Bleak House

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


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