This paper proves to be significant to the law suit currently in court.

Chapter 63: George goes to visit his brother and see how he is getting on and is surprised and gratified to be warmly received.  Although Rouncewell entreats George to join the iron business, George refuses saying it's better for him to stay with Sir Leicester.  There's a mysterious letter to Esther from George that doesn't really make sense to me but now that I think about it, is perhaps from Nemo, her father.

Chapter 64: This chapter is crazy!  First Esther is planning her wedding to Jarndyce.  Then he calls her down to look at Woodcourt's new house which is furnished just so to her tastes.  Jarndyce reveals that he now knows that Woodcourt loves her and she him so they will be married.  When they return to London, because of course Esther can never shut up about "her darling," Guppy stops by with his friend and his mother.  He proposes again to Esther only to be decidedly rejected.  The last bit is rather funny and I imagine it would be even funnier if read aloud.

Chapter 65: The court starts up again and they arrive to find that it has been dismissed.  Not though because the will is so important but because the estate has been all used up in legal costs.  Kenge and Vholes walk away leaving the people involved to pick up the broken pieces of their lives.  Richard finally dies, although not before everybody shows how much he means to them (good riddance, I say!) He and Jarndyce are reunited. Miss Flite ends the chapter, having released all of her birds.

Chapter 66: Sir Leicester now leads a very dull life and his feud with Boythorn is about the only thing that cheers him up.  George stays with him and Mr Bagnet visits but Chesney Wold is a sad place.

Chapter 67: And then the final conclusion of what everyone's doing.  Ada's baby boy Richard helps her heal.  Charley gets married; Caddy is very successful; Mrs Jellyby is now working on rights for women.  Esther and Woodcourt have two children and are very settled and respected.  It ends very abruptly in the middle of a sentence...not sure why Dickens went that way.

Check back tomorrow for my review of BH!

Bleak House, Chapters 54-59

Hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf. We're almost done so obviously there are a lot of spoilers here.

Chapter 54: Mr Bucket tells Sir Leicester that not George but a woman killed Tulkinghorn, much to Sir Leicester's distress, implying that Lady Dedlock did it. A weird group of people interrupt this meeting: Grandfather Smallweed, Mr and Mrs Chadband, and Mrs Snagsby.  They share what the know about the case and how it comes together. They are shuffled off and Hortense arrives, having been the lodger of Mr Bucket.  She is revealed to be the murderer.  Mr Bucket takes her off to jail and Sir Leicester falls to his knees with compassion for Lady Dedlock.  I'm confused if Hortense is really the murderer or if it's a scheme to protect Lady Dedlock.

Chapter 55: Now we go back in time before chapter 54 occurs.  Mrs Bagnet has found out Mr George's mother who turns out to be Mrs Rouncewell (thank you for this improbable coincidence Dickens!)  Mrs Bagnet expects the mother to encourage her son to get a lawyer and fight the false charges. Tearful and joyful reunion of mother and son.  Mrs Rouncewell returns to the Dedlock London home where she asks Lady Dedlock to intervene in her son's case and hands her a note denouncing Lady Dedlock as a murderess.  Mr Guppy then arrives and speaks in a way I can't understand but Lady Dedlock knows her secret is out and leaves a note for Sir Leicester that she did not kill Mr Tulkinghorn but that she is guilty of everything else; then she leaves.

Chapter 56: Sir Leicester has had a stroke and has been lying on the floor for hours.  He is found, put to bed, and Mrs Rouncewell and Mr Bucket help figure out what he wants.  What he wants is Lady Dedlock, with him, forgiven. So Bucket sets out to find her.  He goes to get Esther, believing that approaching the lady with Esther will enable him to get closer and not force her to try anything desperate.



Chapter 57: It picks up with Esther being awakened by Mr Jarndyce in order to accompany Bucket.  They travel through London, stopping at popular places for suicides.  They reach Bleak House.  Bucket basically calls out Skimpole's behavior although unfortunately he does not perform a smackdown on Skimpole as is deserved.  They visit the women and their husbands' house; the one woman is even more brutalized now but the other has left for London after Lady Dedlock visited them.  The snow comes down hard and causes them to lose the trail.  At the end, Bucket decides to head back to London and follow the trail of the poor woman.

