Bleak House cover art

Bleak House

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Bleak House

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Hugh Dickson
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

 The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has ground its way through the courts for generations. At its heart are Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, who find love - and terrible loss - through their involvement in the endless battle.

Meanwhile, her friend Esther Summeson, who believes she is an orphan, gradually discovers the truth of her identity. The court case throws out a web ensnaring all who come near it, including Lady Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkingham, detective Bucket and tragic little waif Jo.

Secrets emerge, crimes are committed and love affairs bloom. But will anyone ever benefit from the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce?

©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Heartfelt

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Classic Starts® cover art
Little Dorrit cover art
The Pickwick Papers: Dickens on Dickens cover art
The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens cover art
Nicholas Nickleby cover art
Our Mutual Friend cover art
Hard Times cover art
Great Expectations cover art
Barnaby Rudge cover art
David Copperfield cover art
Martin Chuzzlewit cover art
Sketches by Boz: Volume 1 cover art
The Old Curiosity Shop cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
Dombey and Son cover art
Middlemarch cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
A fantastic book to listen to. The narrator is amazing and his range of voices made the listen even more enjoyable.

There is both sadness and joy in this book and story lines that keep you gripped. Although it is very long it really is worth it!

Really worth it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you listen to Bleak House again? Why?

This is a good reading of Dicken's vast and complex work. Dickson has a good attempt at differentiating all the characters' voices but his sudden changes in volume, especially Esther's voice in her more contemplative moments, meant that I was having to adjust the volume when listening on the bus/train/street. A good performance, though, overall.

My favourite Dickens

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Now, first of all let me just acknowledge to all purists that i am aware that it is not entirely the done thing to criticize a much celebrated writer of what is supposed to be called classic literature in the strictest sense of the word but criticize is all I can do of a man whom is celebrated as a great master of the art of Victorian writing. This book is probably the worst example of what might be described as part caracature and part self-portrait I have ever heard. Trying to be funny and yet corny this book ahs no plot and nothing to hold the attention. The characters spend money they don't have since it's supposedly all tied up in a lawsuit which is so tangled up there's no way out of it yet money is of no object. The characters themselves are by turns sentimental, annoying and unlikely. In short this example of classic literature is simply unworthy of its craft or its author. Don't read it if you think of yourself as a Dickens fan or you'll change your mind unless there's something I'm missing here. The book is too long and not at all engaging. The narator just about saves it from complete disaster.

Please excuse and forgive me if I should yawn or fall asleep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hugh Dickson is superb. He manages to pull so many different voices and characters out of himself. Magical.

Brilliantly narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
would prefer a woman to read stories written in female first person singular
however, the reader has great voice, easy to listen to,even for such a long book

very complex socio-judicial intrigues

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It took a while to get in to but it was worth it. Narrator made it for me.

Better than expected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This a beautiful book - Dickens at his wittiest and most ironic. The narrator Hugh Dickson is brilliant and the book came alive with his acutely drawn characterisations. Some of the descriptive passages came close to poetry in his interpretation.

Sheer enjoyment

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant novel brought to life with astonishing vividness and humour by Hugh Dickson. I cannot recommend this audiobook highly enough.

A genuine gem

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Even (make it specially) if you've read this a few times, it's worth listening to this version. Hugh Dickson does an amazing job.

A Great Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a superb reading by Hugh Dickson. The character portrayal is staggeringly good, the dramatic passages are full of excitement and the emotion is sensitively expressed. I cannot praise this reading highly enough. It should not be missed.

An enchanting audio experience

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews