Bleak House, Broadstairs Puns

[Scheduled] Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Chapter 24 to 28

Welcome back to Bleak Sundays. In my area of the world, it snowed and the polar vortex is coming. 😬 Good thing I have books to get me through the winter.

For fun: To the tune of "Brick House": "Reading Bleak House/ Then talk about it/ Letting it all pour out."

Q1: Is John Jarndyce in the right to make Rick and Ada break off their engagement? When will Ada get a personality? Does the time apart sound similar to Wat and Rosa's wish to be apart before they're engaged?

Q2: Mr Bucket is slick pretending to be a doctor then has a warrant for Mr Gridley. What info did Mr Tulkinghorn want from Gridley? His court case killed him.

Q3: What did Guppy think would happen when Rachael and Esther met? Richard is even more obsessed with the case too.

Q4: Mr Tulkinghorn, Mr Bucket, and Mr Chadband have their own agendas. Did you find it funny like I did that Mrs Snagsby jumped to the wrong conclusion about Jo because her husband is nice to him?

Q5: Has your perception of any character changed? (I like Mr George because he's not caving into pressure by Tulkinghorn.) What do you think of the Bagnets and Mrs Bagnet compared to the other portrayals of wives and families? How about poor cousin Volumnia?

Q6: Will there be repercussions for Mr George for not giving Mr Tulkinghorn the paper? Any theories on Captain Hawdon?

Q7: Any other quotes or something you noticed that you'd like to discuss?

Extras/ References: I made character webs for Esther and Mr Tulkinghorn as of chapter 27. (The one I found online had spoilers.) Forgot to add the Bagnets connected to Mr George and Volumnia connected to the Dedlocks.

Illustrations for Chapter 25 and Chapter 26.

Wat Tyler was the leader of the Peasants Revolt of 1381.

British military uniforms. Mr George and Mr Bagnet were out too early to be in the Crimean war.

Sir Leiscester suffers from gout.

William Tell.

The Light of Terewth Mr Chadband was going on about is only an extra syllable in truth. (Duh.)

[5th of November:](https://en.wik

[Scheduled] Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Chapters 20-23

Happy New Year and welcome back to Bleak Sundays! I'll be taking over for January and half of February. I usually do chapter summaries, but u/lazylittlelady's format works better with this book. (If it ain't broke and all.)

Q1: What is your opinion of the Smallweeds? Are you surprised Charley worked for them?

Q2: We encounter the brickmaker and their wives Jenny and Liz again living in a slum. What are your thought on Liz saying that Jenny's baby is better off dead than alive?

Q3: Hortense the maid has been busy in these chapters. If Esther had hired her, would she have been a spy for Mr Tulkinghorn? Why do you think Lady D fired her? What oath did she take?

Q4: Uh-oh. Richard has "begun to haunt the court" and befriends Miss Flite. (Did you catch that Mr Guppy paid Miss Flite a weekly allowance?) He's in debt. How does this fare for his and Ada's future if he enlists in the army? Will the case ever be settled?

Q5: Contrast the reactions of Mr Turveydrop and Mrs Jellyby when they heard news of Caddy's engagement. Do you think their marriage will succeed?

Q6: We meet Detective Bucket again. New characters: Mr George and Phil at the shooting gallery, Krook's new tenant Mr Jobling/Weevle. Connected characters: Guppy, Bart Smallweed, and Mr Jobling; Mr Tulkinghorn, Hortense, and Mr Bucket; Grandpa, Grandma, Judy, and Bart Smallweed, Charley (and Esther at the end). Any thoughts?

Q7: Any quotes, insights, or anything else you'd like to add from these chapters?

Extras: (I can't share any illustrations from Victorian Web because there are spoilers in them. 😢) In the restaurant scene in Chapter 20, half and half is half ale and half stout. Cheshire is a type of pudding dessert. Marrow pudding uses beef bone marrow substituted for suet. From what I can make out, "Ill fo manger" is something about eating? Can any French speakers translate this phonetic French?

The poor sanitation in Tom-all-Alone's reminds me of the Great Stink of 1858 where a heat wave in London caused sickness. City planners developed a better sewer system after that. Mr Turveydrop is like a working class Beau Brummell, who was friends with King George IV for a time.