Chapter 58: It is put out that Lady Dedlock is in Lincolnshire but rumors abound as Sir Leicester remains bedridden. He perks up when he hears that Mrs Rouncewell has been reunited with her son George and demands that he come see him.  He says in the hearing of his cousin Volumnia, Mrs Rouncewell, and George that Lady Dedlock has as ever his constancy and support.  The rest of the chapter covers the long night as Sir Leicester waits most anxiously for what the rest of the household fears will never come.

Chapter 59: Bucket and Esther return to London and track down the woman.  They run into Mr Woodcourt, bringing up Esther's feelings again and reach the Snagsbys.  Mrs Snagsby finds out that her husband didn't cheat on her and the group finds out where the woman went.  They reach the graveyard and see the woman lying on the steps.  The men allow Esther to go check on and her and she looks at the woman's face only to discover that it is her mother, who had changed dresses with Jenny, and who is dead without knowing about Sir Leicester's enduring love.

I did NOT like that ending; why couldn't Dickens have saved Lady Dedlock in one of his famed improbably coincidences?

Bleak House, Chapters 47-53

Readalong hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Chapter 47: Jo and Dr Woodcourt are looking for a safe place for Jo to stay in order to hide out from Mr Bucket.  They go to Miss Flite and General George for assistance. Now Miss Flite is not exactly the first person I'd turn to when I needed help but it comes out all right.  Jo will stay with George. Then Mr Snagsby is enlisted in another secret to keep from Mrs Snagsby.  When Woodcourt returns to visit Jo, he ends up dying. There are a lot of characters in this chapter!

Chapter 48: Lady Dedlock decides that Rosa needs to leave her service, preparing for the day when Mr Tulkinghorn reveals her secret and disgraces all.  He is displeased that she has violated their agreement (at least to his lawyer mind).  At some point he will tell Sir Leicester and she will receive no further notice.  The chapter ends with Tulkinghorn being shot-now that was surprising to me!

Chapter 49: Dickens even gets his own creations confused: he calls Matthew Bagnet, Joseph at the beginning of this chapter.  Anyway they are celebrating Mrs Bagnet's birthday with some good comic scenes. George stops by and then Mr Bucket joins them for a lovely evening.  As George and Bucket leave, Bucket arrests George for murdering Tulkinghorn-what a cliffhanger as this is the end of the serial!

Chapter 50: We return to Esther. Caddy is now a mother of a little girl named Esther but is faring poorly.  So Esther, Ada, and Jarndyce are going to stay in London to take care of her; they will also call in Dr Woodcourt to examine Caddy.  Ada and Esther have some distance between them now.  Esther thinks it's because she's going to marry Jarndyce; I think it's because Ada has taken up with Richard again now that she's of age.  Woodcourt seems disappointed about something-I guess he liked Esther after all.

Chapter 51: Woodcourt visits Vholes in order to obtain Richard's address that he might renew their acquaintance as requested by Esther.  Later Esther and Ada go to visit.  Richard looks in a bad way, being paler and thinner. It turns out that Ada married Richard (stupid woman as he's going to drag her down although I don't really like her anyway so I don't really care).

Chapter 52: Esther and Jarndyce learns of Tulkinghorn's murder and George's arrest from Woodcourt. I'm starting to wonder if Lady Dedlock could have killed Tulkinghorn-she had motive but did she have the chance? They all go to visit George which seems to please him.  The Bagnets also come to visit at the same time.  George will rather die innocent than be represented by a lawyer who thinks he's guilty.  Then Esther turns as she's leaving and George thinks she looks like a figure he saw the night of the murder which I think means that I am right in guessing Lady D as the murderer-go me!  Mrs Bagnet says that George has relatives despite his thinking he has none and she sets off to get his mother.

Chapter 53: It is Tulkinghorn's funeral.  Bucket has almost figured everything out; he has received letters saying only "Lady Dedlock."  He visits Sir Leicester to assure him of progress, meets Lady Dedlock and she asks how the case is coming, and then gets confirmation from their servant on her clothing the night of the murder.

