And then there is Mr. Chadband. I’m not really sure what Chadband does, aside from talk. He’s one of those people who likes to answer his own questions, and given our electoral situation, he’s especially appropriate. “My friends, why do I wish for peace? What is peace? Is it war? No. Is it strife? No. Is it lovely, and gentle, and beautiful, and pleasant, and serene, and joyful? O yes!” (ch. 19). It felt like someone had switched on CNN inside my book. How anyone can use so many words to say so little is beyond me. I mean we’ve had something like 19 debates on the Democratic side alone and what have we really learned about the candidates? One appears to be a little more snarky than the other, but other than that I haven’t heard a whole lot of specifics. It’s not just politics either. I know I’m not the only one who’s had to sit through a meeting where a supervisor or, worse, a consultant, talks for an hour without telling me anything new or useful. One time, I actually had a woman spend half an hour talking about her cats to a room full of high school teachers. She wasn’t the only catty one there by the end of it, I can tell you. But, I digress.

What continually surprises me as I read Bleak House is that people don’t change. Oh, the fashions and the places may change, but the personality types certainly don’t. Make no mistake, this is a period piece. If the aesthetics of 19th-century London turn you off, you probably won’t like the book. If you can get past that, on the other hand, you will find yourself wrapped up in characters which are complex, interconnected and so, so familiar. I think when Dickens was writing this, especially given the satiric elements, he was writing about his world, his London. He was so expert in capturing these characters, however, that he created something truly timeless.  As I keep reading, the threads connecting these characters grow ever more taught.  How they will all be unknotted, and which ones will break, I'm not sure.  Getting to the end of this mamoth book, though, is a journey I am more than willing to make.