Marginalia post is [here.](https://www.reddit.co

It's almost the end of the year folks and with the new year approaching fast we have lined up a brilliant selection of January reads for you to kick off your new year reading right.

See December Joint Schedule here for the final discussion dates of The Four Winds and The Wise Man's Fear. Don't forget we also have the Big Winter read: Bleak House running and The Runner-up Read: The Stand continuing through January.

So which one(s) are you reading with us this month??

JANUARY'S "ANY"

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro was nominated by u/Tripolie and is being led by u/Tripolie. Find the marginalia here (proceed with caution, spoilers live here)

Discussion Schedule

• January 7: Page 1-84 (ending with “into the Sun’s brightness.”)
• January 14: Page 84-154 (starting with “As I said to Rick that day…”; ending with “‘See you, Klara. Go carefully.’”)
• January 21: Page 154-225 (starting with “The timing of my journey…”; ending with a line break)
• January 28: Page 225-end

JANUARY'S MYSTERY/SUSPENSE

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie nominated by u/GeminiPenguin will be run by u/SimplyProductive. Marginalia can be found here(watch out for spoilers. If you use the marginalia please no unmarked solution. The joy of Christie is as much in trying to figure it out as it is enjoying her storytelling)

Discussion Schedule

• Jan 16: Chapters 1-4

• Jan 19: Chapters 5-8

• Jan 21: Chapters 9-12

• Jan 23: Chapters 13-16

• Jan 26: Chapters 17-20

• Jan 28: Chapters 21-24

• Jan 30: Chapters 25-end

EVERGREEN

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells will be run by me (u/fixtheblue). It was first read in r/bookclub back in July 2012, and I thought it would be a great little place hol

Charles Dickens nailed the heart of the Murdaugh story nearly 200 years ago in a novel entitled "Bleak House". One of the main characters was a predatory and morally bankrupt lawyer named Mr. Vholes, who another character described as a "vampire" who looked "lifeless"..."so eager, so bloodless, so gaunt...always looking at the client, as if he were making a lingering meal of him with his eyes."

Dickens added this spot-on sarcastic commentary in Chapter 39: "The one great principle of English law is, to make business for itself...Viewed by this light it becomes a coherent scheme, and not the monstrous make the laity are apt to think it. Let them at once clearly perceive that its grand principle is to make business for itself at their expense, and surely they will cease to grumble."

The language may have changed a bit over the years and across the ocean, but human nature is still the same.

Let's never cease to grumble.

Welcome back, Bleak Sunday Club. This section of Bleak House was a real antidote to any seasonal excesses as we examine London's social ills in great detail and dive deeper into the mystery of Esther's origins. As always, if you need links to any past posts: Schedule, Marginalia, Discussion 1, Discussion 2, Discussion 3. As we head into the New Year, I will hand off the discussion to my co-RR, u/thebowedbookshelf, and I will be back for the last two sections in February!

In this section, we explore the divisions that were threatening to tear the country apart according, rather presciently, to Dickens: London vs. the countryside and within London itself, between the social classes, where the rift was widening between those in proper homes and those who were "moved on", as Jo the Sweeper was. England itself as the Bleak House of the title, and not John Jarndyce's property, which is more of a true home for Ada and Esther.

Q1: While in London, we learn from Skimpole that his archnemeses, Coavinses, the debt-collector on behalf of the Sherrif's office, has died, leaving behind three orphaned children. Along with the three orphans, we also meet another plaintiff of the Chancery system, Mr. Grindley. As the group leaves, Skimpole remarks: "I was the great patron of Coavinses and his little comforts were my work" (217). Is this tongue-in-cheek comment true? What do you think John Jarndyce said to Mrs. Blinder in his quiet word aside?

Q2: Between the visit to the Coavinses orphans and learning more about Charley's work, Jo's "lodgings" at Tom-All-Alone (a name that says much), and the "tour" Jo gives to the mystery lady servant of Nemo's last days, Dickens illustrates some desperate realities of London's deprivation. What are the parallels between the legal system that seems to not give justice and the so

Bleak Sunday once more! Things are starting to become clearer as we proceed into the next part of Bleak House. You can find out more at the following links, should you have missed any of the preceding discussions or announcements: Schedule, Marginalia, Discussion 1, Discussion 2.

