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Bleak House, Dickens's most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot, challenges the reader to make connections - -between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and the victims. Nowhere in Dickens's later novels is his attack on an uncaring society more imaginatively embodied, but nowhere either is the mixture of comedy and angry satire more deftly managed.Bleak House defies a single description. It is a mystery story, in which Esther Summerson discovers the truth about her birth and her unknown mother's tragic life. It is a murder story, which comes to a climax in a thrilling chase, led by one of the earliest detectives in English fiction, Inspector Bucket. And it is a fable about redemption, in which a bleak house is transformed by the resilience of human love.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Bleak House is a satirical look at the Byzantine legalsystem in London as it consumes the minds and talents of the greedy andnearly destroys the lives of innocents--a contemporary tale indeed.Dickens's tale takes us from the foggy dank streets of London and themaze 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 areaffected by a legal suit in which there will, of course, be no winner.The first-person narrative related by the orphan Esther is particularlysweet. The articulate reading by the acclaimed British actor PaulScofield, whose distinctive broad English accent lends just the rightdegree of sonority and humor to the text, brings out the color in thisclassic social commentary disguised as a Victorian drama. However, toabridge Dickens is, well, a Dickensian task, the results of which makefor 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. Listenersmust pay close attention in order to keep up with the multiplenarratives and cast of curious characters, including the memorableInspector Bucket and Mr. Guppy. Fortunately, the publisher provides apartial list of characters on the inside jacket.(Running time: 3hours; 2 cassettes)--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
专业书评
From Library Journal
Bleak House is such a natural for audio that it comes as no surprise to read in Peter Ackroyd's biography of Dickens that he himself read it aloud to Wilkie Collins and his own family. No matter how good he was as a readerAand he did go on to present public readings regularly after thisADickens could not have performed better than Robert Whitfield does here. With a motley cast of characters to challenge the skill of any narrator, his brilliant dramatizations range from a homeless street urchin to an arrogant barrister, from a canny old windbag to a high-minded heroine who deserves the happy ending Dickens affords her. Whitfield is also as persuasive as the indignant voice of the author himself, attacking both the injustice of the law and the cruel indifference of society. This may be one of the most Dickensian novels Dickens ever wrote. Highly recommended.AJo Carr, Sarasota, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
From AudioFile
In OLIVER TWIST, a character comments, "The law is an ass." In BLEAK HOUSE, Dickens amplifies and dramatizes this remark into almost encyclopedic length. This reviewer recommends that interested parties resort to the printed version, for taking it down and putting it back on the shelf provides an excellent upper-body work-out. However, for those who insist on the audiobook, this version is a workmanlike job. Robert Whitfield reads well enough, though he lacks the imagination and life force to do full justice to the author. That he can plow through the whole thing briskly and indefatigably is itself an achievement. Beware also of a few annoyingly bad edits.Y.R. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Review
?Perhaps Bleak Houseis his best novel. . . . When Dickens wroteBleak House he had grown up.? ?G. K. Chesterton
From the Trade Paperback edition.--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
作者简介
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was born in Portsmouth, England, one of eight children, grew up in poverty, had little formal education, and yet became the most prominent and revered English Victorian writer as well as a journalist.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
| 出版社 | W. W. Norton & Company |
|---|---|
| 作者 | 查尔斯·狄更斯 (Charles Dickens) |