Bleak House may well be the finest literary work to come out of nineteenth-century England. In no other Victorian novel is the narrative more artful, the cast of characters more engaging, the satire more biting,the range of life more wonderfully vast. A miracle of authorial creation, the book is constructed around three great themes: the High Court of Chancery,whose endless litigation of Jarndyce and Jarndyce symbolizes the murky institutional fog surrounding all England; the theme of misplaced children, setting whimsical, carefree Harold Skimpote in poignant contrast with sad, young, nameless Jo; and the mystery theme, a romantic tangle of trails followed by the three unforgettable sleuths, Guppy, Tulkinghorn, and Bucket, leading to the astonishing revelation of a certain lady's long-held secret. In prose that is unexcelled in its vivid evocation and intensely sensual imagery, Bleak House displays Dickens at the height of his creative powers.

Bleak House may well be the finest literary work to come out of nineteenth-century England. In no other Victorian novel is the narrative more artful, the cast of characters more engaging, the satire more biting,the range of life more wonderfully vast. A miracle of authorial creation, the book is constructed around three great themes: the High Court of Chancery,whose endless litigation of Jarndyce and Jarndyce symbolizes the murky institutional fog surrounding all England; the theme of misplaced children, setting whimsical, carefree Harold Skimpote in poignant contrast with sad, young, nameless Jo; and the mystery theme, a romantic tangle of trails followed by the three unforgettable sleuths, Guppy, Tulkinghorn, and Bucket, leading to the astonishing revelation of a certain lady"s long-held secret. In prose that is unexcelled in its vivid evocation and intensely sensual imagery, Bleak House displays Dickens at the height of his creative powers.

This Bantam Classic edition includes, as Introduction,a series of excerpts from Vladimir Nabokov"s famous Cornell lectures on Bleak House.

NABOKOV ON BLEAK HOUSE:

Excerpts from Lectures on Literature

by Vladimir Nabokov

Preface to the Charles Dickens Edition

Preface to the First Edition

         (I)*

1. In Chancery

2. In Fashion

3. A Progress  

4. Telescopic Philanthropy

          (II)

5. A Morning Adventure

6. Quite at Home

7. The Ghost"s Walk

         (III)

8. Covering a Multitude of Sins

9. Signs and Tokens

10. The Law-Writer

            (IV)

11. Our Dear Brother

12. On the Watch

13. Esther"s Narrative

          (v)

14. Deportment

15. Bell Yard

16. Tom-all-Alone" s

          (VI)

17. Esther"s Narrative

18. Lady Dedlock

19. Moving On

             (VII)

20. A New Lodger

21. The Smallweed Family

22. Mr. Bucket

          (VⅢ)

23. Esther"s Narrative

24. An Appeal Case

25. Mrs. Snagsby Sees It All

              (IX)

26. Sharpshooters

27. More Old Soldiers Than One

28. The lronmaster

29. The Young Man

           (x)

30. Esther"s Narrative

31. Nurse and Patient

32. The Appointed Time

              (XI)

33. Interlopers

34. A Turn of the Screw

35. Esther" s Narrative

          (xII)

36. Chesney Wold

37. Jarndyce and Jarndyce

38. A Struggle

……