Customer Reviews

Great Expectations (Bantam Classics)

5 star:		(324)
4 star:		(132)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(66)

 

 

Another reviewer claims that you have to be at least 21 years old to read this book. Although I don't think it should be "forced" on schoolchildren (they will only hate it) I read this novel when I was a child and I loved it. I have just re-read it now and I enjoy it all the more. This is my favorite novel by Dickens. It is from his later period and is criticized for being too dark - which, however, makes it more perfect for today's sensibilities. Stephen King cites this work as one of his favorites: he believes that it is this book that brought the gothic novel mainstream.

Was there ever a novelist who created more memorable characters than Dickens? Here, we meet perhaps his most intriguing - Miss Havisham. For anyone unfamiliar with the story, I will not spoil it by describing her. The story is similar to parable about the prodigal son - good Pip inexplicably comes into some money and goes off to the corrupting city.

AN IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE: Dickens wrote two ending for this book. His friends thought that the original ending was too downbeat and they asked him to come up with a different one. It is the upbeat ending that is the official ending of the novel. However, most critics agree that the original unpublished ending is better. Most modern editions feature the unpublished ending in an appendix. MAKE SURE YOU BUY A COPY THAT CONTAINS THE ORIGINAL ENDING!

Great Expectations is one of Dickens's later novels, a work of his artistic maturity. The narrative is symbolic rather than realistic. Although, as in most of Dickens and in Victorian literature in general, the plot relies heavily on coincidence, it is acceptable here because the events are true to the internal, psychological, logic of the story.

After writing A Tale of Two Cities, which was unique among his novels in that it had none of his trademark humor, Dickens set out to make Great Expectations rich in comic elements. This despite, or perhaps because of, being in a depressed state of mind himself at the time. The conventional critical view is that he largely failed in this attempt, but I strongly disagree. The book is hilariously funny in parts and the main character, Pip, exhibits a characteristically British humour-in-adversity throughout his adventures. There is also the host of minor comic characters that we expect from Dickens. And he for once manages pathos without spilling over into bathos, so there are tears as well as laughter here, sometimes both at once.

If you have not yet read any Dickens, this is not a bad book with which to start, although for younger readers (teens) I would recommend Hard Times or A Tale of Two Cities as their first. Great Expectations demands a mature sensibility to appreciate its symbolism and psychological depth. Perhaps because it chiefly concerns the childhood and youth of the protagonist, it is often given to young people to read and is a set text in some High School classes. This is a pity because, in its dark complexity, it is more likely to turn youngsters off, rather than onto, Dickens.

I've never read any Dickens of my own free will. I was forced to read "A Tale of Two Cities" in high school and I thought that was enough for me. However, one day, on a whim, I bought a copy of Great Expectations. I'm not sure what I expected, but I certainly didn't expect to love it as much as I did.

Dickens is not a writer to read at a swift pace. Indeed, this novel was written in weekly episodes from December 1860 to August 1861 and, as it was created to be a serial, each installment is full of varied characters, great descriptions and a lot of action which moves the plot along and leaves the reader yearning for more. Therefore, unlike some books which are easily forgotten if I put them down for a few days, Great Expectations seemed to stick around, absorbing my thoughts in a way that I looked forward to picking it up again. It took me more than a month to read and I savored every morsel.

Basically the story is of the self-development of Pip, an orphan boy being raised by his sister and her blacksmith husband in the marshlands of England in 1820.

Every one of the characters were so deeply developed that I felt I was personally acquainted with each one of them. There was Pip's roommate, Herbert Pocket, the lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and his clerk, Mr. Wemmick. And then there was the wicked Orlick. The dialogues were wonderful. The characters often didn't actually say what they meant but spoke in a way that even though the words might be obtuse, there was no mistaking their meaning. I found myself smiling at all these verbal contortions.

Dickens' work is richly detailed and he explores the nuances of human behavior. I enjoyed wallowing in the long sentences and letting myself travel backwards in time to a different world. However, even with the footnotes, I found myself sometimes confused by the British slang of 150 years ago, and there were several passages I had to read over several times in order to get the true meaning. Of course I was not in a particular rush. I didn't have to make a report to a class or take a exam about the book. This is certainly a pleasure.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read.ting from the secret wealth of Magwitch, who made a fortune in Australia after being transported. Moreover, Magwitch's unlawful return to England puts him and Pip in danger. Meanwhile, Estella has married another, a horrible man who Pip despises. Eventually, with Magwitch's recapture and death in prison and with his fortune gone, Pip ends up in debtors prison, but Joe redeems his debts and brings him home. Pip realizes that Magwitch was a more devoted friend to him than he ever was to Joe and with this realization Pip becomes, finally, a whole and decent human being.

Originally, Dickens wrote a conclusion that made it clear that Pip and Estella will never be together, that Estella is finally too devoid of heart to love. But at the urging of others, he changed the ending and left it more open ended, with the possibility that Estella too has learned and grown from her experiences and her wretched marriages.

This is the work of a mature novelist at the height of his powers. It has everything you could ask for in a novel: central characters who actually change and grow over the course of the story, becoming better people in the end; a plot laden with mystery and irony; amusing secondary characters; you name it, it's in here. I would rank it with A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield among the very best novels of the worlds greatest novelist.

GRADE: A+

This review refers to the audio(CD - Brilliance Audio) edition of "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens, read by Michael Page

This unabridged audio edition of Dickens' classic superb chronology of "Pip's' journey through life going from a poor boy to becoming a man with "expectations" is simply marvelous. As Pip comes into a small fortune, and becomes a "gentleman" he learns the value and true meaning of friendships and life. But the journey is a long one, with many lessons to be learned along the way before he can find his true self. Dickens has given us a wonderful story, with rich details of the setting and characters that grow and are among the most interesting and magnetic to be found in literature.

I don't need to go on and on about the book itself(although I could easily go over my allotted word count here), if you haven't read it yet ,just know you are in for one heck of a literary treat. It is a story that will transport you to another time and place, and you may not want to come back. I will however, talk about this marvelous audio edition. Michael Page is the reader, and what a reading he gives. Just curl up and listen to this master storyteller. Every voice, every nuance is captured. There is no doubt who is speaking as he gives each character the personality and cultural characteristics as Dickens intended. He even does the women wonderfully, without going over the top. In my mind Miss Havisham has always sounded just the way Page portrayed her, Estella as uppity as ever,the humble Joe, along with all the rest.

The book is an unabridged reading on 16 discs. each discs has 90 very short tracks(about 45 seconds each), I had no trouble starting up where I left off(when I absolutely had to leave off). I just made a mental note(or you could even write it down) of the track number and disc where I stopped it. The sound quality is excellent, and total running time is about 20 hours. Each disc is in it's own paper CD holder with a clear front so you can see the disc number you are looking for.

If you are a fan of this book, this audio edition will give you a fresh read and new appreciation of this fascinating book. If you are experiencing it for the first time, you can't help but to become enthralled. Great to take on long drives or for younger readers to be introduced to classic literature in a most entertaining way.

Enjoy the read...for the 1st Time or the 50th time!....Laurie

more great audio reads:
A Christmas Carol read by Geoffrey Palmer-

Carrie(read by Sissy Spacek)

Back When We Were Grownups(read by Blair Brown)

The Shipping News (read by Paul Hecht)

