This undermines its effectiveness as the central narrative device that underpins the action of the novel, but as a critique of the legal system of the time, it was epoch-making and quite possibly history-changing. The difficulty for the modern reader is to comprehend how a lawsuit can simply continue under its own momentum without any prospect of conclusion for generations despite the best will of its parties to end it. As for the story itself, Dickens' usual slow buildup is taken to extremes here, but the eventual payoff is as moving as he ever achieved elsewhere. If I had one quibble it would be with the production itself - the frequent "re-recordings" are spliced in rather too abruptly, distracting from the flow of words. A novel this dense in character and incident would challenge the greatest actor, but with Peter Batchelor on top form my interest never flagged. Since this was not supported in my audio reader, there was no alternative but to soldier on through the thicket. It is the kind of novel that should have an index, and which in paper form would have had me often searching back through the pages for a reminder about who had said what to whom and when.
With its complex interweaved narrative strands (alternating between Esther's first-person narrative and that of a nameless omniscient narrator), its extensive cast of characters, and its frequent digressions, it poses a particular challenge as an audiobook. To book for Dominic's GHOSTS AND MURDER live stream on Monday 31st October - which includes readings of Sikes & Nancy, The Dead Hand,The Signalman plus a live Q&A with Dr.To tackle this novel in any form is no idle pastime, but requires a serious commitment of time and intellect. Support the showIf you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here
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To book for Dominic's GHOSTS AND MURDER live stream on Monday 31st October - which includes readings of Sikes & Nancy, The Dead Hand,The Signalman plus a live Q&A with Dr.
If you'd like to make a small donation to support the running of this series please click here Reading extracts from Esther's narrative also is the brilliant Sally ScottĪnd here is a link to Miriam Margolyes' unabridged audiobook of Bleak House mentioned in the episode Dominic is joined by the inimitable Stephen Fry who takes the listener on an intricate journey through the fog and mystery of Dickens' thrilling masterpiece: Bleak House
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