We pick up at Krook's place, where the mysterious law clerk tenant is found dead. His identity is shrouded in mystery: No One, Nemo, Nimrod. Perhaps once handsome and of high station, now fallen to an opiate death, whether by his own hand or by accident. We are also introduced to a mysterious, young surgeon-the source of his opium. He shows up later, at the Badger's party and once more at Miss Flite's, our previously nameless old mad lady of the Chancery. No One/Nemo/Nimrod is only really identified by Jo, the sweep, whom he helped out and whose testimony was deemed inadmissible, despite being the only person to really know him, and- perhaps- Lady Dedlock, who is now pitted against Mr. Tulkinghorn- "..what each would give to know how much the other knows" (166). Krook once more intimates his knowledge of something secret to John Jarndyce and company, and we find out Kange and Mr. Guppy-who is stalking Esther- are slipping money to Miss Flite---from the Chancery, supposedly.

Q1: We examine the idea of the Dandy and look back to the Prince Regent. Dickens offers us several examples: at the Dedlock's party, where the beau monde is skewered thoroughly, and then with the introduction of Turveydrop senior, who Esther and the old lady at the dance denounce-comportment indeed! How does this examination of characters who consider themselves "refined" illuminat

Welcome back, Bleak Sunday Club! In for a penny, in for a pound, as we dive deeper into the mysteries of our characters and the Jarndyce case. For orderly housekeeping, as Esther would insist upon, you can find the Schedule, Marginalia, and Discussion 1 posts here.

This section reveals some hidden connections, as more is revealed in terms of how characters are linked to each other and to the Jarndyce case, and how geography also links various plot developments. We cross from the stately home of the Dedlocks in Chesney Wold to the hovel of the Brickmakers near Bleak House. We learn that Lady Dedlock is distantly related to Richard and the Dedlocks are also cousins to Jarndyce, and party to the case. We follow Mr. Tulkinghorn back to Krook's to meet the mysterious law clerk we learned about earlier, so-called Nemo, who is in bleak circumstances and perhaps holds a clue to the case. Consider how close the brickmakers are to Bleak House, and the proximity of the Chancery Court to the sheriff, Coavinses, who we met waylaying Mr. Skimpole earlier, and to Krook's Rag and Bottle shop.

Q1: We meet Mr. Guppy in two acts. One, as a visitor to the Dedlock's home in Lincolnshire, where he namedrops his employer, Mr. Tulkinghorn, to gain entry. The second, on affairs, including those of the heart, where he has business at Bleak House with Mr. Boythorn, and also makes Esther a declaration of love, which she rejects immediately and finally. The order of these two events makes me suspicious that he knows something of Esther's case, with extreme prejudice perhaps. What are your views of Mr. Guppy? Why does Esther cry over him, ending the chapter with thoughts of her long-lost doll, her only companion in childhood? Are you surprised by her sharp dismissal, considering how sensitive and thoughtful she is to everyone usually?

Q2: What are your thoughts of Esther's conversation with John Jarndyce in his Growlery?

Welcome Bleak Sunday Club to our first discussion! You can find the Schedule and Marginalia posts here, respectively.

Let's just dive into the work. There are two things that stand out immediately, which we will be aware of throughout the book: One, this is a legal drama intermixed with a mystery. Along with The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens pulls from his experience as a journalist in the legal field to mix fact and fiction, and we will traverse many different emotions and genres in this novel, some based loosely on fact. The Chancery Court was reformed before this novel was written, although it is based on cases that occurred before this reform, so in an interesting fact, legal historians have actually used his account of the Chancery Court as a source of information.

The second aspect is the dual narrators, an omniscient, "neutral" voice and Esther Summerson, who will be our guides through this Dickensian maze, offering information and parts of the plot, the past and the present. We will have to balance the two voices and remain aware of bias in both.

A third point, which I will be occasionally highlighting, is based on the introduction in my Everyman version by Barbara Hardy, "-Bleak House contains his {Dickens} most hostile and strident caricatures of women in the public world, in Mrs. Jellyby, Mrs. Pardiggle and Miss Wisk, created as enemies to love, damaging distortions of a womanliness which remained Dickens' limited ideal". Let's see how we find the characters measuring up as we come across them. As always, enjoy the names that Dickens bestows on his characters!

I will offer you some discussion points & questions, but please feel free to add anything you want to discuss, as well. Let's really dive into anything and everything.

