A bit of a lazy #BookSnapSunday. I started dipping back into an old classic when I could not get to sleep and just could not seem to get into any of the new titles I have stacked up. Being unable to lose yourself in a book when you really want to, is just so frustrating but that’s when the old comfort reads come to the fore. If I was stuck on a desert island, Bleak House would definitely be one of the books I would want to be marooned with, it is such a rich cacophony of a novel, filled with wonderful eccentrics and soap opera drama. My favourite Dickens novel. Maybe it is because of the pandemic that I felt drawn to pick it up again since it is a novel in which disease and contagion plays a part.
A wonderful rich novel, it is considered one of, if not the first detective novel. Dickens is also commonly credited with popularising the word “bored” through this novel and the memorable character of Lady Deadlock: “And I am bored to death with it. Bored to death with this place, bored to death with my life, bored to death with myself.” I know how she feels. It is, however, impossible to be bored with Bleak House. It is also a novel which contains my favourite literary death. I say favourite not because it is moving or dramatic but just because it is the most unique death of a fictional character I can think of. Not many authors have their characters spontaneously combust. Bleak House is the great novel of the law and courts and if it has one message it is that no one profits from the law except lawyers. A book every potential litigant should read.
I own two copies of Bleak House, my old paperback penguin which has seen better days and since it is a book I do pick up and re-read on occasion I also have the penguin hard cover edition. Do you ever buy a copy of a hard cover edition of a book because you want an enduring copy for your personal library? What are the titles you would consider your desert island reads if you were marooned?
Oh and Ada is a bit of a lazy prop since one of the main characters in the novel shares her name, but other than the name there is no other similarity. Ada has also become my faithful book buddy, when she is not tearing around like a deranged hound of the Baskervilles she is happy to curl up with me and read a book, well, I read a book and she uses me as a comfortable pillow.
#BookSnapSunday is a weekly bookish Instagram meme hosted here at Gum trees and Galaxies.com, if you would like to join in please feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments below. Happy reading.
