This has got to be the most verbose and disgusting tale of misogyny in the English language. If there's anything worse, I don't want to know about it.

We have poor little Pip, who is "in love" with Estella just by looking at her, because she's pretty. So he spends the entire rest of the book feeling entitled to her. She never leads him on. She's never even nice to him. So of course she is breaking his heart.

And it's all Miss Havisham's fault that he's obsessed with her and that the feelings are not mutual - because Miss Havisham raised her to be aloof. Apparently if she were raised different, then when Pip fell in love with her by looking at her, she would've been appreciative, and grown up to be his obedient wife.

Reading this, and realizing it's been popular for over a hundred years, I wonder just what the fuck is WRONG with people?

Then I read that this story was based on Dickens' life. He was shunned by some girl, and never got over it. He had no idea what love meant, and how it was different from obsession. He went on to leave his wife after she gave him 10 children, and have an affair with a teenage girl. Thank goodness his lust was reciprocated by that girl child, or we'd have yet another autobiographical novel about a friend-zoning wench.

It's been two months since I've read this book and I still haven't managed to write a review. I think that's because I feel a bit intimidated. This book was just so good, I know I won't be able to write a review to do it justice.

I immediately fell in love with Pip (it literally took one sentence), and as the story went on, I fell in love with the rest of the characters as well. Every single one of them was unique and utterly charming in their own way and definitely memorable. This book could have been several hundred pages longer and I wouldn't have complained, because I felt so involved with everyone's life and just wanted to know more and more.

And the writing style...gosh, it was to die for! I can't put my finger on it, but Dickens has a certain way with words that just fills me with so much joy. It was such a comforting read somehow? I feel like he's the writer I've been waiting to discover for a long time. I can't believe I didn't read more of his books sooner! I wasn't even halfway through the book when I decided I need to read the rest of his works as soon as possible.

I "only" gave it four stars in the end, because I originally thought that there were some unnecessary parts. But the more I think about it, the more I think it deserves a higher rating. I'm sure that when I reread this book (and I know without a doubt I will do so at some point), it will get a full 5 star rating.

"Fu quello un giorno memorabile, poiché provocò in me grandi cambiamenti. Ma lo stesso accade in ogni vita. Provate a immaginare di cancellarne un giorno particolare, e pensate a come sarebbe stato differente il suo corso. Voi che leggete, fermatevi a pensare per un attimo alla lunga catena di ferro o di oro, di spine o di fiori, che non vi avrebbe mai avvinto, se non si fosse formato il primo anello in un giorno memorabile."

Dickens è la mia coccola, il mio rifugio quando sono indecisa su cosa leggere o ho bisogno di andare sul sicuro.
Ciò che mi piace da morire dei suoi libri e che preferisco, sono tre elementi.

Il primo è la scrittura che pilota con grandissima maestria, giocando con il tono, con le figure retoriche ed i termini, dipingendo quadri al limite del surreale e che spesso fanno sorridere anche quando descrive momenti particolarmente significativi.
Le sue descrizioni sono sempre abilissime, soprattutto per quel che riguarda la vita a Londra, una Londra dell’epoca, piena di contraddizioni.

Il secondo è la capacità di narrare gli animi umani pur senza utilizzare retorica, ma dipingendo degli avvenimenti che mettano alla prova i protagonisti, in questo caso Pip, il giovane ragazzo che è la voce narrante, ma anche Estella, e perfino Biddy e Joe, anche se toccati indirettamente. La morale è immediatamente intuibile, si rivela come una folgorazione, nelle ultime pagine dei suoi libri.
E questo non fa eccezione.

“E ora torno a questo giovanotto. E la comunicazione che gli devo fare è che ha grandi speranze”

In questo nello specifico, e per tutto il libro, il dilemma è tra le apparenze e i principi , tra il cogliere al volo l’occasione per migliorarsi e realizzare le proprie “grandi speranze” e il restare fedeli a se stessi.
Perché i principi, o meglio alcuni valori morali, sono sempre al centro delle storie di Dickens, e questo è il terzo elemento che adoro nei suoi libri.

