# Bleak House by Charles Dickens

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Bleak House by Charles Dickens and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its older Dickensian English, which people find delightful, and called one of the great novels.

## Why people recommend it

- Prose praised for how it sounds (2 comments): "Similarly with the older language used by Dickens. But damn it sounds good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48380649)) "delightful bit of English" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49514618))
- Seen as a great novel (1 comments): "If they are not great novels, I don't know what are." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379466))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0141199091?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780141199092) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Bleak House by Charles Dickens", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bleak-house/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).