Introduction

Excerpt from Bleak House

Season! Judge once had the kindness to me, as one of mpany of some hundred and fifty men and women not labouring r any suspicions of lunacy, that the Court of Chancery, though shining subject of much popular prejudice (at which point I ght the Judge's eye had a cast in my direction), was almost laculate. There had been, he admitted, a trivial blemish or so 3 rate of progress, but this was exaggerated, and had been entirely mg to the parsimony of the public; which guilty public, it ared, had been until lately bent in the most determined manner my no means enlarging the number of Chancery Judges appointed believe by Richard the Second, but any other King will do 'ell. His seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body his book, or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or Vholes, with one or other of whom I think it must have.

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Editorial Review

Bleak House is a satirical look at the Byzantine legal system in London as it consumes the minds and talents of the greedy and nearly destroys the lives of innocents--a contemporary tale indeed. Dickens's tale takes us from the foggy dank streets of London and the maze of the Inns of Court to the peaceful countryside of England. Likewise, the characters run from murderous villains to virtuous girls, from a devoted lover to a "fallen woman," all of whom are affected by a legal suit in which there will, of course, be no winner. The first-person narrative related by the orphan Esther is particularly sweet. The articulate reading by the acclaimed British actor Paul Scofield, whose distinctive broad English accent lends just the right degree of sonority and humor to the text, brings out the color in this classic social commentary disguised as a Victorian drama. However, to abridge Dickens is, well, a Dickensian task, the results of which make for a story in which the author's convoluted plot lines and twists of fate play out in what seems to be a fast-forward format. Listeners must pay close attention in order to keep up with the multiple narratives and cast of curious characters, including the memorable Inspector Bucket and Mr. Guppy. Fortunately, the publisher provides a partial list of characters on the inside jacket. (Running time: 3 hours; 2 cassettes)

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