Bleak House

Bleak House

 

            Bleak House by Charles Dickens is a very refreshing read. Dickens perfectly balances tension, drama and day to day living. The protagonist and narrator in this novel is Esther Summerson, Esther is an interesting narrator as she is reliable, she does belittle herself, and her intelligence but frequently adds throughout her narration others compliments of her. Esther’s journey is a unique one and she gains sympathy from the reader from her opening lines, feeling she is not the appropriate person to tell this story as she definitely is not, clever.

            The reader grows and develops with Esther as she moves through life, leaving the negative atmosphere of her godmother’s house where she is told she is a disgrace and arriving at Bleak House where she is intrusted with the housekeeping keys. From this point Esther begins to grow and develop into herself she is loyal to her friends and her main objective is to guide them and aid them in whatever they need. Esther is not a character who struggles with her morals as, even despite her objectionable upbringing, she is very sure in her ways and does not appear to question what she knows to be right.

            There are a few moments in Bleak House where time is of the essence; when the characters are rushing to save a woman’s life or get to the aid of a friend. In these moments the genius descriptions and long winded speeches which Dickens excels at become tedious: I found myself wanting the characters to simply spit it out and hurry up, as they have mentioned they are in a great hurry and no time to explain…half a page later they have finished explaining that they have no time to explain. This for me dampened, though no entirely ruined, the effect of the situation. It did however leave me yearning for Hemmingway’s writing style, simplistic and to the point.

            Overall I found this novel very enjoyable, the last 200 pages were the most intense and brought the story together, and although some descriptions were a bit long winded that was the style of Dickens and of the time period in general. I enjoyed growing and learning with Esther and being witness to her development though she often put herself on the backburner, she is the epitome of selfless: Although, in contradiction, she is sure to mention this throughout the novel, in the case, of course, that another character has observed it.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein

 

            Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is an iconic novel. Although there are some details which are lost from the original novel to the more commonly known Frankenstein. In today’s world when someone refers to Frankenstein they mean the actual monster, who actually remains unnamed but was Frankenstein’s creation. Beyond the misconception of the names I found the novel carried an important message which seems lost in the current media.

            Frankenstein begins with letters from a Robert Walton, who has set sail to the North, to his sister back home in London. Walton and his crew are locked in the ice and feel they are doomed when they see a creature dogsledding across the ice a great distance away, not long after they also discover a man adrift on an ice flow, this man is Frankenstein who relays the incredible story of the monster he created.

            This novel touches on many important lessons but the one I feel most beneficial in today’s world is how the monster became true to his title. By all accounts this monster was very kind hearted, despite being abandoned by his creator upon first sight, and forced to live hiding from society, a lonely, desperate time. The monster had the ability to feel empathy and became close to the family living in exile near him, he assisted with chores at night while the family slept, never knowing who or what was bringing in their firewood. The monster finally makes contact, first to the blind old man, hoping to gain his confidence without fear of prejudice due to his looks, which works quite well, the man is sympathetic to the monsters situation but upon discovering the truth through his children’s eyes he and his family flee abandoning their midnight saviour. After many attempts to become accepted and consistently pushed away, and feared, the monster turned into the monster who murdered family members, and friends of Frankenstein in attempts to gain a companion and understanding.

            This novel is a great depiction on society’s ability to create the monster they see in someone who may have otherwise had no ill will to another living being; but is pushed to their limits and ultimately left with no choice but to become the monster society believes them to be.

Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero

Vanity Fair

 

            Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray is a classic novel from the Nineteenth century. It follows the lives of two young girls as they “graduate” from boarding school. The girls have very different backgrounds and end up leading very different lives. This book begins with a lengthy introduction to the vast amount of ‘main’ characters and their relationships to each other. Vanity Fair is unique in it has no central protagonist, which as a result can make the story line difficult to follow.

The story line bounces back and forth from Rebecca and Amelia, the more central characters in a sea of other characters. As I read this book I tried to understand why it was considered a classic, the writing is descriptive, sarcastic and sincere all at once which is definitely an accomplishment in itself but not enough for the classification. I thought perhaps the book touched on a persons beginning’s not defining who a person became as Rebecca started life poor and weaseled her way into the rich crowds, while Amelia started out life secure and well off ended up poor and disowned from her in-laws. Could the underlying meaning behind this classic book be that good will always win out over evil? Rebecca and Amelia clearly portrayed one or the other. Yet in the end the both characters seemed to fair just fine and carried on with their lives despite the hardships they endured or caused.

Perhaps the genius to this story is the characters themselves, the sarcastic nature of the novel from beginning to end, even in the title. Rebecca is vain in her attempts to climb the social ladder and in her pursuit disregards anyone around her including her neglected offspring, which results in an unfair life for little Rawdon. Amelia, the heroine of the novel, who would never hurt a fly, is put through many hardships in life which is quit unfair in comparison to her dear friend Rebecca who is cruel and uncaring yet is seemingly rewarded for this behaviour.

Vanity Fair is considered a classic, and perhaps I just missed a significant aspect of this book, I will revisit it again and hopefully I will be able to gain a better understanding; as it stands though I found it confusing and difficult to follow. The characters intermingled and there seemed to be no climax to the story but rather a steady plot with insignificant dips and climbs.