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.