Bleak House Readalong: March 2018 - Sept 2019

[ScribblyGum]

Some of us are doing this on the 50 books thread so I thought I would start a separate discussion thread.

Inspired by Books and Things on YouTube, aim is to read Bleak House in the time frame in which it was published, so reading 3-4 chapters per month starting in March this year and finishing in September of next.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DYX4lyw1M

I’ve linked the original YouTube video (she is really really excited about Bleak House ), Katie also has chapter discussion threads on her good reads page, and a picture of the chapters and the months in which they are to be read.

I love a good explanatory note. For example I now know and shall employ the term 'winding-sheet' to describe solidified candle-fat drippings. Need to get myself some solidified candle-fat drippings first and then can refer to them in a casual off-hand fashion at dinner parties/when aunts come for supper etc.

May's chapters with Katie.

Hooray!! Thank you !

She says Pardiggle very differently from me!

I thought her point about women gaining power from charitable leadership was interesting.

Done my July chapters ... I await Katie's wisdom. I liked these chapters but am too hot to think!

The Nemo stuff is good old fashioned Victorian death bed gloom!

I’ve done my chapters too. I am also a little too hot for deep contemplative Dickens thoughts but overwhelmingly I'm concerned that Mr Guppy has become a seriously creepy stalker and Esther really needs to tell him to get stretched.

I enjoyed the scene with Mr Tulkinghorn telling Lady Dedlock of the demise of the mysterious copywriter and both of them doing a stiff upper lip stare-off during the conversation.

Had an improper snort at Mr Jarndyce the careers advisor. Hey, if you don’t fancy the navy or the army, why not become a surgeon? Oh yes! why not!

Makes you wonder how -umm- safe surgery was back in the day!

Not very I would imagine.

scribbly , do you know if Katie has done her thing yet?

Not yet. Disappointing. She obviously has other things in her life going on that are more important than telling us in a lovely enthusiastic manner all the clever nuances of the past three chapters.

Perhaps she is too hot to sit in front of her bookcase !

If she cared about Bleak House she'd film a video sitting in a paddling pool.

Now that I would like to see. She might drop the big heavy book in the water though. The horror.

😱

I am struggling to keep up, it is 7th July and I have not finished the June chapters yet
I find the 3rd person narrated ones difficult to read - it feels really slow and hard work to read these ones.

Fear not Princess Fabian, our glorious leader hasn’t done her July video yet. Maybe she did drop her copy in the paddling pool.

For those of you still keeping up, there was eventually a June video!

I'm still keeping up but German campsite WiFi means YouTube watching is impossible.
Thanks for posting Katie's video Piggy.

Bitte sehr! Gute Reise!

Danke sehr!

My 14 yo says I spelt that wrong (but is refusing to give me the correct response).

No, you are correct! 14 year olds, eh? I remember being an insufferable know it all at that age and indeed I still am

Apparently attempting to speak German in Germany to Germans is the height of embarrassing behaviours a parent can bestow upon their children,

Haha! When we were in Spain last year DS1 with his A* in Spanish GCSE would not speak a word and rolled his eyes every time I said 'gracias'! It's a British thing...