Bleak House.

I went into Bleak House not really knowing what to expect. I tend to clump authors together who wrote within 20 or so years of each other, and think that since they wrote in roughly the same time period, they must be similar. I'm learning, of course, that's not true. :) The settings may be similar, but that's it. I have not yet read any of Charles Dickens' novels, and I had only seen two movie adaptations of them before this one (A Christmas Carol and Nicholas Nickleby). So I think I expected this story to be similar to something by Jane Austen or Elizabeth Gaskell, except maybe more masculine.

Wow, could I have been more wrong? This story is full of suspense, secrets, hidden identities, murder, blackmail, disease, and a case of spontaneous human combustion {Seriously. I wouldn't even know what that was if it wasn't for a strange fellow in my public speaking class this spring who always gave speeches on the most unusual topics. One of them was spontaneous human combustion}.

It was amazing. And very long- about 8 hours, I think? When I look at the massive novel it's based on, though, I guess that makes sense. I had to watch it over several days on Netflix, and it was so interesting I could hardly wait to see the next episode. When I found out that a law case was a major part of the plot, I expected to find that part very boring- but it wasn't. The way the case is connected with the characters, you can't help but be interested!

It definitely had a dark, gloomy feel (the title sort of gives away that much). But there were moments of hope and humor. It was filmed beautifully and the cast was perfect.

I loved Esther. She was such a sweet, likable person. I liked Ada, but I didn't like Richard. I might have at first, but he got obnoxious pretty quickly. Mr. Jarndyce was supposed to be a good and generous character, I know, but sometimes he creeped me out a little. I couldn't stand the evil, greedy Mr. Tulkinghorn. Guppy...I actually liked him a little at first, because his awkardness was pitiful and endearing. My affection disappeared when he turned stalkerish and shallow (treating Esther the way he did after her illness was unforgivable!). I felt so sorry for poor Lady Dedlock and I wished things could have turned out differently for her.

And I loved the ending. I thought it was going in a direction which was going to leave me very disappointed, but thankfully Charles Dickens went for the happy ending. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a period drama geek like me. It's been over a week ago since I saw it, and I wish I had wrote this post immediately after finishing it so my words wouldn't be so vague. :)

I had bought the book several weeks ago, and after watching this, I don't feel nearly so intimidated by it as I did before. I plan on reading it soon.

Until next time,