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Bleak House

Charles Dickens

Start date: July 1, 2026

Finish date: September 30, 2026

Discussion: Current Group Reads

Why we're reading this: 3rd Quarter 2026 Long Read

Previous Reads
3rd Quarter 2016 Long Read
[close] 3rd Quarter 2026 Long Read

Previous Reads
3rd Quarter 2016 Long Read

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What Members Thought

May 31, 2018 Tom Britz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was a long and dense read. Dense because it seemed as if most of London were characters. There was much to like and quite a bit to not like, but as they say story triumphs. One thing Dickens did was tell a great story. My frustrations were the over abundance of characters that were integral in the story. There were multiple storylines (again too many), and the repetitions throughout the novel. He used a phrase to delineate a certain character, but after fifteen or twenty times of hearing , ...more

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Jun 26, 2007 Suvi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, _great-britain, 1800s, cities_london, _book-shelf

Apart from the simpleton and annoyingly angelic and naive Esther (who unfortunately was in a big role) the character gallery was extremely enjoyable. If not the best of Dickens's books then at least very close second. The descriptions were stunning, you could feel the soot and dirty fog along with the gazes of suspicious Tom-All-Aloners. The reader will witness morbid, sad and happy events when the people connected to the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case get tangled up in it and dragged down to the de ...more

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Jun 02, 2015 Sandy rated it liked it

Very long and I got bogged down it parts. Is more than a court case with many characters floating in and out of the storyline.

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 19, 2007 Jenn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 0010-projectread, bestbooks-ever, classic

This book was enormously sad and incredibly good!! I highly recommend it.

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2013 Melissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, victorian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Since I do not have a victorian attention span, it seemed like slow going at first. It's beautifully written, but I coudn't help wondering when the plot would start. But, as with most Dickens, it does pick up.

Dickens poplulated this book with over 60 named characters. The protagonist is Esther Summerson -- the first person narrator for about a third of the book. Other primary characters are Lady Dedlock, Mr. Tulkinghorn the lawyer, Mr. Guppy (a young law clerk), Jo (a homeless boy), Mr. Bucket ( ...more

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