Bleak House is a giant book by any measure, physical or literary, triumphantly covering so much ground that it successfully paints a multi-faceted, multi-layered portrait of the whole culture and society of the Victorian Age in Britain. Bleak House is a savage satire upon the class system, the law, politics, and public morality. At the same time it is a wonderful crime novel of murder and detection, a love story, a comedy, and a piece of high Victorian melodrama. Yes, Bleak House is all these things and more.

In addition, the novel also displays Dickens' artistry as a writer of prose to the full. The famous first chapter alone - which consists almost entirely of a magnificent description of a foggy day in November - is a masterpiece of English prose. From there onwards the standard of writing never slips.

Dickens' is justly famous for the wonderful casts of characters he assembled for his novels and here again, Bleak House doesn't disappoint. It boasts a vast and interesting array of characters, especially Mr Jarndyce, Esther Summerson (the partial narrator and heroine of the book), Jo the crossing sweeper whose story will break your heart, the villainous Mr Tulkington, and the detective Inspector Bucket, one of the first detectives to appear in fiction.

I rate Bleak House as Dickens' most mature, supreme achievement as a writer. The satire is biting. The moral indignation at the injustices of the world is brave and honest. As a whole experience, no reader can afford not to read classics like Bleak House at least once. If you do miss out, you're only letting the finest things in life (reading life anyway) pass you by.


An excellent picture of Victorian life - Dickens' finest.   January 26, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Don't be put off by the size of this novel as it's probably the most intriguing and rewarding book you will have read in a long time. Dickens weaves a fantastic and exciting plot through the many different characters he takes from every section of society. He takes the reader on a journey of discovery down the dark alleys of London slums and through the morally corrupt Court of Chancery, discovering on the way some unexpected and devastating connections with the rural aristocracy. Dickens' humour is as strong as ever, but his social message is crucial in this novel and is one that is as relevant now as it was under the reign of Queen Victoria. Not one to miss out on...


Probably the best book I have ever read   November 3, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

From the foggy opening through the intricately woven plot, to the final pages, this is an utterly wonderful masterpiece. I love Dickens anyway (with the exception of the irritating Little Dorrit), but this is a must for everyone. If you were forced to read it at school and hated it as a result, please try again!


Winner of the 1999 Sony Drama Award   October 26, 1999
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This production of Bleak House won the 1999 Sony Radio Best Drama Award


"...terrific and should not be missed..."   July 14, 1999
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Bleak House

A full-casr dramatisation of the novel by Charles Dickens starring Michael Kitchen, Jean Marsh, Claire Price, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anton Lesser, Michael Fenton Stevens, John Shrapnell Written and Directed by John Dryden A Goldhawk Universal Production for BBC Worldwide

What the critics said:

"...terrific and should not be missed...Only when you hear a production like this, in which different scenes have been recorded in different rooms, do you realise how monotonous is the acoustic used by most radio drama. It makes the story live in another dimension..." David Sexton, Sunday Telegraph

"...the big one. A top-class production..." Evening Standard

"...one of the better ways to spend a winter's afternoon. Prepare for a novel approach..." The Times

"Anton Lesser's evil lawyer and Jean Marsh's maniac haunting the courts are terrific." Daily Mail

"...quite extraordinary richness and complexity of sound, and a deep, dark, sinister, fog-soaked ambience. It is like looking at a Tintoretto after a succession of Constables...unprecedented depth..." Paul Donovan, The Times

"This...adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic attack on greed is one of the most ambitious radio dramas of recent years..." Mail on Sunday

"To hear this was ten thousand times better than having to read it." Sue Gaisford, The Independent on Sunday

"John Dryden has pioneered in radio a kind of movie for the wireless, in which fast cutting, music and location recording are used to create pace and atmosphere...Outstanding production...Brilliant rethinking of the whole business of the classic serial..." Mark Lawson, Radio Times