Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

book data

33,681 ratings, 3.63 average rating, 2,100 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		23%
4		34%
3		27%
2		10%
1		4%

edit

published

June 25th 1998 (first published 1861) by Oxford University Press, USA

binding

Paperback, 544 pages

characters

Miss Havisham, Philip Pirrip, Estella

setting

The United Kingdom

isbn

0192833596 (isbn13: 9780192833594)

description

Dickens considered Great Expectations one of his "little pieces," and indeed, it is slim compared to such weighty novels as David Copperfiel...more

[close] Dickens considered Great Expectations one of his "little pieces," and indeed, it is slim compared to such weighty novels as David Copperfield or Nicholas Nickleby. But what this cautionary tale of a young man raised high above his station by a mysterious benefactor lacks in length, it more than makes up for in its remarkable characters and compelling story. The novel begins with young orphaned Philip Pirrip--Pip--running afoul of an escaped convict in a cemetery. This terrifying personage bullies Pip into stealing food and a file for him, threatening that if he tells a soul "your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate." The boy does as he's asked, but the convict is captured anyway, and transported to the penal colonies in Australia. Having started his novel in a cemetery, Dickens then ups the stakes and introduces his hero into the decaying household of Miss Havisham, a wealthy, half-mad woman who was jilted on her wedding day many years before and has never recovered. Pip is brought there to play with Miss Havisham's ward, Estella, a little girl who delights in tormenting Pip about his rough hands and future as a blacksmith's apprentice.

I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began to consider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it.

It is an infection that Pip never quite recovers from; as he spends more time with Miss Havisham and the tantalizing Estella, he becomes more and more discontented with his guardian, the kindhearted blacksmith, Joe, and his childhood friend Biddy. When, after several years, Pip becomes the heir of an unknown benefactor, he leaps at the chance to leave his home and friends behind to go to London and become a gentleman. But having expectations, as Pip soon learns, is a two-edged sword, and nothing is as he thought it would be. Like that other "little piece," A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations is different from the usual Dickensian fare: the story is dark, almost surreal at times, and you'll find few of the author's patented comic characters and no comic set pieces. And yet this is arguably the most compelling of Dickens's novels for, unlike David Copperfield or Martin Chuzzlewit, the reader can never be sure that things will work out for Pip. Even Dickens apparently had his doubts--he wrote two endings for this novel. --Alix Wilber [close]

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($2.24)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: The Last Letter Game	1133	906	3 hours, 53 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: Author Alphabet	2765	1549	3 hours, 56 min ago
1001 Books You M...: Which one did you just finish?	1882	4054	8 hours, 30 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: 5 Star Reads	328	1406	8 hours, 58 min ago

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Best Books Ever

3336 books | 11646 voters

The worst books of all time

1463 books | 10154 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 41,724)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

07/04/08

Michael Kneeland rated it:

Read in December, 1996

My students (and some of my friends) can't ever figure out why I love this novel so much. I explain how the characters are thoroughly original and yet timeless, how the symbolism is rich and tasty, and how the narrative itself is juicy and chock-full of complexity, but they just shake their heads at me in utter amazement and say, "What's wrong with you, dude?"

What's wrong, indeed.

I give them ten or fifteen years. Perhaps they'll have to read it again in college,...more My students (and some of my friends) can't ever figure out why I love this novel so much. I explain how the characters are thoroughly original and yet timeless, how the symbolism is rich and tasty, and how the narrative itself is juicy and chock-full of complexity, but they just shake their heads at me in utter amazement and say, "What's wrong with you, dude?"

What's wrong, indeed.

