Bleak House - Chapters V-VII

[@colorswordsandlearning]

Thanks,Katie. Lovely discussion.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :)

[@adammccarthy1468]

Hi. Love the channel. I’m currently reading bleak house and find this really helpful 👍🏼 I also really like your other videos on the top classics. Thanks for sharing

[@roserobinson6411]

Thank you for your great discussion of these chapters. I was excited that we got to see what Bleak House is like, though I cannot stand that "child" and can't see how any of them can find him endearing. All the mysterious threads in the Jarndyce case are intriguing as I try to figure out how everyone came to be connected to it. And what fun to have a ghost story, too!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks! I hope you find the novel interesting.

[@ZoeBeck7]

I am really enjoying Bleak House. It has been years since I've read any Dickens and I like how I get sucked into the story. I am concerned about forgetting details by doing this serially, but I'm going to keep going to see what happens. I love your commentary and discussion videos on the chapters. They are so insightful!. You make me want to pick up more Dickens right away. -Amy

[@katiejlumsden]

I'm so glad you're liking it so far - it's such a great novel :)

[@karenkoutsoumbaris6308]

Thankyou for your wonderful enthusiasm, I am quite enjoying Bleakhouse! Now on to the next three chapters

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks Karen - I'm glad you're enjoying it :)

[@daneades8983]

So pleased that you mentioned that although you like Our Mutual Friend more, Bleak House may be Dickens's most accomplished novel.

[@donnakirby6998]

Hi Katie, I've been loving reading Bleak House the way it was presented all those years ago. I can keep up easily! ( I'm easily distracted!). Thanks so much for hosting this!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks Donna; I hope you continue to enjoy the book.

[@readingclosely2160]

I'm enjoying the novel. In reading the chapter where we meet Mr. Krook, with his extreme hoarding, it struck me that a number of Dickens's characters have personality traits that we would now classify under various forms of mental illness.

[@katiejlumsden]

I'm glad you're liking it :)

[@laurac56]

Boy am I really enjoying this book so far! I read David Copperfield in school at around age 12 and thought that I hated Dickens. Thanks to BookTube I read Great Expectations a couple years ago and really liked it. Since then I have thought of picking up another Dickens but just haven’t done it. Until now! Thanks for hosting this. I am enjoying the slow read too, it is nice to be under no pressure and just enjoy it. I am listening to an audiobook and reading along with it. That slows me down and helps me catch details.

[@katiejlumsden]

I'm so glad you're enjoying it. It's such a great book.

[@laraelwing]

I have also watched the TV adaptation before, so there are important points I already know. I'm interested in seeing the details :) So funny to think of Mr Jarndyce in that carriage, it was funny when she realizes it :D

[@katiejlumsden]

It's really interesting to compare the two - such a great TV adaptation :)

[@kathybolton2240]

Glad you are back, have missed you!! Enjoying this very much and especially appreciate the comments to refresh my memory and prepare me for the next 3 chapters. Your insight is so helpful.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks Kathy! I'm glad you're enjoying Bleak House so far.

[@stressedoutofexistence663]

Glad to see you back Ms Lumsden, I do hope you are quite well!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks.

[@kevingreenwood1900]

It occurs to me that the 18 months or so of serialization accompanied changes of the lives of the readers themselves. The Work was not a week or so of storied fiction as much as an accompaniment to readers' own stories. Glad to see you're back. Happy Reading.

[@katiejlumsden]

It's almost a different form from the novel in a way, isn't it? It's an odd think reading a book over that long period of time!

[@Thespian32]

How much of the book was finshed before the first part was serialized? Had he written and edited the whole thing first or was it written as published monthly?

[@katiejlumsden]

To my knowledge, it was written as published monthly, though planned out beforehand. The Penguin black spines often have Dickens's monthly plans in the back of the book, which I enjoy.

[@KevTheImpaler]

Krook seems sinister, but I don't think he is bad. I wondered how he managed to run a business if he buys things but does not sell them, although he has two lodgers. I wondered why Jarndyce did not have a house keeper before, being a single man with a large house. It occurred to me that Skimpole was a bit like Mr Macawber. They're both feckless, but Mr Micawber is more likeable to the reader.

[@katiejlumsden]

I feel like Skimpole is Mr Micawber with less heart, and with no intention to try and make money!

[@Thespian32]

Loving this readalong SPOILERS ********** I noticed a great foreshadowing moment when Krook is introduced who is described as with smoke coming from his mouth like he had a fire within.

[@katiejlumsden]

I hadn't even noticed! That's great.

[@lindaklinedinst9236]

I am Reading Bleak House On my own - I am still Reading Chapter One yet. I am taking my time in Reading this. Happy Reading ❤️📖📚

[@katiejlumsden]

Enjoy :)

[@nickknight5373]

By pure chance, I've reached chapter 4 in my own reading of BH, so I'll sync myself up with the readalong.

[@katiejlumsden]

Great! I hope you're liking it :)

[@nickknight5373]

Thanks! Certainly am! I first read it a very long time ago in my youth. Dickens is always a magician of place and voice.

[@yvonneplant3062]

I was planning on leaving this reread for a while but as I’m group is reading it I thought I would read along. As with my first read I find Esther painfully sweet and self sacrificing and I tend to not trust her. I have very little time for Mrs Jellyby it seems to me that her work for Africa, a large part of the donkey work of it for which she receives credit is dumped on her daughter and at the expense of her children. Is this self aggrandisement? Social capital? A denial of the right of her children to adequate care? I don’t mean she should care for them herself, but she should make sure someone does.