Bleak House

After its recent warm reception on "Masterpiece Theatre," you may be thinking that it's time to read this classic. But will you really do it? Audio is a great way to enjoy Dickens, especially as he himself believed the best way to deliver his material was to read it aloud. By turns darkly humorous, horrific, and poignant, this is great entertainment. Narrators Sean Barrett and Teresa Gallagher more than hold their own with the complex story and multitude of characters. Gallagher breathes new life into young Esther, portraying her with charm and intelligence and avoiding the cloying sweetness she is frequently accused of. Barrett gives weight and voice to the loftiest and lowest members of mid-nineteenth-century British society, while drawing out every ounce of humor in what can be, in the right hands, a very funny novel. D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

This full-cast dramatization is stunningly good at reproducing the ambience of nineteenth-century London and the emotional texture of Charles Dickens's novel. The musical score enhances the claustrophobic tension of the story. The sound effects are both impressively layered and well chosen to create emotional impact, simulate the passage of time, and, most challenging, give the sense of changing relationships. However, the novel's twisting plot and numerous characters make the production hard to follow at times, so much so that despite its superior quality, this production is recommended primarily to those who already know the novel well. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

In OLIVER TWIST, a character comments, "The law is a ass." In BLEAK HOUSE, Dickens amplifies and dramatizes this remark into almost encyclopedic length. This reviewer recommends that interested parties resort to the printed version, for taking it down and putting it back on the shelf provides an excellent upper-body work-out. However, for those who insist on the audiobook, this version is a workmanlike job. Robert Whitfield reads well enough, though he lacks the imagination and life force to do full justice to the author. That he can plow through the whole thing briskly and indefatigably is itself an achievement. Beware also of a few annoyingly bad edits. Y.R. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

[Editor's Note--The following is a combined review with DAVID COPPERFIELD, GHOST STORIES, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, HARD TIMES, MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, OLIVER TWIST, OUR MUTUAL FRIEND, THE PICKWICK PAPERS, and A TALE OF TWO CITIES.]--New Millennium presents the distinguished Academy Award winner Paul Scofield interpreting abridgments of the novels and stories of Charles Dickens. These are excellent readings, sonorous and compelling. However, they lack the verve and character of the old Victorian qualities that have been so wonderfully captured on cassette by Martin Jarvis and Miriam Margolyes, among others. And while few authors benefit more from pruning than the paid-by-the-word Dickens, some of these cuttings are far too drastic. In addition, hurried post-production is evident in numerous audible edits, frequent mouth noises, and occasional overlapping of announcer and narrator. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

If you've read this thick book, brimming over with notable characters, plots and subplots, you can be forgiven for failing to notice what we discover on this tape--that Dickens has ventured into cross-sexuality. "These young ladies are my five boys," quoth Beatie Edney, the British actress who conarrates this Penguin version. She meant to say, "These, young ladies, are my five boys." But she lacks the vocal control and the ear to pull off the simple line. Even when giving a line its true value, which is most of the time, she bores one so that one must work hard to concentrate on the story. Her confrere, the distinguished Ronald Pickup, is so good, so Dickensian, that by contrast she sounds worse than perhaps she otherwise would. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Such a miraculously good new audio version of this great novel is cause for hats in the air. BLEAK HOUSE is particularly rich in the verbose minor characters Dickens's newly literate audience loved. Margolyes makes them so various and so funny that you'll relish every syllable. The pompous vanity of her Mr. Turveydrop is delicious, and the nasal horror of the succubus lawyer Mr. Voles is inspired. Her Grandfather Smallweed--"Shake me up, Judy!"--is simultaneously loathsome and hilarious, just as he must be. Margolyes clearly loves this material and brilliantly displays Dickens's genius for plotting, nailing human foibles, and shining light on social cruelties. It's a gobsmacking performance, on a par with Jim Dale's protean work on the Harry Potter novels. Ms. Margolyes contains multitudes. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine