Bleak House cover art

Bleak House

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Bleak House

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Paul Scofield
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £10.63

Buy Now for £10.63

About this listen

 Perhaps the finest novel of 19th-century England, Bleak House embodies artful narrative, an engaging cast of characters, biting satire, and a detailed depiction of Victorian society. At the height of his creative power in this great work, Dickens pursues two great themes: the murky institutional fog that darkens and cripples all of England, symbolized by the endless litigation of the Jarndyce vs. Jarnddyce case in the High Court of Chancery; the familiar Dickens concern with the capricious treatment and maltreatment of children as exemplified by the pitiful castoff Jo, and the overindulged Harold Skimpole.

The story that carries these two themes takes the form of a compelling mystery, a romantic tangle of trails followed by three vivid sleuths: the opportunistic Guppy, the sinister Tulkinghorn and the benevolent Bucket. Only in the hands of Dickens does artfully constructed mystery so intensify and illuminate stringent social commentary. Bleak House is a consummate achievement in the career of a truly great novelist.

Click here to see all the titles in our Charles Dickens collection.Public Domain (P)2005 Phoenix Books, Inc. Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty

Critic reviews

"Vigorous satire....[with] a host of interesting minor characters." (The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature)
No reviews yet