I give them ten or fifteen years. Perhaps they'll have to read it again in college, or maybe they'll just try reading it again as an adult to see if they can try to figure out why it's such a "classic," but after some time has passed from their initial encounter with the novel, they will find that I am not so crazy after all and that the book is in fact one of the best examples--if not the best example--of the novel. This happens to me all the time: I will re-read something I was forced to read in middle school and high school, remembering how much I hated it then, and will find that I actually love it now, as an adult. Sure, those "classics" may have taught me something about literary analysis, symbolic patterns, and the like, but I couldn't appreciate it for its complexity until I was older. I guess the rule of wine appreciation applies here, too: good taste only comes after much patience and experience.

***

Perhaps the thing I love best about this novel is the cast of characters--their names as well as their personalities. Ms. Havisham is one of my favorite characters to ever appear in all of the literature I have read. There is so much density and complexion to her character that I could literally make an entire career out of writing discourses on her characterization. She has even invaded the way I think about the world and the people I have met: I have, for instance, started referring to those instances where parents try to achieve success through their children "the Havisham effect" (unfortunately, you see this all too often in the world of teaching). Havisham's name is another exasperatingly fantastic aspect of her character: like the majority of Dickens' characters, you pretty much know what you're in for when you first read her name--she is full of lies, tricks, and deceits (or "sham"s). You don't get this sort of characterization much of anywhere else in the literary scene.

Another reason I love this novel so much is its plotting. Remember, Dickens was writing in a serialized format so he needed to keep his readers hooked so that they'd want to buy the next issue of his periodical, All the Year Round, in order to see what happens next. Thus, the plot of Great Expectations is winding, unpredictable, and quite shocking at points. Certainly, in terms of heavy action--well, what our youngsters these days would call action, fighting and big explosions and what-not--there is none, or very little at most, but that's not the thing to be looking for. Figure out the characters first, and then, once you've gotten to know and even care for them (or hate them), you will be hooked on the plot because you will want to know what happens to these people who you've invested so much feeling into. This is, of course, true of all novels, but it's what I tell my students when they read Great Expectations for the first time, and by gum, it's helped more than a few of them get through the novel successfully.

So, if you read Great Expectations in middle school, high school, or college, but haven't picked it up since, I urge you to do so. With a more patient and experienced set of eyes, you just might surprise yourself.(less)

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

1 comment

10/07/07

Mercedes rated it:

Interview with Pip

Q: Pip, what's you're real name?
A: Philip Pirrip

Q: Who did you live with at the begining of the story?
A: My sister and her husband, Mrs. and Mr. Joe Gragery

Q: Where were your parents?
A: Both my mother and father were dead, alone with my seven younger brothers.

Q: What do you think of your sister and brother-in-law?
A: My sister usually smacked me whenever I got out of line. She usually cleaned or stomped arou...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

2 comments

08/22/07

Kanchan Gupta rated it:

There is very little agreement amongst readers as to which of Dickens's novels is the best, but today Great Expectations is often placed near the top of polls. This contrasts with the end of the 19th century, when the author George Gissing, in his study of Dickens' works, had to remind the readers of the plot of Great Expectations as it was largely ignored compared to his other works. The book's lack of popularity shortly after it was written and its greater status today is perhaps due to the fa...more There is very little agreement amongst readers as to which of Dickens's novels is the best, but today Great Expectations is often placed near the top of polls. This contrasts with the end of the 19th century, when the author George Gissing, in his study of Dickens' works, had to remind the readers of the plot of Great Expectations as it was largely ignored compared to his other works. The book's lack of popularity shortly after it was written and its greater status today is perhaps due to the fact that it is the least "Dickensian" of any of his books. The usual grotesque characters common to many of his books are more muted and believable in this book. The book is very carefully plotted and less episodic than many of Dickens's other stories with the central character's changing viewpoint and perception of the world around him an important element of the story. There was an academic revival of interest, particularly by American critics starting in the 1940s, which has since placed it in the canon of often-read school texts.

The character of Pip contrasts sharply with the title characters in such books as Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist. In these novels, the main character is more simply portrayed and the characters around them are of far greater interest. Pip, on the other hand, begins as a likable, but simple child, but develops into quite an unsympathetic character later in the book. Dickens draws the reader into following the fortunes of the changing Pip from childhood—a subject in which Dickens is an acknowledged master—on to a rather snobbish and objectionable adolescence and then to his final reformation. Although he would probably not have liked to admit it, Dickens himself was a very clear model for Pip's personality. Despite having great fondness for the poor and oppressed and wishing to improve their conditions, Dickens felt himself to be superior to them. What he saw as a shameful personal connection to the poor earlier in his life made his desire to separate from them more pronounced, and this is mirrored in Pip's story.

As is common with Dickens, the novel is an instrument to reveal the flaws of Victorian society. Dickens, being a moralist, portrays the wealthy negatively but rewards the humble characters, notably Joe and Biddy. This message is tied in to one of the central themes of the novel—placement in society and its influence on personal identity.

The ending of the book is another measure of the difference to other Dickens novels and also greatly affects the reader's interpretation of the whole story. Dickens originally wrote an unhappy ending to the book that was, however, consistent with the book's theme. Dickens rarely did this and indeed it was very unusual for Victorian novels in general. After talking to his friends and fellow novelists Wilkie Collins and Edward Bulwer-Lytton he re-wrote a more hopeful ending which is the one used in all subsequent editions. Many critics regard the first ending as far more in keeping with the morality of the proceeding story but the second ending is acknowledged to be better written from a stylistic point of view. Both endings though are atypical compared to his other books and show an uncertainty or ambivalence in the author's mind as to how the work should be ended.

Like many of Dickens's works, Great Expectations has been criticized for its excessive length. This may be related to the fact he was paid by installment for his serialised work (although it is often mistakenly claimed that he was paid by the word). It is possible that the installment approach did lead to a more verbose style than would otherwise have been used.
(less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

add a comment

02/19/08

Tiza rated it:

Read in April, 2008

Whew, it took me an incredibly long time to finish this book. Actually, this book kind of fell somewhere between 3 and 4 stars but I rounded it up because I liked it better than David Copperfield. While it's true that this book can be somewhat tiresome and contrived at parts, Dickens' dry humour, beautifully haunting descriptions and unforgettable characters made it a really fun read for me. One approach that best be adopted in reading Great Expectations (and Dickens' novels in general) is not t...more Whew, it took me an incredibly long time to finish this book. Actually, this book kind of fell somewhere between 3 and 4 stars but I rounded it up because I liked it better than David Copperfield. While it's true that this book can be somewhat tiresome and contrived at parts, Dickens' dry humour, beautifully haunting descriptions and unforgettable characters made it a really fun read for me. One approach that best be adopted in reading Great Expectations (and Dickens' novels in general) is not to plunge and go looking for the plot. The plot will find you somewhere between the pages, but it sure takes its own sweet time doing it. Meanwhile, just sit back and enjoy the carefully unfolding narrative that is Pip's life.

Like David Copperfield, Great Expectations is a tale of self-discovery, a record of one's life from childhood to adulthood told in first person. However, this book has a more brooding tone and I think it also has a more penetrating insight to its main character's motives and psychological state than its predecessor. As prompted by the title, the main story of this book is about Pip, an orphaned boy, who suddenly comes to a great fortune and is being made a gentleman. He later finds, though, that his fortune and social status bring him more misery than joy. They don't improve his relationship with Estella and damage his friendship with his uncle Joe. Moreover, what he learns behind the mystery about his benefactor turns out to be not at all what he had expected.

It's fascinating to see how Pip's elevated status and his love for Estella influence the decisions he makes and his personality, and not necessarily for the better. Somehow, at a certain stage of his narration, he becomes someone who is conceited and self-centered. Though this might put Pip in a less sympathetic light, I think it also makes him more relatable and complex as a human being who has human's weaknesses and commits mistakes. I also loved how this book describes some of life's many ironies--of how we are sometimes not being honest with ourselves, how we sometimes try hard to impress people who don't care about us rather than treasure those who really do.

