Great Expectations

My expectations were greatly met.
Superbly written by Charles Dickens and superbly read and dramatized by Simon Prebble.
My thoughts on this book ranged from 3 stars while reading the first half of the print version to 4 stars and eventually 5 stars while listening to the second half on audio. The story grew stronger as it progressed.
Worthy of the time spent reading and listening to the unabridged versions. 18.5 hrs.

4 Stars for Great Expectations (audiobook) Charles Dickens read by Anton Lesser.

I think I still like A Christmas Carol better. But this was an interesting look at what it was like for a boy growing up in England in the 1800’s, it was such a different world back then.

“Life is made of so many partings welded together.”

Great Expectations exceeded my expectations and beyond. This is truly a unique tale of redemption, forgiveness, and of well…. having expectations. The main character Pip is an orphan, and we follow him from young childhood to adulthood through his many expectations, failures, and successes. When I say I can relate to Pip, it’s an understatement. From his idealism of the world itself, his deeply ingrained desires to have more in life, and even his supposed good fortune that is unfortunately overshadowed with a series of misfortune and struggles. Pip goes through so much! Through all the turmoil and embarrassment, he fights to fit into a new life whilst desperately trying to understand how to hold onto his old life. Is fortune always worth the circumstances in which your life may change?

“I am not at all happy as I am. I am disgusted with my calling and with my life." (Pip, Great Expectations)

“Well, then, understand once for all that I never shall or can be comfortable—or anything but miserable—there, Biddy!—unless I can lead a very different sort of life from the life I lead now.” (Pip, Great Expectations)

I feel you, Pip. I feel you. But as we all live life with expectations and this inner struggle with desiring for our lives to be better, I believe we can all say we suffer or have suffered at one time or another from having these great expectations only for something to ultimately turn out far less than optimal. At least that has been my personal experience in life!!

Great expectations also has a number of peculiar yet well-developed characters, and they all overlap in many surprising ways. I absolutely loved how the story came together. Each character seems to get their moment. My top favorite character is the one and only bizarre and eccentric Miss Havisham. A symbol of death or perhaps just a living ghost herself; I loved her the very second, she took the stage. She must be one of the greatest classic characters ever developed. It was her entrance alone that ensured me that the gothic undertones I started to feel at the beginning were genuine and ever so present.

"So unchanging was the dull old house, the yellow light in the darkened room, the faded spectre in the chair by the dressing-table glass, that I felt as if the stopping of the clocks had stopped Time in that mysterious place, and, while I and everything else outside it grew older, it stood still. Daylight never entered the house, as to my thoughts and remembrances of it, any more than as to the actual fact."

My second favorite character would have to be Joe. He’s humble, hardworking, sweet, kind, and gentle. When I learned about a certain something he did at the end, it just brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart!!

Another reread, loved it the first time around, loved it all over again!

thank god it's over

Μ αρέσει η γεύση που σου αφήνουν κάποια βιβλία στο μυαλό.
Η μυρωδιά που πλυμμηρίζει την ψυχή και την αναστατώνει, αφήνοντας της για πάντα αναμνήσεις.
Η μελωδία που βλέπεις να παίζεται μπροστά στα μάτια σου και να σε παρασύρει σε τοπία και μέρη του κόσμου που ίσως να είναι φανταστικά, ξεχασμένα, αλλοτινής εποχής, ίσως όμως να είναι τα ίδια με αυτά που ζεις.

Μεγάλες προσδοκίες, είναι μοναδικές στιγμές που όλα τα «μακάρι» γίνονται «επιτέλους».
Πάντα θα λατρεύουμε τις μεγάλες προσδοκίες, μόνο αυτές αντιπροσωπεύουν όλες τις αμαρτίες που δεν είχαμε το θάρρος ή την ευκαιρία να κάνουμε.

