Bleak House
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Narrated by:
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Peter Batchelor
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By:
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Charles Dickens
About this listen
Held to be Dickens' finest novel, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon. Memorable characters include the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the friendly, but depressive John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the likeable but imprudent Richard Carstone. A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system. This novel set the standard for modern day legal thrillers.
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Related to this topic
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Performance
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Story
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Performance
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Gripping novel, excellent production
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Quietly, subtly sweet and heartwarming
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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horrible technically - echoes at most of the words
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A fast-paced Victorian thriller that will delight audiences today as it did 100 years ago, Lady Audley's Secret has subterfuge, kidnapping, jealousy, and fraud, all thrown into the mix and shaken up for good measure.
A mystery which keeps a listener guessing until the last moments, this production is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys playing detective.
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Narrator creates the listen
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This audiobook is about the rise and fall of Michael Henchard. While out-of-work he gets drunk at a fair and impulsively sells his wife and baby for five guineas to a sailor. Eighteen years later he is reunited with his wife and daughter, who discover that he has gained wealth and respect and is now the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Though he attempts to make amends he is no less impulsive and once again loses everything due to bad luck and his violent, selfish and vengeful nature.
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Tangled Webs
- By Joseph R on 12-22-09
By: Thomas Hardy
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The Way of All Flesh
- By: Samuel Butler
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This brilliant satirical novel, tracing the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex, has continued in popularity since its original publication in 1903. Every generation finds in The Way of All Flesh a reaffirmation of youth's rightful struggle against the tyranny of harsh parents and its admirable will for freedom of personal expression.
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classic satire- would make Jon Stewart laugh
- By Connie on 06-04-08
By: Samuel Butler
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The Shuttle
- By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Narrated by: Tabi That
- Length: 19 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Rosalie Vanderpoel, the daughter of an American multimillionaire marries an impoverished English baronet and goes to live in England. She all but loses contact with her family in America. Years later her younger sister Bettina, beautiful, intelligent and extremely rich, goes to England to find what has happened to her sister. She finds Rosalie shabby and dispirited, cowed by her husband's ill-treatment. Bettina sets about to rectify matters.
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More than Lovely
- By jTacy67 on 01-17-18
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The Man Who Invented Christmas
- How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist. The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution.
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Beautifully Told!
- By JodyB on 12-01-17
By: Les Standiford
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A Room with a View
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Rebecca Hall
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich new audio production, acclaimed British American actress Rebecca Hall brings one of E. M. Forster's most admired works to life in this classic tale of human struggle. A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, is wooed by both free-spirited George Emerson and wealthy Cecil Vyse while vacationing in Italy. Though attracted to George, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil despite twice turning down his proposals. On hearing of the news, George confesses his love, leaving Lucy torn between marrying the more socially acceptable Cecil or George, the man she knows would bring her true happiness. Should Lucy choose social acceptance or true love?
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A lovely performance, and a wonderful story
- By Robert on 01-19-19
By: E. M. Forster
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Lady Audley's Secret
- By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Narrated by: Olivia Poulet
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of The Christmas Hirelings comes this Audible Exclusive production of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s classic sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret. English actress Olivia Poulet gives an assured and captivating narration; a cornerstone of the genre and a scandal at the time of its publication, Lady Audley’s Secret is an entertaining and shocking tale of high drama and shifting perceptions.
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Classic 19th Century “sensation novel”
- By Susan on 08-20-19
What listeners say about Bleak House
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JHMore
- 10-13-17
Perhaps better in print than on audio
Many times I've heard this work described as Dickens' masterpiece, so I'd hoped to find it more engaging than I did. I don't think the expansiveness of the novel alone is the problem, as I've listened to equally complex works and reveled in them. With Bleak House, however, the first half is such slow going that it's hard to find the main stream of the plot for all the interminable eddies, and the number of extraneous characters only serves to muddy the waters. By the mid-point of the recording, I'd come to think of it as "six hundred characters in search of a novel." But as other reviewers note, inherent difficulty of the novel isn't helped by the narrator, who reads at such a quick pace that many of the lengthier passages -- there are a lot of them of course -- dissolve into a rambling blur. Nor can he do justice to the sheer number of character voices that the narrative imposes on him. I strongly suspect that Bleak House is best served by its original medium.
I can still appreciate why the book enjoys such a strong reputation. I don't know many other works that deal so intensely and dynamically with the intersections of class in Victorian society. It is astonishing in that respect.
