Bleak House

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Paul Scofield

"Bleak House" is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. Read by Paul Schofield.

"Bleak House" is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. It is at once a complex mystery story that fully engages the reader in the work of detection, and an unforgettable indictment of an indifferent society. Its representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay, draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. But it is his symbolic art that projects these things in a vision that embraces black comedy, cosmic farce, and tragic ruin. In a unique creative experiment, Dickens divides the narrative between his heroine, Esther Summerson, who is psychologically interesting in her own right, and an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements and challenges hers.

Sensitive reading; sub-par abridgement

Any abridgement is bound to be scanty, but this particular shortening leaves loopholes and creates some mild inaccuracies. However, Scofield's reading hides a multitude of sins and is definitely a keeper.

Abridged Beyond belief

STAY away- so abridged it reads like a cliff note- awful- tried to get a refund but could not