2024/16

Review in English below

Mi primera lectura con mi madre este 2024 ha sido toda una maravillosa experiencia, y no se podía haber esperado menos de uno de los grandes de la época victoriana y literatura inglesa en general. Grandes esperanzas es una de esas obras que no te suelta una vez que estás dentro, y que no te soltará una vez que la hayas terminado de leer, ya que tanto sus personajes como su trama tan entretenida y bellamente escrita se quedarán contigo para siempre.

Creo que lo que más disfruté de esta historia, y por ahora lo puedo decir también, lo que más disfruto de este género que se conoce como novela sensacionalista, es que jamás te deja tener un momento de aburrimiento y siempre hay algo que está sucediendo capítulo tras capítulo, independientemente de lo mucho o poco que pueda impactar a la trama en sí. No cabe duda que una obra de este estilo me recuerda a una buena telenovela mexicana, con esa intensidad y fuerza que se da en una escena en particular por poner un ejemplo, esperando que las consecuencias puedan ser muy desastrosas o muy positivas, dependiendo del contexto. Uno de los mejores ejemplos que puedo poner es el cómo la vida le 'sonríe' a Pip, nuestro protagonista, en un momento determinado de la historia de manera inesperada, lo cual es el típico tema que se ha visto replicado en numerosas telenovelas hoy en día. Otro singular momento en Grandes esperanzas es el destino de la hermana de Pip, que no dejó de recordarme cierta escena de la única telenovela mexicana que defendería a capa y espada y por supuesto recomendaría ver, Cuna de lobos (1986). Básicamente obras como esta y La mujer de blanco fueron las telenovelas del ayer.

Si tuviera que quejarme de algo es definitivamente el abrupto final de la historia; no solo te deja con muchas preguntas, sino que además se siente forzado, el típico final que esperas encontrar en una obra victoriana pero donde se ha tenido que hacer así porque el público no estaría contento de haber sido de otra manera. Leí además que el final canónico es el segundo final que Dickens escribió para la novela a petición de Wilkie Collins, y al leer el original me di cuenta que ese hubiera sido un final mucho más adecuado y más apegado a la trama ya que sigue el mismo tono de toda la novela. Es lo que hay, pero tampoco es para llevarme la decepción de mi vida.

En general, recomendaría Grandes esperanzas a todo el mundo: si es tu primer Dickens, ve por él, si ya has leído muchas obras del autor, con más razón leerlo sería una gran idea, si eres un apasionado de los clásicos, no sé qué esperas para darle una oportunidad, y si los clásicos no son para ti, este te hará cambiar de opinión. Es el libro perfecto para cualquier situación, y no creo que pueda ser de otra forma.

----

My first reading with my mother this 2024 has been a wonderful experience, and nothing less could have been expected from one of the best books of the Victorian era and English literature in general. Great Expectations is one of those works that does not let go once you are in, and that will not let go once you have finished reading it, since both its characters and its plot are so entertaining and beautifully written that will stay with you forever.

I think what I enjoyed about this story the most, and for now I can also say, what I enjoy most about this genre best known as sensation novels, is that it never lets you have a dull moment and there is always something happening chapter after chapter, regardless of how much or little it may impact the plot itself. There is no doubt that a novel of this style reminds me of a good Mexican telenovela, with the intensity and strength that take place in a particular scene, for instance, expecting that the consequences could be very disastrous or very positive, depending on the context. One of the best examples I can give is how life 'smiles' at Pip, our protagonist, at a certain moment in the story in a very unexpected way, which is the typical theme that has been replicated in numerous soap operas these days. Another singular moment in Great Expectations is the fate of Pip's sister, which did not fail to remind me of a certain scene from the only Mexican telenovela that I would defend tooth and nail and of course I would recommend watching, Cuna de Lobos (1986). Basically books like this and The Woman in White were the soap operas of yesterday.

If I had to complain about something though, it's definitely the abrupt ending of the story; Not only does it leave you with a lot of questions, but it also feels forced, the typical ending you expect to find in a Victorian novel, where it had to be done that way because the readers back then wouldn't be happy if it had been any other way. I also read that the canonical ending is the second ending that Dickens wrote for the novel at the request of Wilkie Collins, thus, when reading the original I realized that this would have been a much more appropriate ending and more attached to the plot since it follows the same tone of the entire novel. It is what it is, but fortunately it wasn't the disappointment of my life.

All in all, I would recommend Great Expectations to everyone: if it is your first Dickens, go for it, if you have already read many of the author's works, even more so, reading it would be a great idea, if you are passionate about classic literature, I don't know what you're waiting for to give it a try, and if the classics aren't for you, this one will change your mind. It is the perfect book for any occasion, and I don't think it could be any other way.

My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:

Quality of writing [5/5]
Pace [5/5]
Plot development [4.5/5]
Characters [5/5]
Enjoyability [4/5]
Insightfulness [5/5]
Easy of reading [4.5/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]

Total [33/7] = 4.71

My first book of the new year and my first incursion deep into the Dickensverse is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel Great Expectations. First serialized in the weekly publication All the Year Round in 1860-1861, the experience of reading this tale progressed a bit like Dickens' protagonist, beginning with wonder and anticipation, getting bogged down by the cruel mean world and finally just making me want to run home, to an author who wasn't paid per word.

Great Expectations begins big. On Christmas Eve of 1812, seven-year-old orphan Philip Pirrip, otherwise known to himself as "Pip," investigates the churchyard where his parents are buried, in County Kent on the desolate marshes where the River Thames winds inland to London, a carriage ride of five hours away. Pip has been raised by his much older sister Georgiana and her husband, a blacksmith named Joe Gargery. Both Pip and Joe have bonded over daily abuses by the sister, "Mrs. Joe Gargery," a woman of some renown for raising young Pip up "by hand." This includes beatings with a stick she calls the Tickler whenever she's in a foul mood, which she is most of the time.