Since there are two versions of ending in this book, people tend to compare one version to the other. Either is fine for me, but if I really have to choose, I think I'll prefer the original ending to the revised one because it's more relevant to the message that this book is trying to impart, in my opinion.

Anyway, I heartily recommend this book, especially to three Goodreads friends who had so kindly coerc--*coughcough* encouraged me to write this review. (less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

23 comments

01/11/08

Debbie rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439564)

bookshelves: 1001-to-read-before-you-die, classics, fiction

Read in October, 1984

recommends it for: fans of wordy prose

It's the book that turned me off of Dickens. I still shudder when I think of being forced to read it in high school. The descriptions just go on forever...make it stop!

Pip, an orphan, meets an escaped convict and treats him kindly. This simple action will change Pip's life forever. Pip falls in love with Estella, a cold-hearted girl, who, thanks to bitter Miss Havisham, has been well-trained as a heartbreaker. She is wealthy and looks down on Pip, a poor boy with no expectations...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

4 comments

10/22/08

Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0199219761)

bookshelves: 2008, classics

Read in December, 2008

Even if you haven't read this or seen any of the many movie or tv adaptations, you would know something of the story. This is the one about Pip, an escaped convict, a beautiful but cruel girl called Estella, and the corpse-like Miss Havisham. It's about a little boy called Pip who was raised by his much older sister, Mrs Joe, and her husband, Joe, the village blacksmith. Joe is a role model and father figure as well as Pip's best friend, while Mrs Joe is sharp-tongued and aggressive - between he...more Even if you haven't read this or seen any of the many movie or tv adaptations, you would know something of the story. This is the one about Pip, an escaped convict, a beautiful but cruel girl called Estella, and the corpse-like Miss Havisham. It's about a little boy called Pip who was raised by his much older sister, Mrs Joe, and her husband, Joe, the village blacksmith. Joe is a role model and father figure as well as Pip's best friend, while Mrs Joe is sharp-tongued and aggressive - between her and Joe's uncle, Mr Pumblechook, Pip is made to feel worthless and one step away from becoming the most ungrateful wretch on the face of the Earth.

A chance encounter as a boy of about 8 with a convict who has escaped from a Hulk (an old un-seaworthy ship used as a prison while Britain dithered over where to send the convicts) sees Pip do an act of kindness - mostly out of fear - and keep his first secret from Joe.

The reclusive Miss Havisham - who was jilted at the altar at a quarter to nine and lives in suspended time, still wearing her decaying wedding dress, with one shoe on, the clocks all stopped and her mansion falling down around her - sends for Pip to be a playmate for her adopted daughter Estella, Pip is made to feel ashamed of his rough hands and coarse boots, his ignorance and weakness, by Estella's cruel remarks. Despite her blatant cruelty, Pip falls in love with her and torments himself with wanting her. When, after about four years as an apprentice blacksmith, Pip learns from a London lawyer, Mr Jaggers, that he has a patron who will pay his way into society but who insists on keeping their identity secret, Pip is sure it must be Miss Havisham and that she plans to raise him up so he can have Estella.

The truth about the matter is probably quite predictable - I guessed it, though I couldn't figure out the logistics of it - but I don't want to say anything just in case. What I can talk about instead is Dickens' prose, language, diction, style, whatever you want to call it, and the reluctance of people like me to read him. (This is the first Dickens book I've read.) It is true that authors at the time were paid by the word, and it is quite true that Dickens is pretty wordy. Don't let that put you off though. He's no more wordy than a lot of other authors - George Eliot, for example, or Tolstoy or Thackeray. But every word is carefully chosen, and while a few times the diction was alien to me because the language is now disused, you can still get the meaning from the context. The story is in the details, though, so try to avoid the temptation of skimming long passages: a great deal is told and revealed in very few words and you need to read every sentence to fully understand and appreciate the story. Impressions are gained through clever structure, repetition and other stylistic devices - it's a "show", not "tell", kind of book.

