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Great Expectations
A critical reading of Dickens' novel "Great Expectations" for 'A' Level candidates and undergraduates.
144 pages, Paperback
Published August 7, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 10, 2019
From the record on GoodReads, it took me almost one year to finish reading Great Expectations, however, I’d never lost interests and had enjoyed the whole process. There are all sorts of odds, surprises, up-and-downs, the plot twists are perfectly narrated as they are all foreshadowed. Allow me to spoil a bit, I was so happy that Biddy married Joe in the end, two pure and beautiful souls. Don't worry, they are not the hero and heroine.
The novel created characters you will love so much, Joe, Biddy and Clara, impressive characters who are not that likable but still understandable, Miss Havisham, Magwitch and Estella for example.
I think Charles Dickens’ books are far more profound than Jane Austen’s, although the latter is more popular, at least on GoodReads. You might say Great Expectations is still a story of love, yet besides love, there are also friendship, faith, and sacrifice (remember A Tale of Two Cities?).
As an expat in Australia, what interested me too, is this is the first book I’ve read that mentioned the UK convicts being sent to New South Wales, Australia, raising stocks and becoming rich there.
If you are interested, here is a video regarding the “Motivations for English colonization”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT2cf...
By watching the video you can further “understand” those convicts.
I first become aware of myself, down in Essex, a thieving turnips for my living.... But What the devil was I to do? I must put something into my stomach, mustn't I?... – Great Expectations
I haven’t found a very satisfying adaptation of this book, but am still curious how these characters should look like.
Here is a sketch, it doesn’t include the main character, Pip, don’t know why.
This American version probably is not that bad, not so faithful to the novel though, liked the music so much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06VOM...
The novel created characters you will love so much, Joe, Biddy and Clara, impressive characters who are not that likable but still understandable, Miss Havisham, Magwitch and Estella for example.
I think Charles Dickens’ books are far more profound than Jane Austen’s, although the latter is more popular, at least on GoodReads. You might say Great Expectations is still a story of love, yet besides love, there are also friendship, faith, and sacrifice (remember A Tale of Two Cities?).
As an expat in Australia, what interested me too, is this is the first book I’ve read that mentioned the UK convicts being sent to New South Wales, Australia, raising stocks and becoming rich there.
If you are interested, here is a video regarding the “Motivations for English colonization”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT2cf...
By watching the video you can further “understand” those convicts.
I first become aware of myself, down in Essex, a thieving turnips for my living.... But What the devil was I to do? I must put something into my stomach, mustn't I?... – Great Expectations
I haven’t found a very satisfying adaptation of this book, but am still curious how these characters should look like.
Here is a sketch, it doesn’t include the main character, Pip, don’t know why.
This American version probably is not that bad, not so faithful to the novel though, liked the music so much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06VOM...
February 6, 2021
Miss Havisham and Estella really stood out to the high school me.
February 13, 2026
So good, not going to forget a word.
Read
April 21, 2020During quarantine, I read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and I fell in love with the story. I had been searching for slightly challenging books when I came across some Charles Dickens books in a local thrift shop after I quickly checked the price of the books online I bought the books from the thrift shop, they may be old, but that didn’t mean they weren’t as valuable and the stories were just to be abandoned. I was told that there were usually two types of people when reading Charles Dickens, those who like Great Expectations, and those who prefer ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ I soon found out I prefer Great Expectations.
When you pick up an old-timey book you expect it to be dry in entertainment and quite lengthy, this was not the case at all, for a book that was written a while ago it still contains a rich story and draws the reader in for more. The first couple pages were filled with action, Dickens was not playing around while writing this piece he had painted the main character, Pip, it wasn’t just as if Pip was telling us his story, it was as if the reader was there watching as the story unfolds it really helps the reader feel the type of emotions Pip is feeling and the type of tone the author is trying to get across. The book was quite lengthy but it adds to how much the author could develop the characters, The character development was absolutely astonishing, we watch how much time passes and how much the characters change over time, Pip's expectations at first aren’t too large as at the beginning of the book he isn’t that happy with himself, but over time pip finds himself and has grown so much by the end of the book he changes very much and isn’t seen as the same person. In the book it states, “Day by day as his hopes grew stronger and his face brighter, he must have thought me a more and more affectionate friend, for I had the greatest difficulty in restraining my tears of triumph when I saw him so happy. At length, the thing being done, … I did really cry in good earnest when I went to bed, to think that my expectations had done some good to somebody.” Pip learns that he’s more than what he sets himself out to be.
