|
|
Bleak House Audio Book
|
Bleak House
Author:
Charles Dickens
Readers: Sean Barrett and Teresa Gallagher
At the Court of Chancery, the interminable suit of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce unites and divides all who hope to gain from an estate that is ultimately bankrupted by the professional advisers. Dickens takes a satirical look at Victorian London's Byzantine legal system, which nearly destroys the lives of innocents. "By turns darkly humorous, horrific, and poignant, this is great entertainment."—AudioFile
ยป Read More
|
Available Audio Book Editions:
| F8E443 |
ABRIDGED |
Audio CDs ( 9 ) |
|
|
|
|
|
Publish Date: 05/15/2007
ISBN: 9789626344439
|
|
| F9E431 |
Unabridged |
CDs (28) |
$152.98 |
More Info > |
You may also like audio books with the same:
Synopsis:
|
The English legal system is the main object of Dickens's satire in BLEAK HOUSE, perhaps the first legal thriller, which centers on the interminable case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce as it makes its tortuous way over the generations through the Court of Chancery. The battle drags on, the litigants are ruined by the legal fees, and the case itself becomes so convoluted that no one--lawyers, judges, plaintiffs--even remembers entirely what is at stake. As Dickens takes us through the case's history, he creates his usual array of vividly realized comic, tragic, and satirical figures, from the corrupt lawyer, Tulkinghorn, to the pathetic crossing-sweeper, little Jo, to the clerk called Nemo, including characters with such wonderful monikers as Krook, Snagsby, Lord Doodle, and the perfectly named Lord and Lady Dedlock. As he does so often, Dickens shows us in BLEAK HOUSE--perhaps his most ambitious novel--that venality, corruption, and vanity have always been a part of human nature. Under the high comedy, he also shows us, very clearly, the anger and indignation these qualities roused in him, and his compassion for the helplessness of the poor in the face of a social and legal system that seems, at times, designed only to destroy them.
|
Book Reviews:
| "In the realm of mystery stories there are four books which everyone should read. They are THE LODGER, MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, BLEAK HOUSE, and THE NINE TAILORS." |
| - Sinclair Lewis () |
| |
Author Bio:
|
In the words of George Orwell, "the strongest single impression one carries away" from the novels of Charles Dickens is "a hatred of tyranny"--a passion that began in Dickens's own early life. Son of a navy pay clerk, Dickens had an idyllic childhood until he was 12, when his improvident father was imprisoned for debt and young Charles was sent by his parents to work in a London blacking factory to raise money to pay off his father's creditors. He was there only a few months, but the experience left a harsh impression on him: he not only wrote frequently in his novels about oppressed and victimized children, but, after he became famous, was a tireless crusader against child labor and other social evils. In time, the young Dickens did return to school, and in his teens, he acquired a reader's ticket to the British Museum, where he educated himself further, reading Shakespeare and other classics. He became a law clerk and a shorthand reporter, and then began writing for various periodicals, becoming a successful and sought-after journalist. In 1833, he published his first short story, and his first full-length book, THE PICKWICK PAPERS, was published three years later, when he was 24--the same year he was married to Catherine Hogarth. As he and his wife began to produce children--10 in all--Dickens also produced literature, most of which was published serially, including OLIVER TWIST (1837), NICHOLAS NICKELBY (1839), and A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1843). He wrote according to a rigorous schedule (daily, between breakfast and luncheon), and from the 1840s on, he traveled widely, giving speeches and readings, and lived in Italy and in Paris briefly in the mid-1840s. His marriage was never a happy one; in 1858, he and his wife separated, and from that period until his death Dickens was romantically involved with the young actress Ellen Ternan. Among Dickens's later works are DAVID COPPERFIELD (1850), HARD TIMES (1854), and LITTLE DORRITT (1857), which drew on his own troubled childhood, as well as A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1859) and OUR MUTUAL FRIEND (1865). His last novel, a suspense tale, was THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, left unfinished at his death in June, 1870, from a stroke that may have been brought on by his strenuous schedule of public appearances. Though he lived to be only 58, Dickens's output was prodigious and varied, both wildly comical and deadly serious, and he remains one of the most enduring and beloved writers in the canon of English literature.
|
Related Subjects to Browse
Copyright 1995-2009 Muze Inc.  For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved. Some content for books is owned by Baker & Taylor, Inc. or its licensors and is subject to copyright and all other protections provided by applicable law.
|
|
 |
Your Cart is empty. |
 |
Saved Cart is empty. |
 |
Wish List is empty. |
Security All personal information you submit is encrypted and secure.
Guarantee You may return any purchase for a complete refund within 15 days of receipt.
Learn more »
Become an Audio Book Discount Plan member today for great discounts, reduced
shipping, and a free audiobook!
Get a Free Audio Book
|
