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Bleak House

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Bleak House

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Jim Killavey
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About this listen

 In its oppressive atmosphere of fog, mist, and mud, nothing conjures up the dreary days of November and its "implacable" weather like the celebrated opening of Bleak House, by Charles Dickens. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute (Jarndyce and Jarndyce) which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens' assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk. His harsh characterization of the slow, arcane Chancery law process gave voice to widespread frustration with the system, helping to set the stage for its eventual reform in the 1870s.

This novel represents the highest point of Dickens' intellectual maturity. Over the years it has been one of his most popular books and was recently turned into a PBS film starring Gillian Anderson.

Click here to see all the titles in our Charles Dickens collection.Public Domain (P)1987 Jimcin Recordings Classics Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

"Vigorous satire....[with] a host of interesting minor characters." (The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature)
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What would have made Bleak House better?

A human that can speak with inflection and passion and doesn't sound like Adobe Acrobat voice reader. The story is fantastic, one of my favourite Dickens novels, but the naration is driving me mad!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bleak House?

I love it all, there are so many! Also I don't want to spoil it for anyone who doesn't know the story. Krook's demise is particularly good!

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jim Killavey?

Anybody else, but Simon Callow would have been excellent.....

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Definitely disappointment, I'm currenlty looking for an alternative naration of it.

Any additional comments?

Having a narrator that can pronounce the words as they are meant to be pronounced and not literally as they are written, would be a start!

Read by a human? Are you sure??

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Although this is a stunning book by Dickens. The reading of the book is a very poor one. Dickens has a name for writing paragraph long sentences. These are then quite hard to read first time over. I feel that the orator does a huge violence to the meaning of the story in the way it is read.

If you just want to hear the story because it is a fair size book, then go ahead and buy this. If, however you are familiar with this particular story and look forward to hearing it rather than reading it again, please save yourself the bother. You will almost certainly be disappointed!

Bleak House Review

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