Casa desolada

by Charles Dickens

«¿Qué relación puede haber entre las muchas personas de las incontables historias de este mundo, que, desde los extremos opuestos que los separan, acaban juntándose?» ¿Qué puede unir a los jóvenes pleiteantes de una causa testamentaria que lleva tantas generaciones prolongándose «que no hay nadie con vida que sepa lo que significa» con una señora volcada en los asuntos de una comunidad africana llamada Borriobula-Gha? ¿Cómo se relacionan el baronet sir Leicester Dedlock y su altiva mujer, lady Dedlock, con un muchacho que barre las esquinas y malvive en uno de los rincones más infectos de Londres? ¿Cómo pueden ser amigos el señor Jarndyce, un íntegro caballero cuyos estados de ánimo dependen del viento del este, y el señor Skimpole, uno de los caraduras más impresionantes de la historia de la literatura? Sumemos a eso una extensísima galería de personajes siniestros o angelicales, orgullosos o humillados, pusilánimes o magnánimos, y obtendremos un atisbo del cuadro general de Casa Desolada (1852-1853), donde todo, en efecto, está conectado. Dickens arriesga todavía más al confiar su relato a dos narradores: por una parte, uno que parece ver el mundo desde las alturas, capaz de entrar en todos sus recovecos y juzgarlos, tan propenso al sarcasmo como al patetismo, y también a la fantasmagoría; y por otra, una narradora en primera persona, Esther Summerson, una joven de oscuro origen que ve las cosas solo a la altura del ojo humano y cuenta su iniciación a la vida creyéndose apenas autorizada para ello. La combinación de ambos puntos de vista crea una auténtica convivencia, que se eleva a un plano ético en consonancia con los ideales de la novela. No en vano esta se considera una de las obras maestras de Dickens.

1008 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2025

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)