Q1: We open in Chapter 1 with the parallels of the fog creeping over London to the deep corruption that hangs over the Chancery Court. The pollution of the environment mirrors the injustice meted out by the court, especially in the mythical "Jarndyce and Jarndyce" case. We meet the victims of the court. What can we expect from this opening? I feel London itself is a character as we

Spoilers highly possible but post anything/everything here!

Wikipedia Bleak House-has list of characters, major and minor, and major plot spoilers! Read at your own peril!

What is a Court of Chancery/ Current Chancery Division of the High Court/ Archive of Chancery Equity Suits 1558-1875

List of all Charles Dickens Books and Novels, in chronological order

On Spontaneous Combustion -human and otherwise

Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street, London-if you're ever in town I highly recommend a visit and if you happen to be there around this time of the year, the live reading of a Christmas Carol is worth doing!

Welcome one and all to what is perhaps the most Dickensian of all his novels, a sweep of Victorian London, in its is rich and varied humanity, and grim and grimy reality and the corrosive corruption of the Chancery Court, which hangs over the whole tableau vivant. Originally published in 20 sections from March 1852 to September 1853, we will take a deep dive over three months. Let us take the winter (or summer in the Southern Hemisphere!) to explore the creative and imaginative language and imagery of a master of the English letters. u/thebowedbookshelf and I will be co-hosting the discussions here on r/bookclub, meeting on Sundays, beginning with the 5th of December-dare I say the first meeting of the Bleak Sunday Club!

"Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done. Bleak House, in its atmosphere, symbolism and magnificent bleak comedy, is often regarded as the best of Dickens. A 'great Victorian novel', it is so inventive in its competing plots and styles that it eludes interpretation" (source)

Order your books, or download them, or find them on Gutenberg and start reading! You can, of course, join us at your own pace but this is the official schedule of Bleak House this winter:

Sunday, December 5: Chapter 1 (In Chancery)- Chapter 6 (Quite At Home)

Sunday, December 12: Chapter 7 (The Ghost's Walk)-Chapter 10 (The Law-writer)

Sunday, December 19: Chapter 11 (Our Dear Brother)-Chapter 14 (Deportment)

Sunday, December 26: Chapter 15 (Bell Yard)- Chapter 19 (Moving On)

Sunday, January 2: Chapter 20 (A New Lodger)-Chapter 23 (Esther's Narrative)

Sunday, January 9: Chapter 24 (An Appeal Case)- Chapter 28 (The Ironmaster)

Sunday, January 16: Chapter 29 (The Young Man)- Chapter 33 (Interlopers)

Sunday, January 23: Chapter 34 (A Turn of the Screw)- Chapter 38 (A Struggle)

Sunday, January 30: Chapter 39 (Attorney and Client)- Chapter 45 (In Trust)

Sunday, February 6:

Posting this here because apparently there isn't a support group for parents of Dickens mega-fans.

My 6-year-old daughter is a decent reader and enjoys Matilda by Roald Dahl. In the book, Matilda reads Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and this got my daughter curious about the book.

Always eager to encourage reading, I buy this cute boxset of Dickens classics that have been re-written and abridged for 7-9 year olds (somehow I don't think she'd manage the real thing).

So, my daughter reads Great Expectations, and thinks it's fine. Then, she reads Bleak House, and something clicks inside her brain. She refuses to read any of the other books in the collection, or any other book. She just keeps reading Bleak House over and over.

I have never read Bleak House myself. Turns out it's a book about a legal battle, an illegitimate daughter, and a murder-mystery. I have absolutely no idea why this of all books has grabbed hold of my daughter so hard.

Currently, we're watching literary analysis videos on YouTube and my daughter is asking me to read her the *real* book, because she's excited for a longer version. Bedtimes are going to be interesting for them next little while!

I don't really have anything else to add. I just think it's fun how kids will fall in love with just the weirdest random stuff.

I've always been a huge fan of British horror so this series was a huge fave of mine. I always wished it lasted longer than it did, it really had some truly terrifying & unsettling episodes with great tension, acting & scares. Peter Cushing, Brian Cox, Denholm Elliott & Pierce Brosnan appeared on this show among others.