Bleak House, Chapters 39-46

So I'm running a bit behind (had a crazy busy but spiritually uplifting weekend and I had a ton of schoolwork) plus this is an 8 chapter section; Finally I have finished.

Chapter 39: Mr Vholes and a disgusting office; hanging out with impatient Richard.  Weevle and Guppy watch him and discuss stuff. Much description of everything.  The Smallweeds are up to something.  Mr Guppy interacts with Mr Tulkinghorn and then asks Tony (Weevle or Smallweed?) to bury a portrait of Lady Dedlock in order to conceal the communications they've been having (?)  I'm not really sure what's going on with that.

Chapter 40: I don't get when he uses Coodle and Doodle as figures in government; maybe I just don't understand British history/British government (both real possibilities; I'm an Americanist.) So much description-get to the point Dickens!  Mr Rouncewell campaigned against Sir Leicester (outrage!)  Mr Tulkinghorn reveals what he knows about Lady Dedlock's history although without naming names.

Chapter 41: Lady Dedlock goes to Mr Tulkinghorn's room as he is staying at Chesney Wold.  They discuss what must be done: First and foremost Sir Leicester must not be ashamed so she must continue to live with her guilt knowing that Mr Tulkinghorn could reveal everything whenever he chooses.  He's quite judgmental too.

Chapter 42: Mr Snagsby is being harassed by Lady Dedlock's French former maid Hortense.  She comes to visit Mr Tulkinghorn demanding his help in finding a new place or she will continue to harass Mr Snagsby and him.  He replies that he can have her sent to prison so she should leave.  He is cold and his meanness is really being brought out by Dickens.

Chapter 43: Jarndyce defends Skimpole-I just don't understand how.  Skimpole also is married with three daughters-how in the world did that happen?  Sir Leicester comes to visit Bleak House causing great emotion in Esther.  Esther meanwhile doesn't seem to understand the concept of a secret; telling more people (ie Jarnydce) that Lady Dedlock is her mother is not keeping it secret.  We also learn a bit more about Mr Boythorn and Esther's aunt, former fiances.

Chapter 44: Esther worries that Guppy and Hortense know the secret (I'm not sure if they do...yet)  Mr Jarndyce writes Esther a letter.  Esther reflects on her life before reading it.  It turns out that he has proposed to her.  She still likes Mr Woodcourt but she accepts.

Chapter 45: Mr Vholes has come to Bleak House because Richard's finances are in a mess (stupid idiot).  Esther and Charley go to visit Richard to talk this over with him.  Richard changes mood often during that conversation and continues to be annoying.  Esther than sees Mr Woodcourt disembarking from a ship and scurries away so that he can't see her disfigurement. But then they meet and she elicits a promise from him to be friendly with Richard.

Chapter 46: Back to the narrator with his endless passages of description-sooooo boring.  Dr Woodcourt helps a poor woman.  He also sees Jo, looking very sick: thin and gaunt.  Jo tells about why he left and how a man will come after him (Mr Tulkinghorn I presume) and Woodcourt promises to help him hide.

Bleak House, Chapters 33-38

Hosted by Amanda at the Zen Leaf, who just moved to Wordpress!

Some dreary chapters this week.

Chapter 33: The aftermath of Krook's death.  It turns out that Grandmother Smallweed was his sister.  Mr Guppy visits Lady Dedlock and tells her that papers are gone; Mr Tulkinghorn is creepy.

Chapter 34: Mr George's debt is going to be called in and the nice Bagnets will be ruined.  Except that Mr George will provide the handwriting sample to Mr Tulkinghorn in order to protect the Bagnets.

Chapter 35: Sickening how Esther goes on and on about Ada.  Richard is a jerk to Mr Jarndyce.  Miss Flite comes to visit Esther.  Mr Woodcourt (a doctor) has won acclaim abroad, which causes Esther to ponder what if he had loved her as she had hoped.