“Il cielo sa che non dovremmo mai vergognarci delle nostre lacrime, perché sono pioggia sulla polvere accecante della terra che ricopre i nostri cuori induriti. Mi sentii meglio dopo aver pianto…più addolorato, più consapevole della mia ingratitudine, più raddolcito. Se avessi pianto prima, Joe sarebbe stato con me, in quel momento.”

Nei personaggi di questo ho ritrovato tutte le classiche figure a lui care: i malfattori che rinsaviscono, spesso grazie all’aiuto di piccoli innocenti; le tante, la maggior parte, persone che seguono la strada sbagliata e alla fine pagano aspramente i loro crimini; quelle povere e ignoranti ma le sole capaci di affetto vero e sentimenti puri e di comportarsi in maniera onesta senza chiedere nulla in cambio.
Sia beninteso, nei romanzi di Dickens spesso anche i primi pagano, nonostante si ricredano sulle cattive azioni commesse e cambino rotta. Ed è ciò che succede anche qui, e che causa grande sofferenza anche al nostro protagonista Pip, sia direttamente che indirettamente.
Purtroppo nonostante tutto non sono riuscita a provare simpatia per lui, perché è la sola causa dei suoi mali e della delusione delle sue “grandi speranze”, ma non ho potuto non avere gran pena per lui dopo tutte le sfortune che gli sono piovute sul capo e che ha dovuto sopportare amaramente.
Invece non si può non amare Joe e Biddy che appartengono a quell’ultima categoria, proprio perché è lo scrittore a desiderarlo.
Allo stesso modo invece ho provato affetto per Provis, nonostante il ragazzo continui a dipingercelo con pieno disprezzo, fino al momento in cui per magia si ravvede.
È il classico esempio di figura cara allo scrittore, sulla cui esistenza pesa la strada che ha intrapreso per colpa di figure abiette che si sono messe sulla via, e per cui è costretto a pagare un prezzo troppo alto.

Le cose vanno sicuramente in una direzione in cui il fato pesa in maniera più pesante che se si fosse trattato di vero fato e non fosse stato diretto dalla mano dell’autore proprio verso certi protagonisti, ma questo non risulta sgradevole seppur molto triste, perché è ciò che ci si aspetta dalle storie di Dickens.

It was the best of times. It was the worst...

Wait a minute...

Ahem...

I’m easily persuaded, I guess. When I’m out there in the world just bout there doin’ my world stuff, you know, readin’ books, listening to podcasts, and just living my life, I like to take advice from people, especially when it comes to what books to read. So when a guy I trust on a podcast I enjoy says that Dickens is second to Shakespeare as the greatest author of all time, my ears perk up. My ears perk up, and my head drops down, and I shamefully remind myself I’ve never actually finished a book by Charles Dickens. I’ve started a few. I know a story or two. I’ve heard of this guy before, but I’ve never read one of his books from cover to cover.

Until now, friends! Until. Now.

I did the ol’ read the actual book, read the ebook, listen to the audiobook trifecta on this one. I consumed it every chance I had in whatever format I could. Quick side note on the audiobook- I don’t know who the narrator was but the recording sounded like just a normal guy reading the story and recording it in his living room. You could hear him turn the pages, the sound would get louder and softer at times, and there were little hums and pops throughout the whole thing, but I loved it! It was such a lo-fi recording, but it just added to the experience of reading a classic 19th century book. He nailed all the voices, too.

Anyway...

Great expectations is hard to pin down into one genre. At its core, it’s a Bildungsroman story, but it’s filled with adventure, mystery, romance, joy, sadness, violence, sorrow, gain, loss, and much more. I was gripped from the opening pages of Pip encountering a ghostly convince in the marshes, and the story kept me engaged as it rolled along, introducing me to memorable characters, and wrapping me up into a story I will not soon forget.

