lewelma Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 He read the description of Bleak House in his writing program and that was enough to peak his interest. He asked me if he could read it. I have never read it before, so went to wikipedia and saw that it was an indictment of the legal system of the time, which makes it sound kind of dull. Is it actually a good and interesting story and the law stuff just a portion of it? Or is it all legal mumbo jumbo?This boy is an excellent reader having just finished Three Musketeers and Robin Hood, but not quite sure if Bleak House is the *next* book, if you know what I mean. :001_smile: However, he is keen. Thanks for any and all advice, Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'd be inclined to let him try it, with the understanding that if he gets sick of it and puts it down, that's fine. That's what I do with most classic lit-I'm a lot more likely to hold back with popular YA fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 If he wants to I would let him try it. I slogged my way through War and Peace at 13, wouldn't typically recommend it to a 13 year old but if it's what piques their interest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Dickens' sense of humor is great. If you can get it from the library and let him try it out, I would. If it's not as great as it sounded, return it and try again in about four years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 If his interest is piqued I'd run with it. If he doesn't like it he can stop reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 DS read it at young 11 and loved it enough to write copywork from it of his own free will lol. I say give it a try. I tried reading it and had to put it down past 10 chapters or so. Perhaps another time. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Excellent story - classic Dickens, where the lives of all disparate individuals are actually connected, social commentary in line with his other works (Great Expectations, Oliver, etc). The cadre of characters is excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Very good book. How is he with horror? I find the chapter about the discovery of the body of someone who has apparently died of spontaneous combustion really, really creepy...... L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 Thanks everyone. I read your comments to him, and he is all go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Oh man, I loved that book. Very sad near the end . . . I sobbed. Spoiler alert: somebody dies . . . ETA: I will also say that it was pretty hard to follow at the beginning, but all the threads did come together later. I listened to the audiobook, and it was one where I went back and re-listened to some early chapter later on, once I finally figured out what was going on. Just in case that helps - if he has trouble following the story at first, encourage him to go back and re-read some of Esther's early chapters, and it will all come together soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 My younger daughter, a rising 6th grader, is only chapters away from finishing it (and it is huge)! She is really enjoying it and picked it up after my older daughter recommended it. Also, the movie version with Gillian Anderson is really good. It may be a nice bonus when the book is finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I'm a Bleak House fan! I don't see any reason not to give it a try, unless he is particularly sensitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Ah! Undergrad PTSD. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Here's an update..... He started Bleak House and the first chapter was like :confused1: . So I suggested Great Expectations, which is what he is reading now. I think that I will suggest over school holidays (next week) that he listen to the beginning of Bleak House to get him past the set up and then move to reading it himself. We will see how it goes. Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions! Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 That definitely sounds like an easier first Dickens! I was like :confused1: at the beginning of Bleak House, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 David Copperfield and Oliver Twist are also accessible at a younger age I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 When I was preparing for a year as a foreign exchange student, I went to the bookstore and bought the thickest paperbacks I could find to give me as much English language comfort as would fit in my luggage allowance. My books were Bleak House, Les Miserables, and a history of mathematics. My parents did send me a few more books later in the year, and I read some in my host language, but how I treasured those three books! I grew to love Dickens that year, but I'm not sure I would have made it through Bleak House if I hadn't been stranded on a desert island, so to speak. Craving English is a wonderful motivator (and I devoured every single word about the Paris sewers too). But Bleak House is a wonderful book and meant a lot to me that year. I last read it years ago (before ds was born at least), and this thread is making me want to read it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I am really thinking I need to give Bleak House another go. I hope to start my masters in English lit next year, this may be good practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 I have this old little, well-loved MP3 player that I use to listen to books at night. About 2 years ago it lost the ability to get any input, so all the books I have on it are all the books I will ever have. Well, lucky for me the last book I ever put on it was Great Expectations and read by a man with the most beautiful voices for all the characters. It puts me to sleep every night, and keeps playing until I turn it off some time in the middle of the night. The next day I am 1 chapter or 5 chapters ahead, and the rewind feature has also died, so I just start listening from where ever I find myself. I have done this for 2 years. Boy do I know this book, backwards and forwards, literally, as I never know where I will be in the book when I start listening that night. I love Dickens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 When I was preparing for a year as a foreign exchange student, I went to the bookstore and bought the thickest paperbacks I could find to give me as much English language comfort as would fit in my luggage allowance.I took my copy of Villette that I bought at the British Museum/Library (?) and had lugged around, unread, for ten years, on an extended visit to my in-laws', where I knew I'd have limited reading material. I also brought several volumes of Charlotte Mason! ha. I read them all! I really do need to read some Dickens. Now I have an ereader, so there's not even a space issue. ETA: I do find that I've fooled myself by loading up all these classics on it, but never actually reading it. It's like potential intellectualism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.