Chapter 36: Esther and Charley go to stay at Boythorn's house in order to help their health.  While there Esther meets with Lady Dedlock who confesses she is her mother but begs her to say nothing in order to protect Sir Leicester.  Esther talks more about how her beauty is ruined and no man could look past it (why does she assume all men are so shallow? Just because Dickens was)

Chapter 37: Richard comes back and he now thinks Mr Skimpole is a jolly good chap which I think shows you very plainly how awful he's become.  He is pretty much obsessed with the case and has employed a Mr Vholes for assistance.

Chapter 38: Esther goes to London under the pretense of visiting Caddy, who is quite happy in her new married life.  They visit Mr Guppy in a (rather funny) scene where he wants her to promise that he is under no obligation to her due to his earlier proposals.  It seems as if he is as shallow as Esther thinks men are.

Bleak House, Chapters 26-32

This is the halfway point for our Bleak House readalong hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Overall: While there is a lot of plot, much of it confused me (mostly their motives for their actions).  I also think many bloggers will be sad because there isn't much Esther and her chapters seem preferred to the third person narrator.  I like both narrators just fine.

Chapter 26: This opens at Mr George's shooting gallery with his faithful servant Phil Squod.  Grandfather and Judy Smallweed come to visit for nefarious purposes (I think).  He suggests that Captain Hawdon is not dead and desires a sample of his handwriting (which would prove?)

Chapter 27: This group goes to Mr Tulkinghorn.  It turns out that Mr George served under Hawdon and refuses to help.  He leaves and goes to Mrs. Bagnet whose husband also served (it's kind of weird how so many men depend on their wives in such obvious ways when Dickens also seems to not like that dynamic)  George then returns to Mr Tulkinghorn's rooms, basically to reiterate that he won't tell anything. I'm not sure why.

Chapter 28: We are at Chesney Wold with the Dedlocks.  It turns out that Mrs Rouncewell's grandson is in love with Lady Dedlock's maid Rosa.  Mr Rouncewell comes to speak on his son's behalf (he is apparently an upstart to Sir Leicester and is compared to John Thornton in the notes of my edition which may have sent me off to a lovely daydream about Richard Armitage...ahem where was I?)  Lady Dedlock asks Rosa if she is in love and then elicits a promise from her to remain with them.

Chapter 29: Now Mr Guppy comes to call and reveals that Esther's real last name is Hawdon which results in Lady Dedlock's bawling and uttering references to her child.  So Esther is Lady Dedlock's daughter. That's interesting.

Chapter 30: Mrs Woodcourt comes to stay at Bleak House and makes Esther her confidante.  It is also almost Caddy Jellyby's wedding day so Esther is going to help out.  I was really annoyed with Mr Jellyby's patheticness in this section; if Mrs Jellyby is so odious, why did he marry her?  Is this somewhat like Mr Bennet and Mrs Bennet?  I especially liked a note in my (Barnes and Noble) edition where John Stuart Mill called out Dickens and his vulgar put downs of women's rights.  Because it's soooo crazy to think that women are equal to men, right? Grr Dickens.  Anyway Caddy gets married-blah blah blah.

Chapter 31: We meet (again?) Jenny and Liz who have a sick Jo with them.  Esther brings Jo back to the house where Mr Skimpole is *surprise* a jerk!  Then Charley gets sick and Esther nurses her while also making sure that her "angel" (puke) doesn't catch sick too.  Then as Charley recovers, Esther is found to be sick and goes blind (not sure if it's permanent or not) which really sucks for her.

Chapter 32: There is a lot of description in this chapter which made it confusing.  But it seems like Mr Weevle (aka Jobling) and Mr Guppy are preparing to receive papers written by Hawdon from Krook. Except, it's the part I've been anxiously anticipating, Krook spontaneously combusts.  And that is how that serial ends.  With a freaking spontaneous combustion! Crazy!

Bleak House, Chapters 20-25

Thanks to Amanda at The Zen Leaf for hosting this readalong!

Serials Summary:WOW-a lot happens!  First 4/6 chapters are told in third person, which I think is displeasing to many of the other participants because they like Esther's style much more.  I'm enjoying the omniscient narrator a lot more now that he's toned down the descriptive passages more.  We meet a few new characters but for the most part focus on those we already know.  I'm still confused how everything connects but I'm starting to see some characters interact with characters they hadn't met before.