I honestly did not have great expectations when I picked up this book, and I was very, very surprised with all the plot twists and big reveals in the third act. Dickens weaves together a beautiful story but also a template for modern-day storytellers to follow. Some parts of the story reminded me of recent novels I’ve read, only this one is 150 years older. The book felt fresh though. It never really felt dated or difficult to follow. It’s honestly very accessible and readable today so don’t be intimidated by it. Pick it up and read it.

I’m sure I’ll explore more of Dickens’ work in the future. I’m glad I took the time to read this one, and you should take the time to read it as well.

welcome to...GREAT EXPECTA(JUNE)S.

that was so bad. i need to write fast - i'm expecting a SWAT team to enter my cute apartment via my lovely floor-to-ceiling windows and put me out of my misery at any moment. you can't murder the art of punning like that and expect to escape with your life.

in the meantime. welcome back to the series in which me and elle read a long classic over the course of the month, because we are otherwise too cowardly!

this book in particular has been haunting me. maybe if my expectations were so great i'd have actually read it, instead of having it on my tbr for over 5 years!! ha ha...ha...ha.

oh lord.

we're also reading this for our book club -
join the discussion here
follow on instagram here

let's get into it.

DAY 1: CHAPTERS 1 & 2
no wonder this lil orphan's existence is so miserable. his name is philip pirrip. that's a recipe for disaster if i've ever heard one.

i have been putting this book off for approx 10 years (my mom bought me a copy, for some reason, in my youth), but it is immediately more readable than i thought.

not exactly surprising. this is coming from the girl who bought little house on the prairie at the age of 8 at the scholastic book fair, took one look at the old timey prose, and chucked it in the (literal) back of my closet with a post-it note saying DON'T READ UNTIL YOU'RE 10.


DAY 2: CHAPTERS 3 & 4
charles dickens is funnier than 90% of netflix's most recent standup releases. and i like standup.

IT'S THE ROMAN NOSES PASSAGE THAT THE DAD READS TO DOMHNALL GLEESON IN ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!! suddenly this whole thing is a mental bill nighy audiobook for me. what a treat.


DAY 3: CHAPTERS 5 & 6
incredibly small section today. it's like charles dickens knew that centuries in the future, a very hungover girl would be attempting the fifth and sixth chapters, and took mercy.


DAY 4: CHAPTERS 7 & 8
miss havisham AND estella!! even i have heard of these heavy hitters. this is a star-studded book.
"Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it." damn good line.


DAY 5: CHAPTERS 9 & 10
i just realized that roughly 70% of the preconceived notions i had about this book are actually about oliver twist. oops.


DAY 6: CHAPTERS 11 & 12
"I saw speckle-legged spiders with blotchy bodies running home to it, and running out from it, as if some circumstances of the greatest public importance had just transpired in the spider community." this reads like a viral tweet.

so many wasted years not reading this book because i thought the language would be intimidating, when actually it's 99% memes.


DAY 7: CHAPTERS 13 & 14
estella is my favorite character, easy. i am so obsessed with mean girls. i've told this story before, but i have an ex-boyfriend who was once in a fight with one of his roommates, who was very rude, and i was talking him up and on his side every moment up to and including when i met her, and then forever after i wanted her to like me more than anything.

i would forsake pip, joe, the neighborly gang, the sister, and the convicts for estella in a heartbeat. not havisham, though. i love that creepy ghoul too.


DAY 8: CHAPTERS 15 & 16
there is nothing a classic author likes more than the idea of Being Hit Hard On The Head Changing Your Personality. it seems like a huge indulgence to them specifically that there's any scientific backing to that at all.


DAY 9: CHAPTERS 17 & 18
title mention title mention title mention!!!
how fun. go pip.


DAY 10: CHAPTERS 19 & 20
as long as there have been books there's been this annoying Kid Starts Out With Nothing Then Gets Something And Immediately Sucks character arc.


