Great Expectations in Classics Without All the Class

Jul 08, 2016 Leo Walsh rated it it was amazing

I read "Great Expectations" book for 9th grade English over 30 years ago. I really enjoyed it then. And held up quite well. Since I am still rating it high.

In my opinion, this book represents everything Dickens does well. There are over-drawn characters that, instead of appearing cartoonish, behave like real people... albeit with some comic exaggerations. And his musings on the dreary lives of the lower classes. And the melodrama and mawkish sentimentality which, while it can read a bit soap-ope I read "Great Expectations" book for 9th grade English over 30 years ago. I really enjoyed it then. And held up quite well. Since I am still rating it high.

In my opinion, this book represents everything Dickens does well. There are over-drawn characters that, instead of appearing cartoonish, behave like real people... albeit with some comic exaggerations. And his musings on the dreary lives of the lower classes. And the melodrama and mawkish sentimentality which, while it can read a bit soap-opera for contemporary readers, seems to work in this 19th Century setting.

I don't want to say much about this. It is a classic, after all. But it tells a love story between Pip, a blacksmith's step-son who falls in love with wealth and rejects his humble roots.

The plot is often eye-rolley. There are dues ex machina and coincidences throughout that beg credulity. The love platonic, over-wrought and sort of boring. And Pip's moral "coming of age" predictably bourgeoisie. But what makes Pip's journey remarkable is Dickens's impeccable moral logic, which proves that not all riches clank in a coin-purse.

As the novel unfurls, the simple, good-natured Pip rejects his roots as his grows more wealthy (via one dues ex machina). As he grows more comfortable with wealth, his arrogance grows ever stronger. He rejects the simple, honest people who helped raise him "by hand" -- especially his stepfather Joe -- and refuses to visit them lest others see him and think him base. Worse is when Pip meets a wealthy man, Magwitch, that it turns out he knew in childhood. Magwitch not only knows Pip's origins, but Pip feels superior to the man -- despite the fact that the man raised himself from the gutter the the height of wealth via hard-work. The reason? Because the man had once been a prisoner.

Pip's pride makes him obsessed by image. To make matters worse, he falls hard for the manipulative beauty, Estella. He desperately wants to win her hand, which makes him more and more image-focused, lest he fall in her esteem. Which drives Pip to act ever more prideful.

But pride, as the say, goeth before the fall. I won't go into the fall here, but suffice it to say it's satisfying even though the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. Because the argument that Dickens is trying to make is moral.

I am a post-Hemingway post-postmodern male. This type or moral tale is supposed to be passe. Mawkish. Shallow. Not the way things "are."

And yet, I loved "Great Expectations."

Perhaps it is because, despite being written in the 1800's, the more I realize that he has a lot in common with hyper-realists. And his works often reminds me a lot of top-shelf contemporary writers of hyper-realist/ magical-realist fiction filled with miraculous events and over-the-top characters: Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Eugenides come to mind. Or perhaps not.

Whatever the reason, though, I loved the book. And with love, I suppose it best just to feel the emotion without over-analyzing it. Simply put, the novel was a great ride. Enjoyable, after multiple readings across the decades.

Ergo, five stars. ...more

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Dec 21, 2013 Elenlille rated it it was amazing

Brilliantly written and a page-turner, with several plot twists towards the end. Dickens is wordy but I didn't find the book dense or difficult to read (except when I had to decipher the way some of the characters speak, but that's probably because I'm not a native English speaker). A true classic that I highly recommend! ...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Kristi Krumnow rated it did not like it

Shelves: audiobook, classic-lit

A book with no plot, simply musings and people's conversations about their musings. The sister was attacked which made me think it was a turning point, but I was mistaken as it was never mentioned again. Another time, the main character Pip confessed his love for Estella who turned him down, again, making me think that something would happen at any moment. But it didn't. Then the book's over.

I looked up other reviews to see what I'm missing and found little information to convince me that I'm m ...more

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