Ch 20: Mr Guppy meets up with his friends Mr Smallweed and Mr Jobling (what kind of names are those?!)  Jobling lost quite a sum on a horse and is in need of a job so Mr Guppy suggests that he could be hired as a law writer replacing Nemo as well as take his old room.  Mr Krook accepts the new tenant.

Ch 21: This chapter describes Bart Smallweed's family with his grandparents and a twin sister Judy.  They are a stingy lot who underpay Charley (remember how she's supporting her younger brother and sister?).  A man called Mr. George apparently owes Grandfather Smallweed money-that scene was very confusing and also features Grandfather throwing a pillow at crazy Grandmother in a scene that I think was supposed to be funny but most certainly was not.

Ch 22: Mr Tulkinghorn enjoys port while pondering the secrets he knows.  Mr Snagsby is to help Inspector Bucket track down Jo in order to find out more about his story about the lady.  More commentary revealing the disgusting hygienic conditions of the poor part of town where typhoid is rampant.  Jo comes with the men and sees a lady in the same clothes as THE lady but who is not.  The second lady is Hortense, Lady Dedlock's French maid.

Ch 23: Shift back to Esther's perspective-Esther senses a condition between herself and Lady Dedlock.  The French maid shows up and begs to be Esther's maid; is rejected.  Richard continues to be shifty and improvident (He's probably my least favorite character at the moment).  Esther goes in to town to help Caddy and Prince tell their respective parental units.  Mr Turveydrop deigns to allow them to marry provided they continue to support him.  Mrs Jellyby is most disappointed but does not forbid it.  When Esther returns, she finds out that Charley will be her maid now.  (There's a disgusting amount of fawning over Esther in this chapter.  I could swallow it if I thought it was deserved but I don't.)

Ch 24: So Richard will be joining the army and he and Ada are encouraged by Mr Jarndyce to break off their engagement.  They agree but Richard holds a grudge against Mr Jarndyce for making such a sensible suggestion.  Then Mr George pops up as the owner of a shooting gallery where Richard visits.  On Richard's last day, he and Esther go to court where Esther has a run-in with Mrs Chadband.  Then Mr George shows up to ask Miss Flite to accompany him to Mr Gridley's deathbed.  Esther and Richard come along where Inspector Bucket is masquerading as a doctor in order to arrest Gridley but he dies.

Ch 25: Mr Snagsby is vexed by the events of Ch 22 as he has promised not to tell his wife anything.  Mrs Snagsby is suspicious and eventually decides that Mr Snagsby is the father of Jo (!)  Jo is brought in to the house and is preached at by Mr. Chadband, in a scene where I think Dickens is making fun of something but I'm not sure what.

Bleak House, Chapters 14-19

Check out the other posts at The Zen Leaf.

Sum Up: I'm growing to appreciate Esther's talents as a narrator a lot more.  There are a lot of occurrences in this section although I'm not entirely sure how they will all tie together or if they're important to the main narrative (which seems to me to revolve around Esther rather than the court case).

Chapter 14: So Richard leaves them in London; Ada and Esther meet up again with Miss Jellyby who is determined to separate herself from her mother and the imminent bankruptcy of their household.  She now has a fiance, Prince Turveydrop (what a stupid name) who she met while learning how to dance as well as his father Mr Turveydrop who has Deportment.  We also return to Miss Flite and Krook.

Chapter 15: Ugh-Skimpole rears his ugly head with more debts and money schemes.  I'm afraid I don't remember hearing about the Coavinses before but I was uncomfortable with Dickens's portrayal of the eldest Charley who's taking care of her younger siblings as very womanly and brave of her.  There is also Mr. Gridley who is in a similar position as Mr Jarndyce in regards to the court system.

Chapter 16: Then back to Lady Dedlock who disguises herself and pays Jo, the illiterate boy, to help her go over the circumstances of Nemo's death.