It's interesting, while reading volume 1, to note that you have an older, wiser Pip narrating the story of a much younger, more naive Pip - at times our perception is coloured by the older Pip's derisiveness; you get the sense that he's shaking his head in bewilderment or rueful amusement. It's quite clever, what he reveals and what he keeps mum about in order for the story to maintain a level of suspense and excitement. You know he's stringing you along but he does such a good job of it, you can't hold it against him. One of the things this book really succeeds at is the positing of a younger Pip and an older Pip, presented at the same time, the same character and yet different, and showing how Pip changes over the years and why, until the two finally merge. It takes talent to manipulate the dual Pips that way, and keep a handle on their emotional maturation.

Miss Havisham is one of those larger-than-life characters who becomes famous in their own right: the bizarre, gothic spinster, embittered by her personal tragedy, warping the mind of Estella to make her into a woman who will hurt men the way Miss H was hurt. The frozen-in-time, decaying mansion - the room with the rotting wedding cake on the table, everything covered in cobwebs and bugs, with mice crawling in the walls. It's incredibly vivid and grotesque, and it's these highly exaggerated scenes and characters that make Dickens such a memorable writer.

I suppose the moral of the story centres around Pip and how, when he comes into money and a better position in society, he becomes snobbish and unlikeable, looking down on Joe and his childhood friend, Biddy, and becoming class conscious in the worst way. He puts social position and class, etiquette and learning, gentility and leisure, above his friends - such misplaced value, and an inability to appreciate what's really worth appreciating, are fairly common themes but are dealt with with surprising subtlety here - I think because Pip is narrating, and he doesn't really come out and say "I was selfish and unthinking and thought myself better than the man who raised me, but I repent." He doesn't need to - it's quite clear. And, naturally, he learns from his mistakes.(less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

08/19/07

Chicklet rated it:

(review of isbn 1855494310)

bookshelves: classics

recommends it for: no one

Boring, dull, lifeless, and flat. This is so drawn out and boring I kept having to remind myself what the plot was.
Best to get someone else to sum up the story rather than undergo the torture of reading it.

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

07/09/07

Jason Pettus rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439564)

Credited by many as the inventor of the modern novel, there are actually a number of books by Dickens I've read and enjoyed over the years; this one, however, is the latest I've re-read, which is why I'm doing a review of it and not the others. A master storyteller of the Victorian Age, someone imminently readable today as well (unlike so many of those 'olden' authors), Dickens had a magical ability to scoop up every detail of his time's zeitgeist, and spit it back out in a series of thrilling c...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

02/23/08

Gr8grendel added it

Is there a way to give negative stars?

Let's see, hmmmm, boy is poor. Boy falls in love with well-to-do girl. Boy reforms well. Girl is manipulated to dump boy in a predictable fashion. Lot's of words in between. Boy is chopped up by a meat cleaver and his cadaver is launched into space by hot aire balloon. Space chimps reconstruct boy and send him back to Earth. He lands on miss Havisham. Her toes curl up like a wicked witch... admit it this review is already better than the book.
...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

11/15/08

Hannah rated it:

(review of isbn 0140620168)

bookshelves: classics, fiction

Read in November, 2008

'Great Expectations' was a strange read, and I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. The writing I loved - the narrative is full of sinister comedy, witty dialogue and striking imagery and observations from the word go, and the majority of characters (from the ridiculous to terrifying) are hard not to adore and leave undoubtedly impressioned marks. The pacing, however was extremely unbalanced. Normally, the middle part of a novel would be expected to be the most exciting, yet in this case it was so...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

01/04/09

Matt rated it:

Great Expectations is prototypical Dickens: resoundingly lame central character; over-eccentric supporting characters; a labyrinth of a plot; endless digressions; and a crappy ending.

