Dear J-
I read books like I eat meals: if I leave it unfinished, I leave it guiltily. While it hasn’t been a total chore to read th novel, thus far, I did manage to slip in several weeks of apathy here and there, justifying the research spent on various subjects (as ever, cameras, lenses, and gadgets) as being fruitful without counting the distractions and consequences. It’ll probably just take a little push over the weekend to get the novel done by Christmas — so not as fast as I’d hoped, but not as slow as I’d feared.
- Closing In
- Dutiful Friendship
- Esther’s Narrative
- Enlightened
- Obstinacy
- The Track
- Springing a Mine
- Flight
- Pursuit
Progress: 86%
I’m almost content with the story as it’s unfolded so far; the surprises have been logical enough and keep the plot humming along. Let the ones who are lost stay lost, let the dead characters rest. That said, the eponymous Bleak House’s role has faded into the background, along with John Jarndyce and his fiancee; although there’s more than a tenth of the book left to go, I can’t see but that there’s much left for the story to wrap up with.
The book is nearly over and yet Dickens delights in changing my perceptions — there’s Mr. Bucket, who turns out to have unravelled the whole mess without having what could be called the greatest grasp of letters. He’s first painted as a blustering man of violence, then as a bumbling fool, all the while sorting things out in his street-savvy mind.
He is no great scribe, rather handling his pen like the pocket-staff he carries about with him always convenient to his grasp, and discourages correspondence with himself in others as being too artless and direct a way of doing delicate business.
I like having my character assumptions challenged; the judgement passed on certain lives with sketchy information makes for interesting I-told-you-sos as you learn more about them. How dim is Skimpole, really? How dutiful is Bucket? How does the secret link between George and the Dedlocks inject new perspective on both lives? It keeps me turning pages to see what’s next, and I’m starting to understand why so many folks were introduced so fast — it doesn’t make the first part of the book any less dense and unreadable, but hindsight makes it forgiveable. I will have to go back and skim together a chart of names and relationships, though; it’s amazing how well-connected everything is. Does it make the world of Bleak House more or less believeable when the veil is lifted from the dazzling web of links?
Mike
Tags: bleak house, dickens, nanoremo
19 December 2008 at 8:41 pm |
I haven’t read this post yet – I’m just dropping you a note to let you know that I haven’t abandoned the NaNoReMo project either. It’s been a while since my last post on the subject, because it’s been a while since I spent any time with the book. Spouse and I hosted the office Christmas party last Saturday and – in addition to many year-end thingys that needed to get done at work – there have been goodbyes to attend to (my brother Mike and his family moved to Chicago last Friday), birthdays to be celebrated and – occasionally – sleep to be had.
But Spouse and I are holidaying – vacating, if you will – as of 4:00 this afternoon.
I have to do some shopping tomorrow – Saturday the 20th – and we’re off to Toronto to see the Messiah at Roy Thomson Hall in the evening – but Sunday is supposed to bring more snowstorm activity and I am planning to spend the stormy time inside doing nothing but reading to catch up.
19 December 2008 at 9:20 pm |
I knocked off work early and over a lunchtime burger, ran all the way to the end (I was a couple of chapters away this morning, it wasn’t too far to go). Not only am I glad I read it, I may end up going after some more Dickens. He’s now demystified; though dense, I find I can get through it without getting bogged down in the details if I’m any kind of alert.
I’m also somewhat addicted to reading on the Treo. Funny thing is that I don’t use it for any phone functions — just as a overglorified Palm with a built-in, marginally useful keyboard — but I find myself carrying it around more than my phone.
Happy shopping and good luck; we’ve made liberal use of Amazon this year, but theVet’s not much of a browser; while I’ll happily trot up and down book and record aisles and flip over every single one, if there’s no plan or list, she’ll start to grab at random ideas.