Chapter 17: Mr and Mrs Badger come back! Once I remembered who they were (seriously there are so many characters), I was laughing-I really like them.  They express concerns about Richard pursuing the study of medicine (I don't think he'd be really good at any profession as he seems to lack perseverance and ambition).  Esther is concerned.  Mr Jarndyce is able to reveal a bit more about Esther's life.  And Mr Woodcourt takes his leave (not sure if he will be important later on).

Chapter 18: Richard continues to be stupid with his bizarre theories about spending money.  Ugh-Mr Skimpole is back.  I'm not sure if he's meant to be a comic character (maybe Victorians would have found him funny?  I certainly don't) or what purpose he will fulfill.  Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock are seen by our main characters with Lady Dedlock making quite an impression on Esther.  There is an odd instance as a French maid walks without shoes through the wet grass-do any other readers know the significance of that?  It just seems weird to me.

Chapter 19: So much description in this chapter (zzz) before a portrait of an Evangelical Mr Chadband who with his wife are visiting the Snagsbys.  Jo is caught with the leftovers of the money received from Lady Dedlock (although of course he doesn't know it's her).  Mr Guppy also returns (seriously he's probably my favorite character at this point; followed by the Badgers)!  And it turns out that Mrs Chadband used to be in charge of Esther, not sure how or why she no longer is.

Bleak House Ch. 8-13

Welcome to Part II. This week we read Chapter 8 to 13.  See The Zen Leaf for other links.

Link to last week's thoughts.

Overall: we continue to meet a lot of new characters.  Esther is much less annoying to me and she receives a marriage proposal!  Mr Tulkinghorn continues to be rather creepy.  I am still confused about how everything might tie together but I see some possibilities.  I'm enjoying Dickens a lot more this time but I still find my eyes glazing over at some of the descriptive passages.

Chapter 8: Mrs Pardiggle and her sons made me laugh; she is somewhat like Mrs Jellyby.  This chapter also shows Dickens' reform-mindedness as he criticizes the quality of living, indicating support for water and santitation reform.

Chapter 9: Mr Boythorn-very vibrant although possibly has some anger issues.  I thought the marriage proposal from Mr Guppy was very nice.  If Esther were Charlotte Lucas, she would have said yes because he has solid prospects and being Mrs Guppy would totally be better than being Mrs Collins (do you agree?)

Chapter 10: WOW-ends on a cliffhanger because that was the end of serial 3.  It would definitely get me to pick it up.  We meet Mr and Mrs Snagsby who were humorous and more of Mr Tulkinghorn who goes to meet someone in his room and it seems as if that person is dead but we don't know!

Chapter 11: Now we do know that the man is dead of an opium overdose (accidental or intentional cannot be determined).  Later there is an inquest with the very annoying Mrs Piper who it seems likes to make up words.  I can find that funny in TV or movies where I can hear the pronunciation but I find it annoying in books.

Chapter 12: We return to the Dedlocks where it seems as if there is some mysterious communication occurring between Lady Dedlock and Mr Tulkinghorn revolving around the dead man.

Chapter 13: Returns to Esther who is annoying over Ada again.  But Ada and Richard have confessed their love to each other and it seems like everyone is in favor of it.  Mr Guppy also returns to gaze forlornly at Esther; I know it makes her uncomfortable but I actually really like Mr Guppy so I like seeing him return.  I hope he doesn't decide to do something desperate to win her.

Bleak House Readalong

I signed up at The Zen Leaf for a Bleak House read-a-long (It starts next week so there's still time to sign up! Click on the icon in my sidebar). I'm really excited about this for a couple of reasons:

1. BH is on my FITG Challenge which I am deplorably behind on.

2. Amanda at The Zen Leaf always writes such intelligent and insightful posts about the books she reads so that combined with all the other smart people participating will help me get the most out of this book.

3. I haven't read much Dickens and I've been intimidated by BH's size although also intrigued by the plot [Irena at This Miss Loves to Read highlighted Honoria for a character Connection and this book apparently features a spontaneous combustion-did you know dozens of people spontaneously combust every year? (Source)]

4. I've never done a read a long although I've wanted to so this will be an exciting and new experience; It will also be really fun to meet new bloggers and read what they have to say.

To sum up: Sign up for the BH read along! And get ready for the first post Wed August 25.