false 29639538 61416 1654394 0451525248 9780451525246 11 <![CDATA[Great Expectations]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1186421232m/1654394.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1186421232s/1654394.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1654394.Great_Expectations 3.73 52 Great Expectations one of his "little pieces". 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 & 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 & a file for him, threatening that if he tells a soul "your heart & your liver shall be tore out, roasted & ate." The boy does as he's asked, but the convict is captured anyway, transported to the penal colonies in Australia. Having started his novel in a cemetery, Dickens then ups the stakes & 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 & 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 & 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, & I caught it.
It is an infection that Pip never quite recovers from; as he spends more time with Miss Havisham & the tantalizing Estella, he becomes ever more discontented with his guardian, the kindhearted blacksmith, Joe, & 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 & friends behind to go to London & become a gentleman. But having expectations, as Pip soon learns, is a two-edged sword, & 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. You'll find few of the author's patented comic characters & no comic set pieces. Yet this is arguably the most compelling of his 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]]> 239579 3.74 208828 10998 1861 3 0 false Fri Aug 08 14:29:16 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 14:29:16 -0700 2008