The central lame-o in this story is Pip, an orphan (what a surprise! an orphan in a Dickens novel!). Pip is raised by his mean sister and her saintly husband, Joe. They live in the marshes, vividly described by Dickens as a cold, creeping, lunar landscape, where prisoners rot in offshore prison hulks, a...more Great Expectations is prototypical Dickens: resoundingly lame central character; over-eccentric supporting characters; a labyrinth of a plot; endless digressions; and a crappy ending.

The central lame-o in this story is Pip, an orphan (what a surprise! an orphan in a Dickens novel!). Pip is raised by his mean sister and her saintly husband, Joe. They live in the marshes, vividly described by Dickens as a cold, creeping, lunar landscape, where prisoners rot in offshore prison hulks, and cannons boom to raise the drowned.

In this setting, Pip meets and helps Magwitch, an escaped convict. Magwitch is later recaptured. One day, Pip learns that he's going to have to put his apprenticeship to Joe aside: he's got a benefactor! This benefactor is going to help him to a new station (ahh...Old England's stations. What a quaint way of life. And somehow they manage to look down their noses at us).

Pip travels to London, where he deals with his anonymous benefactor through an intermediary, the lawyer Mr. Jaggers. Jaggers is a fun character; a cunning lawyer with many clients who end up at the end of a noose. There are other colorful satellite characters, all the more lively for orbiting the dramatic vortex that is Pip. There's Herbert Pocket, who becomes Pip's friend and confidante, and does a great deal of explaining. There's Wemmick, who works for Jaggers. At first he's kind of a jerk, but later brings Pip to his house, where he lives with an utterly insane father who likes to fire a cannon. At home, Wemmick turns out to be an entirely different person. There is Estelle, raised from her youth to break the hearts of men. Finally, of course, there is the most colorful of them all, Miss Havisham, in her ratty old dress, sitting in her musty home among the decaying remnants of her wedding-that-never-was.

The meandering story is putatively about Pip finding the identity of his benefactor, whom he believes to be Miss Havisham, and to win the love of Estelle. The plot, though, is secondary, and you have to be pretty dense to think Havisham is the benefactor (Anyone who knows anything about "Chekov's Gun" knows that it has to be Magwitch). The real theme of the book, much like Dorothy getting back to Kansas, is in discerning life's real priorities. Pip becomes caught up in London life. His watchword becomes social mobility. He wants to be a high riser. Yeah, Joe was good and kind and honest and true, but he's also poor.

Of course, eventually, Pip gets his comeuppance. He realizes that his contempt for his family is misplaced, and that there are more important things than money, and blah blah blah. This homily probably meant something in socially stratified Victorian England, but it loses its bunch today. It's not helped by a wishy-washy, tacked-on ending in which Pip holds hands with Estelle and says "I saw no shadow of another parting from her."

As with Bleak House, I didn't like the whole of the story, but can recommend the book for its strange set pieces: the cannon of Wemmick's father; the shriveled heads of Jagger's dead clients; the huge, dysfunctional Pocket family; the tactile descriptions of the moors and marshes. Every once in awhile, amid the mountain of verbiage and needless plot excursions, Dickens manages to elucidate a character or scene with such precision that it can only be said to be timeless, and thus, classic.

At one point in time, when this book was a serial, I suppose what I say next is a surprise: however, even a contemporary reader would have to be retarded to not figure out that, when Pip later gets a benefactor, it is Magwitch.

(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

06/18/08

Sneha rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Sneha by: my high school
recommends it for: nobody who likes easy reads

alright, well i'm still reading this.... but one thing i'd have to say is that this book would be so much better if Dickens wasnt paid by the word, and if we didnt have to read it for school.

the plot, if you read it, is actually interesting.. just the giganto amount of words that are unneeded make the book extremely confusing.

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

02/04/08

Adam rated it:

Read in August, 2006

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

12/19/08

Anne rated it:

Read in March, 2009

recommended to Anne by: me

I finished! it's really good, a lot more humorous than I expected. I loved the story, and many of the characters are unforgettable, like Miss Havisham and Aged P. and Wemmick. And it confirms my philosophy of life, which I can't put into words, but Dickens has.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

01/14/09

Michael rated it:

Read in January, 1995

This book should be renamed "Unrealized Expectations". It's hard to live up to the hype with a title like "Great Expectations". I chose this book to read for a book report assignment in high school. Unfortunately, my choice was based on my fondness of "A Christmas Carol", also by Charles Dickens. Little did I know that the book is longer than the Bible and was not very engaging in any way. The only reason I rated this with two stars instead of one is because it...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

08/18/08

Choupette rated it:

bookshelves: 1001-books, classics, own-or-access, studied

Read in January, 2009

recommends it for: Anyone having trouble getting into Victorian literature

I have a confession to make. It's shameful and disgraceful and I barely want to own up to it. But I just can't hide it no more! *sob*

I thought Dickens was boring.

And worst of all, I based this assumption on... nothing. I'd read not a single word of his prose. I don't think I'd even watched a TV adaptation of one of his books. I have no idea where I got it from, but its pernicious influence prevented me from even trying a Dickens novel until now, and even now I thought I'd...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

04/06/08

Angela rated it:

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Angela by: My english teacher

We read this book as a class for English, and one of my friends who had already read it prepared us by saying it was a boring, depressing book ("confusing" might've been in there too). I found this to be partially true. The vocabulary/writing style was definitely confusing, but reading it as a class helped (our teacher has read the book about 17 times). The first 3/4 of the book is fairly dull and has little purpose besides providing a detailed narrative of the main character's life, d...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

03/21/08

Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439564)

Read in January, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I think this is my favorite Dickens novel so far. One reason for this might be that it's more streamlined - not so elaborate with multiple character points-of-view plus narrator commentary. This is just "Pip," telling us his story. There are still the over-the-top caricatures, minor characters that are meant to illustrate a certain personality trait (or character flaw) to the point of ridiculous. But even those seem more believable because we experience them along with Pip. (And it's n...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

10/15/07

Jeni added it (review of isbn 0141439564)

bookshelves: gave-up-on

Read in February, 2008

ON HOLD FOR NOW.

I picked this up during my last thrift store trip thinking I'd never read it. Once I got into it, I began to suspect that I might have read it once before, especially when the name Miss Havisham was brought up. I think she's probably one of those unforgettable characters. As soon as Mrs. Gargery mentioned her name, something clicked and I suddenly recalled the images I'd imagined of a yellowed room lit by candles where she hid herself. Anyway, I'm really enjoying ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

06/09/08

Michelle rated it:

Wonderful story...but not as good as A Tale of Two Cities, at least in my humble opinion. What did I love about it? In a word, Pip. I felt I could relate to his character. He made some poor choices, but he learned what real compassion was because of them. I love flawed characters who are able to come around in the end, mostly because I feel like I do the same. At least, that is what I hope for, to come around in the end and perhaps learn to make less mistakes! What didn't I love? I am no...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 2086 2087 next »

polls

What is your favorite book by Charles Dickens?

A Tale of Two Cities

26 votes, 16.3%

Great Expectations

30 votes, 18.8%

A Christmas Carol

37 votes, 23.1%

Oliver Twist

22 votes, 13.8%

David Copperfield

16 votes, 10.0%

Bleak House

15 votes, 9.4%

Hard Times

1 vote, 0.6%

Nicholas Nickleby

2 votes, 1.3%

The Pickwick Papers

6 votes, 3.8%

Our Mutual Friend

5 votes, 3.1%

160 total votes

7 comments Sign in to vote!

More...

recent status updates | recommend it | blog it

combine
other editions (447)

More editions...

download ebook

quotes from this book

"It is not possible to know how far the influence of any amiable, honest-hearted duty-doing man flies out into the world, but it is very possible to know how it has touched one's self in going by." More quotes...