Truly speaking there is not much that I would add to this book, it was extremely detailed in all the right places, it was simple yet complex, the only critic I could even think of is that sometimes Dickens would over-describe his characters so they could be remembered from week to week and month to month, once he described something in the book it was hard to forget about it. I always knew the characteristics of the characters when I opened the book up to read, I often found myself closing the book with the the “. . . a man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.”
While reading this book, I found that it would be a good fit for people who were looking for a challenging book to read, like myself, but who also may have a short attention span. There was no time in the book that I became disinterested. There was always something new that grabbed my attention as it was slipping off. Although it was a challenge, it was a challenge that I enjoyed with every turn of the page.
When you pick up an old-timey book you expect it to be dry in entertainment and quite lengthy, this was not the case at all, for a book that was written a while ago it still contains a rich story and draws the reader in for more. The first couple pages were filled with action, Dickens was not playing around while writing this piece he had painted the main character, Pip, it wasn’t just as if Pip was telling us his story, it was as if the reader was there watching as the story unfolds it really helps the reader feel the type of emotions Pip is feeling and the type of tone the author is trying to get across. The book was quite lengthy but it adds to how much the author could develop the characters, The character development was absolutely astonishing, we watch how much time passes and how much the characters change over time, Pip's expectations at first aren’t too large as at the beginning of the book he isn’t that happy with himself, but over time pip finds himself and has grown so much by the end of the book he changes very much and isn’t seen as the same person. In the book it states, “Day by day as his hopes grew stronger and his face brighter, he must have thought me a more and more affectionate friend, for I had the greatest difficulty in restraining my tears of triumph when I saw him so happy. At length, the thing being done, … I did really cry in good earnest when I went to bed, to think that my expectations had done some good to somebody.” Pip learns that he’s more than what he sets himself out to be.
Truly speaking there is not much that I would add to this book, it was extremely detailed in all the right places, it was simple yet complex, the only critic I could even think of is that sometimes Dickens would over-describe his characters so they could be remembered from week to week and month to month, once he described something in the book it was hard to forget about it. I always knew the characteristics of the characters when I opened the book up to read, I often found myself closing the book with the the “. . . a man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.”
While reading this book, I found that it would be a good fit for people who were looking for a challenging book to read, like myself, but who also may have a short attention span. There was no time in the book that I became disinterested. There was always something new that grabbed my attention as it was slipping off. Although it was a challenge, it was a challenge that I enjoyed with every turn of the page.
January 31, 2018
Structurally, the novel is a narration by a mature and retrospective Pip. It is divided into three distinct “stages,” each labeled as a specific “stage of Pip’s expectations.” In chronological fashion, these chapters trace Pip’s progress from industrious obscurity as a child through willful idleness as an adolescent and young adult, to a resigned and modest acceptance of his true place in society. This is an obvious variation on the picaresque theme and carries with it many of the significant overtones of earlier picaresque novels.
The first stage introduces all the major characters and sets the plot in motion. Pip’s situation is developed fully, including the first seeds of his desire to be “uncommon.” It leads to the revelation by Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer, that Pip is to inherit a huge fortune and become a gentleman. It is something Pip considers as miraculous, though mysterious, as his patron’s identity is not to be revealed for the time being. Mr. Jaggers only imparts to him that his benefactor has great expectations from him and so with the support of his anonymous provider, Pip’s expectations of himself also rise, and the action shifts to London.
The first stage introduces all the major characters and sets the plot in motion. Pip’s situation is developed fully, including the first seeds of his desire to be “uncommon.” It leads to the revelation by Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer, that Pip is to inherit a huge fortune and become a gentleman. It is something Pip considers as miraculous, though mysterious, as his patron’s identity is not to be revealed for the time being. Mr. Jaggers only imparts to him that his benefactor has great expectations from him and so with the support of his anonymous provider, Pip’s expectations of himself also rise, and the action shifts to London.
January 3, 2015
I had greater expectations... yet a good book nonetheless.
September 20, 2018
Read this in 1971. Plan to re-read soon to see how I view it today.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews