Great Expectations in Around the Year in 52 Books

Oct 18, 2024 Blaine rated it really liked it

Shelves: pc-100-essential-read, 2024, e-book

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlaying our hard hearts.
…
“Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then.”
…
“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me, the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”
…
”I have been bent and broken, but

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlaying our hard hearts.
…
“Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then.”
…
“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me, the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”
…
”I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape.”

I had never read anything by Charles Dickens until now. I should have, I was assigned A Tale of Two Cities in high school. But I just used my extensive Cliffs Notes collection rather than actually reading it. My loss.

Great Expectations feels at first like what you’d expect if you’d only heard of but never read Dickens. There’s an orphan, Pip, who lives in Victorian England with his cruel older sister and his kind brother-in-law, Joe. It’s a simple life, but a struggle, and emotionally dark for our hero. But soon there’s an escaped convict, Magwitch, who threatens Pip and then covers for him. Then Pip meets the wealthy, reclusive Miss Havisham—trapped in a prison of her own making—and immediately falls for her ward, the beautiful but cold Estella. And finally, Pip gets his ticket to the so-called better life: an anonymous benefactor gives him property in London and wants to raise him as a gentleman, a man of … great expectations. But Pip will learn that money can’t buy you love, or happiness, or protect you and those you love from danger.

Great Expectations is a classic for a reason. It’s full of interesting, original characters. I’d heard of Miss Havisham, and knew the basics of her backstory, but had no idea how malevolent and destructive her character would be. And the story here builds. It might feel a bit slow at first, but the back half is plotted like a thriller, with multiple twists and turns and action. Perhaps best of all, though, is the bittersweet nature of it all. I mean, the good guys end up okay, the bad guys get theirs, and the redeemable characters get some redemption. But Pip makes choices throughout the story, and those choices have real consequences. He prioritizes other things over his happiness and then has to live within the shadow of what could have been. I think that is what makes this book so timeless. Recommended. ...more

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Mar 14, 2021 Amanda rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: popsugar-2021, aty52-2021, great-american-read

The Gwenyth Paltrow movie version of this book is an all time favorite of mine. I definitely liked the movie better than the book, but am glad I finally got around to reading it, thanks to Popsugar’s challenge prompt to read the book that has been on your TBR the longest.

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