Charles Dickens's acknowledged masterpiece, Great Expectations, is rightly considered one of the greatest novels of all-time. It depth and breadth are staggering, as it follows its protagonist, Pip, from his early childhood through his later life. During the course of his life, we encounter a vast catalog of raw human emotions: love, hate, jealousy, hope, sadness, despair, anger, pity, empathy, sympathy -- and on and on. The story is treasured and revered for many reasons. One of its main strengths is its plot: after a somewhat slow introductory section, Dickens puts his story in fifth gear and delivers a fast-paced and exciting story that gallops along without ever losing interest or clarity. The incredibly complex plotline, full of separate stories and incidents that seem totally unrelated to each other, but are then all harnessed together as the book heads straight toward its denouement, is also full of constant plot twists, which continue up until, literally, the last paragraph. But, of course, as with all of Dickens's major works, it is the characters that make the book. Like Shakespeare, Dickens preferred to have the story develop through the characters, rather than having the characters be mere set pieces inside of an overriding story. And what great characters they are: the perennially paradoxical but essentially human Pip; the bitter and mysterious Miss Havisham; the beautiful and haughty Estella; the simple and saint-like Joe; the kind and benevolent Herbert; the very human convict, Magwitch -- and all of the other wonderful characters. Dickens excelled in creating well-rounded, very human characters who harbored very real and very complex emotions -- that is, human emotions. We identify with Pip as he winds through his life, because we have been there, too -- the disappointments, the surprises, the loves, the anger, the sadness. In whatever way his story may differ from our own, it is still essentially human, as is ours. For all of his complex and paradoxical emotions and sentiments, Pip is a recognizably human character -- and that is why we love him and this book. A masterpiece for the ages, which will endure for years yet to come, Great Expectations is a great book that can be loved by one and all, for, at its heart, is that grain of simple truth that says so much about what is human in all of us -- whether we have great expectations or not.

I love this book! This is one of my all-time favorite books ever. I had to read it eons ago when I was in ninth grade, and now (14 years later) I am still enjoying it. Every few years I take this one down from my bookshelf to revisit. This is the story of Pip, a small orphaned boy living in poverty in the English countryside with his much older sister and her husband. Pip meets a convict in a graveyard one damp morning and helps him out in the form of some vittles and an iron file. Later in the story, Pip moves from poverty to being a "gentleman" due to the influence of a mysterious, anonymous benefactor. This book tells of his adventures and how Pip's expectations guide him through life. Towards the end of the story, Pip finds out that reality is sometimes very different from what we expect it to be. The characters are what really make this book stand out. Charles Dickens is a master of character development, and his descriptions of Miss Havisham, Wemmick, Joe, and the others is brilliant! The dialogue is great, with the words written the way a commoner would have spoken in England in the 1800's. Another thing I really liked was how all of the characters are inter-related to each other in ways that you may not discover until you get to the end of the novel.This novel will make you laugh and it might make you sad, but it is always entertaining. If you are in high school and reading this book for the first time for English class, keep at it! It may seem difficult at first if you are not used to Dickens, but this book is well worth it! It is truly a gem.

I've taught this book in 9th grade for years because it is a curriculum requirement. During that time, I have raved about the incredible abilities of Dickens to create memorable characters, plot fascinating fiction, make the lives of ordinary people in England memorable, write incredibly descriptive passages . . . .

The time has come to tell the truth. While it may be a great *work of literature*, Great Expectations is a tough book to like.

There is much to appreciate - in the intellectual sense of the word - about GE, from carefully drawn characters to an infinitely detailed plot. Without exception, students love to play *connect the characters* as the novel progresses. They discuss the unrequited love between Pip and Estella, Biddy and Pip - they love the relationship between Joe and Pip. They are fascinated and repulsed by Miss Havisham and her house. They are shocked by Magwitch, and enthralled by his sacrifice. Truly, this has all the makings of a 9th grade *hit*! So what's the problem? Language,length, and format.

The language is off-putting. So much is colloquial to the time and difficult to bring current. Joe's dialect (along with the convict's) is VERY difficult for my deep south students to imitate when reading aloud, and sometimes even difficult for them to decipher at all. Sentences can go on (and on and on and on and on) so that the end hardly seems connected to the beginning. While common when Dickens was writing, these patterns are a bit difficult for a modern audience.