And just rewatching a marathon of the series on the DECADES channel over the weekend, I wondered if they could reboot this today, I could easily see a studio like A24 doing horror shorts with the same dread, anxiety and bleakness as the original show. A24's well known for having films filled with dread, bleakness and an uneasy & eerie atmosphere like The VVitch, Hereditary, Midsommar & The Lighthouse. I could see Ari Aster, Robert Eggers or even Mike Flanagan writing & directing the episodes.

What do you think? Would you like to see it rebooted? Could you see A24 or another studio doing a reboot of the original? Or do you think the series is fine the way it is? And what did you think of the original series? Which, if any episodes scared or creeped you out? And what were your favorite episodes?

For me, my favorite episodes were Two Faces of Evil, Guardian of the Abyss, The Silent Scream, The Children of the Full Moon, Charlie Boy & A Visitor From The Grave. How about you? Did you see any of those episodes? If so, what did you think of them?

Code popped up using the Honey extension, which I also recommend using.

This is the 9th book in my #ayearofdickens2021 challenge.

I went into this book with high hopes. So many people had messaged me to say it was a favourite of theirs and I really wanted to love it. I enjoyed it, but I was left a little lost at the end and can’t say I really loved it.

It’s a complex and intriguing story but I found the juxtaposition of narrator voices a bit jarring at times. Esther’s narration was engaging but changing to the omniscient narrator took a while to readjust to and, at times, drew me out of the flow of the story.

As usual there is so much to say about Dickens’ book but here’s my attempt, this may contain spoilers:

The story principally follows supposed orphan Esther Summerson and her companions Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. They are taken under the wing of benefactor John Jarndyce, one of the parties involved in the infamous Chancery case Jarndyce v Jarndyce. Their story interlinks with that of the proud and inscrutable Lady Dedlock and other peripheral characters. Love, money and murder all play a part as we follow Esther’s journey.

This book has many themes in common with other Dickens’ novels. It deals with charity and the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty, heredity and the idea of birth and class, identity and the question of forging one's own way in life.

Identity

There are many questions of identity throughout the novel and Esther particularly embodies this. Brought up as an orphan with no knowledge of her parents or where she comes from, she founds her identity on service and usefulness, aspiring to help those around her and be worthy of their love.

Under Mr Jarndyce’s care, her identity becomes that of housekeeper and she is variously referred to as “Dame Durden” or “Little Woman”, seldom by her own name. Even through her first person narration, she constantly refers to what other people have told her they like about her.

Due to her illness, she undergoes a physical change and her altered appearance again raises the question of identity - she no longer looks like herself.

Even when she finds out who her parents are, she has to keep this hidden. Throughout the story her identity seems obscured by or determined by others.

As Richard embarks into the world he tries to commit himself to a career, to define himself by his work and application to a course of action. Instead, he is consumed by the Chancery case and merits Miss Flite’s referring to him as “ward of Jarndyce”. This is all he becomes and he fails t

Check out the version of "Little Dorrit" that was made a few years later. Same screenwriter, same vibe, lots of eerie Dickensian Victorian England -- I watched it recently and was almost immediately hooked. The storylines are similar in many ways.

It's almost December folks and we have a jam packed line up for you to end the year on. The Big Winter Read also starts in December too. EXCITE!

See November Joint Schedule here for the wrap of all the November reads. Don't forget we also have the final discussion check-ins in December for The House in the Cerulean Sea and Girl, Woman Other.

So which one(s) are you reading with us this month??

Find January Joint Schedule here

DECEMBER'S "WINTER/HOLIDAY"

Beartown by Fredrik Backman was nominated by u/Tripolie and is being led by u/Tripolie. Find the marginalia here (proceed with caution, spoilers live here)

Discussion Schedule

• December 3: Chapter 1 - 12
• December 10: Chapter 13 - 22
• December 17: Chapter 23 - 34
• December 24: Chapter 35 - 43
• December 31: Chapter 44 - end

THE BIG WINTER READ

Bleak House by Charles Dickens nominated by u/fixtheblue and because it is such a doorstop of a book run by both u/LazyLittleLady and u/thebowedbookshelf. The marginalia post can be found here (SPOILERS!)

Discussion Schedule

• 12/5 [chp 1-6 80 pages](https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/comments/r9ioja/scheduled_bleak_house_discussion_1_chps_16/?utm_mediu