Λάτρεψα αυτό το κλασικό μυθιστόρημα όπου τα πάντα παρασύρονται στο τέλος τους, όπως ακριβώς και στην ζωή μας.
Δεν καταγράφονται απλώς τα γεγονότα, δημιουργούνται και παράγονται απο το μυαλό του συγγραφέα κάτω απο συνθήκες που θεωρεί πως είναι φυσικές εξελίξεις της ανθρώπινης νόησης.
Διεισδύει στην πραγματικότητα και γράφει για όλα αυτά που είμαστε φτιαγμένοι για να ζήσουμε και τρομάζουμε όταν τα σκεφτόμαστε.
Μεγάλες προσδοκίες.....

Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι μια αξεπέραστη καλλιτεχνική δημιουργία που φανερώνει τη σαφέστερη αντίληψη και γνώση αυτού που ονομάζεται ζωή-κόσμος.
Έχει μια δύναμη παρατηρητικότητας βαθιά και λεπτομερέστατη που ορίζεται ως διαλογισμός, ως ένα έργο που ξεπερνά κάθε μορφή εξουσίας ή κοινωνικής αποσύνθεσης.
Οι μεγάλες προσδοκίες έχουν τις ρίζες τους στις κοινωνικές πραγματικότητες του συγγραφέα, μα στην ουσία η διαχρονική του ανεκτίμητη αξία είναι η παγκόσμια έκκληση ερωτημάτων που θέτει με ζητούμενο τις προσδοκίες της ανθρώπινης ψυχής.

Μέσα απο χαμένες προσδοκίες και τα κατεδαφισμένα όνειρα βρίσκεται πάντα μια άλλη χαμένη ελπίδα που ειναι ικανή να προκαλέσει επανάσταση επιθυμιών.

Συνειδησιακή πάλη, σκοτεινοί χαρακτήρες, βία, εγκληματικότητα, ποινές φυλάκισης, άνιση κοινωνική διαστρωμάτωση, ορισμός της ανθρώπινης οντότητας με βάση την μόρφωση, ορισμός εκτίμησης,τιμής και αξιοπρέπειας με βάση την καταγωγή και τον πλούτο.

Και ο έρωτας ; Ο έρωτας που δεν μαθαίνεται... γιατί απλά συμβαίνει είναι το βασικό συστατικό της ιστορίας μας. Είναι η ενοχή, η ψευδαίσθηση, το όνειρο, η περιφρόνηση, η συγχώρεση, η κατανόηση, η λύπηση, η τρυφερότητα, είναι η πραγματική ουσία της ζωής.

Η διορατικότητα στην ανθρώπινη φύση είναι η δύναμη του έρωτα, μια ανάγκη για αγάπη και πάθος, το θέμα, ο θύτης και το θύμα των μεγάλων προσδοκιών. Η αναζήτηση της ψυχικής μεγαλοπρέπειας και καλοσύνης μέσα στα σκοτάδια των επιφανειακών εντυπώσεων και της ψεύτικης κυριαρχίας.

Ο Ντίκενς μας περνάει με την ιδιοφυή πένα του απο τη μια κατάσταση στην άλλη για να αποδείξει πως το πέρασμα αυτό ικανοποιεί επιφανειακά και αναποτελεσματικά τις προσδοκίες μας.
Η άρνηση του πραγματικού εαυτού μας και η απεμπόληση των δεσμών με το παρελθόν μας προκαλούν ηθική φθορά με τεράστιο συνειδησιακό αντίτιμο απενοχοποίησης.

Η διαδρομή της καρδιάς προς το όνειρο των μεγάλων προσδοκιών οδηγεί σε αδιέξοδο αν χάσεις την ουσία της ζωής, προσπαθώντας να ξεφύγεις απο τη μοίρα.

Κι όταν μοιραία αποκαλύπτεται η αλήθεια ίσως είναι αργά για μεταστροφή. Εκτιμούμε βαθιά αυτά που χάσαμε. Κατανοούμε πως τα χάσαμε επειδή δεν τα εκτιμήσαμε.


❤️❤️❤️

I adore this book, and I'm honestly amazed at the literary genius that went into it. I attempted reading Great Expectations as a teenager and I utterly failed. I didn't make it past chapter 3. The language was too challenging for me, and overall I felt like I didn't know where the story was going.

I recently picked this back up because I wanted to buddy read it with some friends, and that was such a good decision. I geniuenly feel like I've read this book at the perfect time in my life.

