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.

Maps of London obviously.

Posted twice for emphasis

Thanks for sharing
When I get back from holiday I will try to take a picture of the characters list at the front of my book - I can't remember how big the print is now but I will give it a go.
It might help prevent some accidental googling of spoilers.
I spoiled the outcome of the case for myself by googling to try and find out more information about what chancery court is/was .

Reporting in for 1st September!

I have tried the strategy of elaving allt he chapters til the end of the month this month. I certainly wasn't going to cart BH in my hand luggage to Majorca so it had to wait til I came back.

I think the plot is picking up pace now, with the beginnings of the obvious coming together of the Esther and Lady Deadlock narratives. I am sure I have guessed what the intrigue is, but may well be wrong.

I have also started Vanity Fair, reading at 'normal ' pace and aiming to finish it by mid September, or before, and I am enjoying BH more. Partly because, whimsical as it is, VF is an inferior book to Dickens' ,and partly because the slow reading approach does mean you stop and reflect and savour the book, rather than the route march through which I am generally rather guilty of with books.

There was something in The Times yesterday about how novel buying is dying out . It did make me wonder whether books like Bleak House are endangered : not on school specs, they may well now only be read by earnest competitive readers and real bookish types, or peole doing degrees who have to read it : but then numbers doing literature degrees are also falling.
I can't remember the last time there was a genuine buzz about a quality book ,akin to the times when you would go on holiday and everyone was reading Captain Corelli on their loungers? Eleanor Oliphant doesn't count.

Failed again (I have read one chapter!). My excuse this month is that I am in London atm and my copy of Bleak House is in Cheshire. Will get onto it pronto when I get home.

Piggy I'm pretty sure people are getting more and more drippy about reading lengthy novels. If anyone in my book club suggests a book over 400 pages there is wincing and sucking of teeth, and the number of book tubers I have rolled my eyes excessively at because they are avoiding long novels as it will decrease their end of month totals. Wimps.
There is an increased risk of the hefty novel tipping over when you read it in bed and twatting you in the face so there is a H&S issue I suppose.

Sorry, reread your post and I see it's just novels in general, not just whoppers.

Netflix I reckon. Streamed box sets easier and cheaper to absorb than a novel?
Wonder if they said the same when tv was invented?

Yes, I think thy did and now Netflix threatens cinema going. All very sad.

Howvere,sales of The Handmaid's Tale rocketed recently due to the C4 series !

Here are pictures of my Characters list for anyone who does not have one, I hope they are clear enough

Blimey! That's a fair pile of characters!

Thanking you !

That’s great PrincessFabian, thanks so much. Will screenshot and keep. Now scowling at my copy that has stupid maps but no character list.
Have this evening reserved for finishing August. No video from Katie yet but am keeping an eye out.
Anoyone else tempted to do her Victober reading challenge? I'm still up to my armpits in Vanity Fair, not sure I can read any more giant tomes this year.

Yeah, I think I am all tomed out, tbh. There is no way I would have read VF if not for you and Bleak House also!

War And Peace is on my tbr pile but I may ignore it til 2019...

I had a look on Audible to see if War and Peace was available. It was, 30 hours long. “Pah” I thought, “I’ve just done 31 hours of Vanity Fair and barely broken sweat, bring it on Mr Tolstoy.” Then I saw that was volume one. Volume two was another 31 hours.
I was cowed.
In addition to this I also used to pass an art gallery where a very beautiful young woman sat the counter by the window doing nowt but read as it was an extremely stupid place to have an art gallery (opinion now proved correct as it has shut). She started reading War and Peace and I swear seasons passed before she finished it. Deeply intimidated by that too.

I'll have to be recuperating from being very dangerously ill to even contemplate it I think.

Hmmm... I was planning on reading it a volume at a time as certain MNers keep telling me it's 'actually very readable. Not convinced...
I reckon I could cheat a bit on Victober as I have already read some of the challenges! Never been tempted by Our Mutual Friend as it's so obscure, comparatively but I might give it a go.

Two Dickens at once? That’s rather brave. I can barely hold all the characters from Bleak House in my head

August video from Katie. Haven’t watched it yet.

Not sure what to make of the last three chapters. I'm afraid my mind was completely distracted by my most favourite sentence in my entire year of reading The blundebuss is loaded with slugs. brilliant.

Scene in church where Esther sees Lady D and has many strong and peculiar feelings was great. Bet in the BBC adaptation there was some excellent background mood music, possibly hymnal but in a minor key, with close ups on eyes. Loved the following meeting in the lodge in the storm. It’s so atmospheric isn’t it? Snort at the French maid getting the hump and stomping off in her bare feet after Lady D buggers off without her.

Have to admit I'm completely lost with chapter 19 and the meetup with the Snagsbys and Chadbands. How does Mrs Chadband know Esther? Hoping Katie will fill in the blanks, Poor old Jo being made to move on, but not off

Oh and there’s totally something afoot with Esther and the dishy Welsh doctor. Who could those flowers have been for I wonder, hmm? Like how Dickens is developing her as an unreliable narrator, takes off some of the veneer of meek feminine humility.

Richard is a bit of a worry isn’t he? Interesting arse-backwards personal economics. Is he going to end up breaking poor Ada's heart?

Gah, spelt blunderbuss wrong. Why no autocorrect when you really need it?

I loved the huffy French maid, too (got to love Victorian casual racism!)

I was a bit lost with the Chadbands, too....

Shall watch the video soon for Katie's insights.

Watched the (very helpful) video. I hate to alarm you all, but Katie gets very very excited about all the new characters coming up in the next three chapters...

Urgh, yes I know. My heart sank a little. They better be bloody amazing characters with very easy to remember names and character traits (like Mrs Redhat, the saucy milliner who always wears the aforementioned).

I have already forgotten their names, although I do know one of them is the guy who is supposed to be the first detective in fiction. Or something. And the others I remember as being called Shagwell. Which can't be right.

😐

Hello again I got myself a bit behind but in the last week I have watched the July chapters video, read August chapters, watched August video and read September chapters so I am up to date.
I really liked the August chapters especially the appearances of Lady Deadlock, it felt like the plot moved along a lot.
No so much in September, there are 6-7 (one has appeared briefly before) new characters across the September chapters so not much time left for plot development after introducing them all!!!

I have considered some of the Victober challenges or the Middlemarch read along that started on here this week but I don't think I can cope with another Victorian book whilst reading Bleak House.

I normally only read 1 book at a time and I am struggling to keep this one separate in my mind from other books I am reading in-between.

I finished Mansfield Park on Sunday before returning to Bleak House on Moday and I keep getting the 2 mixed up in my mind. Not helped by the fact that there are similarities between Fanny Price and Esther.

Think I might need to stick to something completely different for the next year until Bleak House is finished - I might try a fantasy book next.