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- Bret G. Rider
- 05-24-15
Better example of Dickens' art than many others better known...
This is only my third Audible book and while Mr Batchelor has a fine voice his personalizing of the characters was not an addition to the story. Many times it actually detracted fro the story. His voice of Messieurs Smallweed and Vols verged on the annoying and while both characters are annoying I think Mr Dickens words aline served the purpose. I will not avoid books read by Mr Batchelor but I won't be searching them out either. As to the story, there is a reason it is a classic. Dickens weaves a great plot with enough subplots to keep the listeners' interest. The story line is revealed enough at the right time so as to not injury the overall story but also not scarcely so much so as the listeners' intelligence is insulted. That the story was originally produced in serial from it must do as it does. Worthy of a third book and moving on to Evelyn Waugh next.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Gina Johnson
- 02-24-18
Cuts out?
I highly enjoyed this book but the very end cuts off in what sounds like the middle of a sentence. Everything else about it was highly enjoyable.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Russell R. Dickerson
- 10-13-15
oops
wonderful story very well read. A bit surprised that the last five minutes were cut off of the recording
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4 people found this helpful
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- Les Ross
- 02-23-17
Luxuriant
Immersive and a pleasure.
Very annoying repetition of some sections of the story recording also the recording cuts off before the story fully finishes.
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- Julian
- 10-12-13
For the serious Dickensian
To tackle this novel in any form is no idle pastime, but requires a serious commitment of time and intellect. With its complex interweaved narrative strands (alternating between Esther's first-person narrative and that of a nameless omniscient narrator), its extensive cast of characters, and its frequent digressions, it poses a particular challenge as an audiobook. It is the kind of novel that should have an index, and which in paper form would have had me often searching back through the pages for a reminder about who had said what to whom and when. Since this was not supported in my audio reader, there was no alternative but to soldier on through the thicket. A novel this dense in character and incident would challenge the greatest actor, but with Peter Batchelor on top form my interest never flagged. If I had one quibble it would be with the production itself - the frequent "re-recordings" are spliced in rather too abruptly, distracting from the flow of words. As for the story itself, Dickens' usual slow buildup is taken to extremes here, but the eventual payoff is as moving as he ever achieved elsewhere. The difficulty for the modern reader is to comprehend how a lawsuit can simply continue under its own momentum without any prospect of conclusion for generations despite the best will of its parties to end it. This undermines its effectiveness as the central narrative device that underpins the action of the novel, but as a critique of the legal system of the time, it was epoch-making and quite possibly history-changing. The greatest incidental pleasure is to be had in the minor comic characters such as the paragon of "deportment", Mr Turvidrop, and the evangelist Mr Chadband with his orotund sermonising (ministers of any stripe rarely fare well in Dickens' hands). Serious Dickens fans simply must attempt this, but best you know what to expect beforehand. You will be glad if you can make it to the end.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Nemo
- 07-31-16
Servants who sound like. . . Eric Idle!
Any additional comments?
I agree with the reviewer who said they wouldn't not buy another book narrated by Peter Bachelor, but they wouldn't seek one out either.My issue with his narration is that he races through the text. Dickens is full of subplots that intertwine, and cunning observations slipped in here and there. Bachelor reads so fast I haven't time to fully absorb one and relate it to the overall narrative arc before he's racing onto the next paragraph/scene.My other complaint is that the female servants sound exactly like Eric Idle! I laughed out loud the first time it happened, but after a while it became irritating.Mr. Bachelor, for the love of Dickens, please slow down when you read these complex Victorian epics and whilst I love Eric Idle (my favorite Python!) find another voice for the "common folk."
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3 people found this helpful
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- Nicole
- 12-05-18
Delightful! Dickens meets Austen
This was a delightful story! Well read! It feels a bit like dickens, with comical and sad illustrations of the times, and a bit like Austen with plenty of romantic twists and marriage proposals! Highly recommended!
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- Emily
- 08-17-16
Good for long-haul reading
This narrator has a very pleasing voice and changes his pitch for different characters. He knows where to pause and his inflection makes even Dickens easy to follow. As someone who has seen the BBC adaptation of Bleak House, I can honestly say that he nailed the impression of Mr. Tulkinghorn. Sounds uncannily like Charles Dance!
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-04-21
Good reading but technical issues
I really like Peter Batchelor’s readings of Dickens, and this one is no exception. There are some issues with the recording itself, some looped sections a dropped passage, and some issues with the volume rising and dropping. However, the reading itself was wonderful (as per usual) and the novel itself wonderful.
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