Great Expectations is a bildungsroman by Charles Dickens which was published between 1860 and 1861, and it deals with timely themes such as wealth and poverty, love and rejection and the differences between a rural environment and the London metropolis. In this novel we follow the psychological and moral developement of the young orphaned boy Pip to his maturity. It exhibits his hopes and youthful dreams and their metamorphosis through the hardships of adulthood.

I have to admit that my reading experience of this novel wasn't necessarily worthy of five stars. There were times when the novel dragged, and didn't manage to hold my interest, but overall, and especially looking back on it, I have to give credit where credit is due: The novel in itself is such a well-rounded story, in which every narrative thread was picked up again and resolved, thus weaving a complexity into this narrative which was honestly impressive.

Dickens created a lot of unlikeable characters for this tale: The cold-hearted bitch that is Estella. The crazy, egocentric spinster that is Miss Havisham. The disloyal ambitious boy that is Pip. However, all of these characters have a certain depth to them that makes them multi-layered and most importantly, real. Estella learns the hard way that her mannerism was cruel. Miss Havisham sees the flaws of her behaviour as well. And even Pip aspires to improve eventually, and pays his dues.

Great Expecations glistens with its side characters. I will never forget Wemmick and the comic relief he provided to the story. I will forever cherish his entertaining and loveable relationship to Mr Jaggers. Also, Orlick is a character that I'll think about for a long time. (Am I the only one who thought of Caliban from The Tempest whenever he popped up?)

Great Expecations is such an atmospheric tale and seems to draw heavily on the gothic novel, especially with Miss Havisham, the bride frozen in time and the ruins of Satis House filled with weeds and spiders. And even the aristocratic Drummle and his bursts of extreme cruelty, and Pip himself who spends his youth chasing for beauty fit the picture. Then again, it displays comedic, almost satirical moments, highlighting the novel's most eccentric characters. One only has to remember Pip's christmas dinner, Wopsle's performance of Hamlet or Wemmick's marriage, and the comedic traits of this story can't be denied.

I could literally praise this novel all day. It provides a rich basis for an analysis through the postcolonial lens (the book reinforces the standards that support the authority of the British empire and thus the exploitation of the Middle East through trade and travel), but also a basis for psychoanalytical criticism (the construction of identity in relation to the social order) and feminist criticism (the silence of women in the novel, and the glorification of domestic violence).

Moreover, in the centre of the novel stands the idea that wealth is only acceptable to the ruling class if it comes from the labour of others. Miss Havisham's wealth is considered 'pure', because it comes from rent collected on properties she inherited from her father and not from the sweat of her brow. Whereas, Magwitch's wealth is socially unacceptable, even repugnant to Pip, because he earned it through his own hard work, and because he was a convict.

The setting of the metropolis functions almost as a prison for Pip. In London, neither wealth nor gentility brings him happiness. His experience is dominated by chronic unease, weariness and feelings of insecurity. In the crowded metropolis, Pip grows disenchanted, disillusioned and lonely. Just like Estella (at the end of the novel), he learned the hard way how he took for granted what was most precious to him – his native Kent and the support provided by his dearest friends Joe and Biddy.

And I have to say that I've never read a better last chapter to any story. Ever. I saw no shadow from another parting from her. My mind is blown. Only few authors can pull of ambigious endings, but they all pale in comparison to Dickens. When Pip returns to the ruins of Satis House and meets Estella there, the whole scene had such a melancholic vibe to it, that I could literally feel it in my body. We witnessed two characters intentionally and unintentionally wreck the lives of the other, both have grown from the hardships that life has thrown in their way. They are 'bent and broken – but perhaps into a better shape.' Will they leave together or go seperate ways? It's up to the reader to decide, and I was never more satisfied after finishing a novel.

Its a great human weakness to wish to be the same as our friends. If they are rich we wish to be rich. If they are poor then we don't mind being equally poor. We are not ashamed of being stupid, we are only ashamed of being more stupid than our friends. Its a matter of comparison. It is also a matter of expectation. We don't miss things that we never expected to have. We are not disappointed at being poor if we never expected to be rich.....