DAY 11: CHAPTERS 21 & 22
return of the pale young gentleman!!! love a surprise reappearance from a fan favorite.

i typically HATE cannot STAND and generally ABHOR flashbacks and backstories of any kind, but dickens is so funny and i like these characters so much that i'm having a damn blast. what is going on!!


DAY 12: CHAPTERS 23 & 24
really feeling like those who read austen for the humor would really like this book.........


DAY 13: CHAPTERS 25 & 26
one of those I Am Not Into This Right Now But Maybe It's Not You It's Me Or Something days.


DAY 14: CHAPTERS 27 & 28
if you told me before today that a paragraph mainly about being a blacksmith would be enough to bring a tear to my eye i would have laughed in your damn face. but i am a joe loyalist to the core.

unless he's ever pitted against estella.


DAY 15: CHAPTERS 29 & 30
“Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt,” said Estella, “and of course if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no—sympathy—sentiment—nonsense.”

i just love her more and more every time we encounter her.


DAY 16: CHAPTERS 31 & 32
single most entertaining-sounding production of hamlet of all time appears to be depicted in these pages.
but then, i'm no hamlet stan. too much whining.


DAY 17: CHAPTERS 33 & 34
when charles dickens said “You speak of yourself as if you were some one else.” and sally rooney said “Marianne had the sense that her real life was happening somewhere very far away, happening without her, and she didn't know if she would ever find out where it was or become part of it.”
never doubt my ability to tie absolutely everything in to sally.


DAY 18: CHAPTERS 35 & 36
“(breathing sherry and crumbs)” has gotta be one of the great parenthetical insertions.


DAY 19: CHAPTERS 37 & 38
this is boring today. and the chapters are long. i'm whiny about it.
oof, AND i have to deal with “Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men, and that she was not to be given to me until she had gratified it”??? GIVEN???
not our finest day.
it was fun to see estella yelling at havisham, though.


DAY 20: CHAPTERS 39 & 40
you have to love this book for its dedication to hosting the Return of a Fan Favorite. basically the entire thing is about introducing a character, sending him away, cracking jokes for 80 pages, and bringing him on back.
AND WHAT A RETURN IT IS! holy moley.
my first thought, of COURSE, is how this impacts estella. and the answer: to me, rad.
and on to part 3!


DAY 21: CHAPTERS 41 & 42
i guess the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" had not yet originated when this was published. in 100 bce or whatever.


DAY 22: CHAPTERS 43 & 44
i am so thoroughly Team Pip Does Not Automatically Deserve Estella Just Because He Thought He Was Entitled, And Also No One Does that i keep forgetting about the no one does part and just getting mad at pip.
he did make a good ass speech to her, though. that i can admit.


DAY 23: CHAPTERS 45 & 46
today in another book i'm reading i learned that charles dickens once took a 7 hour walk through london overnight because he got in a fight with his wife, in an instance i am forced to call "the first ever hot girl walk."
i can't help thinking i would have picked this up ages ago had i only known that dickens was a drama queen.


DAY 24: CHAPTERS 47 & 48
the world is just goddamn awful today so i guess my "escapist reading" will be about when everyone was a weird little gutter rat in england.
i'm going to be honest. i have almost no clue what's going on here.
as jpuzzle in the book club said, WHY DOES EVERYONE KNOW EACH OTHER.


DAY 25: CHAPTERS 49 & 50
finding ms havisham super relatable. i too find the only way to respond to seeing the consequences of my own actions is by setting myself on fire.
THIS BOOK IS SO CRAZY!!!


DAY 26: CHAPTERS 51 & 52
took a day off right at crunch time and baby, i will not be catching up today!! pray for short chapters for me, my brethren.
and so it shall be!!!


DAY 27: CHAPTERS 53 & 54
also will not be catching up today. i have forgotten how to read. (it went away with my bodily autonomy and human rights! buh dum ch.)
did charles dickens have a ration on how many characters he could use? everyone is pulling triple duty at this point.
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” i have that quote framed!
anyway, our short-chapter-day luck has run out, my friends.