Length and format are a problem that go together. Originally published as a serial, this novel was presented a chapter or two at a time, with a wait between installments. That allowed a reader to digest the events in a chapter, contemplate the relationships, discuss them with friends and build up anticipation for the next installment. By virtue of that style, many side-stories are included that have little bearing on the overall plot. Likewise, there is much detail included that seems almost irrelevant when one is reading the novel in full. Those are the very things that fostered interest in the serial, and yet in a novel, they seem extraneous and confusing. At the end, the novel seems (just a bit) overwritten (and perhaps that is because it wasn't originally a novel).

In summary, my feelings about this novel are mixed. The story itself is fascinating, but I find myself eternally dreading that time of year when I will yet again introduce it to another crop of unsuspecting students . . .

I chose to write a review of Great Expectations because I wanted to be able to rate a novel "five-stars" without an ounce of hesitation.

Context: I'm not by any means some sort of an intellect. Like many people who have read Great Expectations, I was assigned this book in high school. I remember looking to the end of the book, first, to see how many pages there were. I cringed. Then I began to read that first chapter about a boy named Pip who meets the convict looking for vittles.

I won't give anything away about the plot. I only want to say that this was the first book that I ever read that I had me truly absorbed. I remember a kid in my class who read ahead a few chapters and had us all in wonder as to what twists transpired. He just smiled and said, "you won't believe how this thing turns out."

After reading other Dickens books I realized that his greatest strengths was populating his books with amazing, odd, likeable, and despicable characters who found there way in and out of his stories.

If you haven't read this book, do so.

The description of Miss Havisham & her home alone is worth two to three stars. This is unlike any other book in the English language, with the possible exception of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights?" Dickens tells us many things in the begining of the novel that appear out of place or irrelevant, but later those pieces fall into place so that the big picture is revealed.

This story runs the gamut of emotions for the reader. Shock, empathy, joy, disappointment, & disdain are all there for the various characters at different times. Multiple plots, detailed descriptions, & ever mutable characters made this a long & entertaining read. This is the story of Phillip Pirrup or Pip. He is a true hardluck case that you root for. His family except for a brother & sister have all passed away. He lives with his sister{a husband beater} & brother in law Joe Gargery in a tiny English village. Oddly for this era, this is one of the few books where fear from a man's perspective is explored. That in itself was refreshing. Along the roller coaster life that Pip finds himself on he meets enigmatic people & gets an anonymous benefactor who helps him reach London to start a better life? Once there life & the nature of Pip himself is radically altered. This is when the title of my review becomes clear. Dickens asks & answers very poignant psychological questions long before Freud was ever heard of.

Great Expectations, 1860-'61, Dickens's second to last completed novel is the first tome I have ever read and is one of the best books I've ever read.

The story centers upon Pip who is orphaned and lives with his mean sister and her kind husband Joe. The book's classic opening is when Pip meets an escaped convict and he forces Pip to give him food and then later is caught. Little did Pip know that this occasion will live on and he will be reminded of it in a very unexpected fashion later in the book

Young Pip is then sent to Satis House to meet the very mysterious and eccentric Miss Havisham who, jilted at the altar spends the rest of her cursed recluse life in her rotting, yellow wedding dress in Satis House. Pip also meets Estella, a beautiful, yet very cold and proud girl brought up by Miss Havisham to hate men as revenge for her fiance's betrayal.

Great Expectations is the story of Pip's life and of all the surprises (there's a lot of 'em folks) hopes: some lived some smashed, and of course, Dickensesque eccentrics who populate the book.

Great Expectations is the first tome I have ever finished and I must say that it was worth it. Since I didn't have the book for a while, it took me about three months to read it but have no fear, for this is a pretty quick read with many twists and turns along the way.

This book is often considered Dickens's masterpiece. Well, I don't really know about that but it has to be close to that. It certainly was a great read and I think you will agree.