Bleak House Update #3: Parts 11 - 15

I have to say, the third quarter of Bleak House... woah what a blast! Parts 11 - 15 have to be my favorite sections of the novel so far, even though I’m already well into the last quarter of the novel (and almost finished) by the time of this post. There is some really juicy stuff happening at this point that I did not see coming, or even if I saw some of it coming, it was still engaging. 

Poor Esther recovers from being ill, but it doesn’t leave her untouched; Richard continues to obsess over the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case, while sinking deeper and deeper in debt; there’s some drama with the seemingly stoic Lady Dedlock; Mr. Woodcourt the handsome doctor makes an appearance (Esther is low-key in love with him); and there is another death (murder)! This is no means all encompassing, this is just what I can safely relay without giving away too much. 

I won’t continue to reiterate the themes I’ve come across in this update because I’ve covered them in my last two Bleak House posts - Dickens continues to principally discuss how the wealthy and philanthropic tend to ignore those who have those most need in their own back yards. We see this the most with Poor Jo. 

“… he is not softened by distance and unfamiliarity; he is not a genuine foreign-grown savage ; he is the ordinary home-made article. Homely filth begrimes him, homely parasites devour him, homely sores are in him, homely rags are on him; native ignorance, the growth of English soil and climate, sinks his immortal nature lower than the beasts that peril, stand forth, Jo, in uncompromising colours! From the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head, there is nothing interesting about thee.” 

First of all, how savory is that writing!? Half of the pleasure of reading Bleak House is the artistry of the language. Dickens just knows how to hit the nail on the head and make a pretty penny while doing so (if I got paid per word, I’d write flowery sentences as well…). I ain’t mad, make that money Chuck! 

This section also really focuses in on Esther’s parentage and it’s some saucy stuff!

“Your mother, Esther, was your disgrace, and you are hers. The time will come - and soon enough - when you will understand this better, and will feel it too, as no one save a woman can.” … “Pray daily that the sins of others be not visited upon your head.”

This is such a fun novel to sink into and there are chapters where I’m flying through the pages to find out what happens next because the drama is real. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Dickens ties this all together because he’s not still not revealing much about what Jarndyce and Jarndyce is about. This doesn’t bother me - there so much else going on, that I have to remind myself that this course case is looming overhead. 

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