DAY 28: CHAPTERS 55 & 56
ok. have to catch up today. running out of time.
the drama of it all!!


DAY 29: CHAPTERS 57, 58, & 59
honestly rude for chapters to be long on a catch-up day. but i am strong and full of life and i will finish!!!
ok...this is everything. the real love stories here are pip and joe and pip and herbert. brings a tear to mine eye. last chapter time!
bye, estella!! all my love!


OVERALL
this whole thing was suuuuch a pleasant surprise: more readable, more amusing, and more interesting than i thought. i got bogged down in the middle (and i preferred the alternate / sadder / more realistic ending, when i sought it out) but in the end, cool fun yay!
rating: somewhere between 3.5 and 4

A rightful classic with unforgettable characters and a lot of humor. Part 2 of the book bored me a little but the overall message is interesting and Pip is heartwarming
Always the best of friends

A sprawling novel, full of colourful, almost caricature like characters.
Still Pip’s development and growth in the book is well executed and never feels to sweet or moralistic.

Orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip) is the focus of this book and we meet him on a cemetery. It’s a banging start of a book which seems quite grim a first.
The Christmas eve dinner, with all the adults quite Roald Dahl like (with the exception of the blacksmith) in their vanity and disdain of children, belies this. Dickens is clearly here to have some fun!

His pocket change being collected by his sister to “liquidate the national debt” is another good example.
Not to say there are no serious topics covered: Joe not being able to read, domestic abuse

The story gets into higher gear when we meet a mysterious Estella. This leads to a first dilemma for Pip’s young heart: Bidy versus Estella. The role of aspiration is big in the narrative anyway, for Pip wants to be a gentleman.

Pip arrives in London in the neighborhood where my MBA is, delightful to hear all the references to places I know.
So much meetings in London in part 2 with new people, of which I don’t know the relevance for the overall story, Dickens loses me here a bit.

Joe Gargery remains funny in his awkwardness, showing the chasm of class, which Pip experiences intensely:
Made me cry again, inwardly, and that’s is the sharpest crying of all

Pip tries to adapt and at times feel out of his depth and cowardly, so it is all the better he has someone to rely on:
Never to soon, sir and never too often Pip
- Joe has a heart of gold.

Pip taking a leave out of the “I am not angry but I’m hurt” book in his quest for social upward mobility. There is even some sass developing: I’ve been locked up as much as a silver teacup
However nothing trumps Estella: You adres nothing in my breast, you touch nothing there.
Cold killer Estella.

The faults of the parents repeat in the children

Part of my existence is a beautiful speech as is the term Ecstasy of unhappiness, we should bring that back.

Part 2 was a bit boring but part 1 is near perfect comedy and part 3 has a lot of confrontations, emotions and action, very musical, Phantom of the Opera, like.

The relativity of prosperity without human connection is commented upon,rowing up the Thames around Temple, unimaginable nowadays. Loss and growth seem intertwined.
The people have the best memory ever, and are supremely obsessive as well, traveling across continents to follow people they hate.

Jaggers is so shady for a lawyer, water and fire befall the criminal bridegroom and the cold, withered bride and overall Pip his relations with women are quite saddening.

Difference between having and not having money in how people treat each other is still relevant today and Dickens his commentary of being poor in assets but rich in relations, and which is more preferable, including his appreciation of nature and experience, still hold value for our current day.

Charles Dickens falls far down my list of preferred Victorian authors. I think he is overrated. His characters are one-dimensional, being either all bad or all good. His writing style requires too much effort to read. His stories are sensationalistic. All that said, this novel, with its suspense as well as twists and turns, is enjoyable, which is good, because I bought several fancy editions before reading it. (I have a book-buying problem.)

"In an arm-chair, with an elbow resting on the table and her head leaning on that hand, sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see."

Early in the novel, young Pip, a poor orphan whose parents and many brothers are dead, has two turning points in his life, which structure everything that follows. First, he meets an escaped convict in a cemetery. Second, a weird, vengeful, wealthy woman sends for him, very oddly, out of nowhere to entertain her and her adopted daughter at their house.

"Break their hearts, my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!"

"Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read..."

As a consequence of these turning points, everything in Pip's life changes. His ambitions and life goals (or expectations) change, his living arrangements change, he gets new romantic interests, he meets new people and friends. And a key question is how all this affects his behavior and his relationships to those humble people who truly care about him and who have long been his supporters.

"Ever the best of friends."

"But how could I, a poor dazed village lad, avoid that wonderful inconsistency into which the best and wisest of men fall every day?"

MEMORABLE QUOTES

"It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home."

"She said the word often enough, and there could be no doubt that she meant to say it; but if the often repeated word had been hate instead of love—despair—revenge—dire death—it could not have sounded from her lips more like a curse."

"Better ... to have left her a natural heart, even to be bruised or broken."

"The death close before me was terrible, but far more terrible than death was the dread of being misremembered after death."

n  n    “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.”n  n

I first read Great Expectations when I was thirteen years old. It was the first of Dickens' works that I'd read of my own volition, the only other being Oliver Twist, which we'd studied parts of in school. You know, I missed out on a lot when I was thirteen. By this, I mean that I didn't always understand the deeper meaning lying beneath the surface of my favourite classics. I favoured fast-paced and gritty stories and didn't understand the love for Austen (later cured). But there was something about Great Expectations that hit me hard on all levels and there was a deeper understanding I took from it even back then.

I should say first of all, this book makes me feel sad. Not a Lifetime movie emotionally overwrought pass-me-the-kleenex kind of sad. I have read it several times and have never once cried while reading it. But the book never fails to leave me with this hollow feeling that things could have been so different. When I was a kid, I often wished I could jump inside the TV and warn the good guys not to do something; stop something horrible from happening. This is that kind of book for me. All the not-knowing and mistaken assumptions that float between the characters in this novel is torture.

Some readers don't like Dickens. He's been called "lacking in style", as well as a bunch of other things. Well, I think he's like the Stephen King of the Victorian era. He loves his drama, his characters are well-drawn but sometimes edging towards caricatures, he has a wonderful talent for painting a vivid picture of a scene in your mind but a bunch of his books are a hundred pages too long. Whatever. I love his stories. And I love his characters.

In Great Expectations, you have the orphaned Philip "Pip" Pirrip who has spent his short life being poor and being bullied by his sister who is also his guardian. You have Joe Gargery, a kind man who also allows himself to be bullied by Pip's sister (his wife). Then you have the infamous Miss Havisham who was abandoned at the altar and now spends her days wandering around her mansion in her old wedding dress, hating men and raising the young Estella to be just like her.

n  n    “You are in every line I have ever read.”n  n

At its heart, this is a book about someone who is given an opportunity to have all their dreams come true, to be better than they ever thought they could be, to be loved by someone who they never thought would look at them. We all yearn for something badly at times. Imagine having the chance to get exactly what you always wanted. Imagine becoming better and higher than you knew was possible. Imagine having all of that and then realizing that perhaps the most important thing you ever had got left behind.

Pip was always my favourite Dickens protagonist because he wants so much and I sympathise with him. I can understand why he does what he does and why he wants what he wants. But the saddest thing is that ambition can make you lose sight of other important things and Pip has a lot of hard lessons to learn along the way. It's a book that was extremely relevant to the times when social class was of utmost importance in Britain. Essentially, the book deconstructs what it means to be a "gentlemen" and makes a not-so-subtle criticism of a class-based society.

Who are the real gentlemen? The top hat wearing men of London with all their fine china and ceremony? Pip, who gets a chance to become one of them? Or Joe Gargery, the rough-talking blacksmith who even years later tells Pip: "you and me was ever friends"?

There is a powerful lesson in here and I love it. Even after all these years.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Thoroughly brilliant, as always. I get fonder of this one with each reread. Beautifully written and fascinating to the core!