In the churchyard, Pip is accosted by a shackled convict escaped from a nearby prison barge. The man threatens Pip with unspeakable acts unless the boy brings him a file to remove the chains and some "wittles" to snack on. Terrified of the repercussions if he fails to act and terrified what will happen if Mrs. Joe catches him raiding the pantry, Pip makes good on his promise to the convict, whose trail is being pursued by soldiers. Pip, Joe and Joe's insufferable uncle Mr. Pumblechook tag along with the hunting party and are present when the man is captured, having given away his position by getting into a fight with a fellow escapee.

Pip is to be apprenticed by Joe when he reaches age, but his fortunes take a turn one day when Mr. Pumblechook notifies Mrs. Joe that Pip has been requested up town by Miss Havisham. I had heard of Miss Havisham up town--everybody for miles round had heard of Miss Havisham up town--as an immensely rich and grim old lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion. Pip is dressed in his finest suit, overnights with his uncle and the next day is delivered to Satis House, where they're greeted at the gate by Estella, the adopted daughter of Miss Havisham. She allows only Pip to see the lady of the house.

She was dressed in rich materials--satins, and lace, and silks--all white. Her shoes were white. ANd she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on--the other was on the table near her hand--her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking glass.

Pip is instructed to play with Estella and over a game of cards, the girl renders him to tears over his course hands, thick boots and standing as a common laboring-boy. Pip returns home and dedicates himself to improving his station in life. A church clerk named Mr. Wopsle with delusions of grandeur as a stage actor has a great-aunt who operates a tutorial service; this learning does nothing for Pip except introduce him to another relation of Wopsle's, a benign young girl named Biddy. Upon his return to Satis House, Pip is challenged to a boxing match by a pale young boy also brought to play; Pip knocks him down. His torment by Estella continues.

Sometimes she would coldly tolerate me; sometimes she would condescend to me; sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me. Miss Havisham would often ask me in a whisper, or when we were alone, "Does she grow prettier and prettier, Pip?" And when I said Yes (for indeed she did) would seem to enjoy it greedily. And sometimes, when her moods were so many and so contradictory of one another that I was puzzled what to say or do, Miss Havisham would embrace her with lavish fondness, murmuring something in her ear that sounded like "Break their hearts, my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!"

When time comes for Pip to be bound to Joe as an apprentice, Miss Havisham requests to meet Joe. She rewards Pip handsomely for his services to her with a gift of five-and-twenty pounds. While the men are out of the house, Mrs. Joe is struck on the head and left infirm. The most likely suspect is a malcontent named Orlick who worked in Joe's forge as a journeyman. To help care for Mrs. Joe, Biddy moves into the house. Four years into Pip's apprenticeship, while hoisting a pint at the Three Jolly Bargemen, Pip and Joe are approached by a feared London attorney named Mr. Jaggers, who informs Pip that a mysterious benefactor is about to change the boy's life.

"I am instructed to communicate to him," said Mr. Jaggers, throwing his finger at me, sideways, "that he will come into a handsome property. Further, that it is the desire of the present possessor of the property, that he be immediately removed from his present sphere of life and from this place, and be brought up as a gentleman--in a word, as a young man of great expectations." My dream was out; my wild fancy was surpassed by sober reality; Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale.

Whew! This covers the first act of the novel. Acts two and three see Pip off to London, where it's been decided he will board with young Herbert Pocket, the pale young gentleman who challenged Pip to a fight long ago. Herbert mentors Pip in the gentlemanly arts and the boys proceed to run up debt on Pip's allowance of 500 pounds a year. There's intrigue at the law practice of Mr. Jaggers and some buffoonery at the Pocket home. Estella re-enters Pip's life and tries to warn him that she is incapable of love and will only end up hurting him. He ignores her. When he turns twenty-three, Pip learns the identity of his benefactor and is kicked even further down the gutter.

Great Expectations features prose that shines like leather shoes given a polish by a devoted butler. The character descriptions are wonderful and so are the names of characters.

Bentley Drummle, who was so sulky a fellow that he even took up a book as if its writer had done him an injury, did not take up an acquaintance in a more agreeable spirit. Heavy in figure, movement, and comprehension--in the sluggish complexion of his face, and in the large awkward tongue that seemed to loll about in his mouth as he himself lolled about in a room--he was idle, proud, niggardly, reserved and suspicious. He came of rich people down in Somersetshire, who had nursed his combination of qualities until they made the discovery that it was just of age and a blockhead.

Dickens is an assured wit who finds ways to needle the human race whenever he gets the chance. Kindness and humility are ultimately rewarded. Greed and exaltation lead to misery. There is richness in poverty and poverty in riches. This might all be familiar to anyone who's ever heard of A Christmas Carol. The words Dickens crafts are frequently a delight but in this novel there's simply too many of them. 183,833 words to be exact. My experience with 19th century novels published in serial format and authors paid by the word is that you need a good pain reliever. Reading what was originally a serial now preserved in novel format was tedious.

One major weakness I found with the story is how Pip is reduced to a submissive protagonist. When you're Pip, cool shit just happens to you; you meet an escaped convict, you're invited to hang out with a rich old lady, you're asked to kiss a beautiful girl, you're given money, you're sent to London. For a laboring boy, Pip sure was born under a good sign. His goals are to become a gentleman and to possess Estella, neither of which I wanted him to succeed at. As far as I was concerned, failure could not come quicker. There's mystery as to the identity of his benefactor and who all the characters are, but Pip doesn't figure out much for himself; it's always somebody else helping him along.

Dickens described Great Expectations as a "grotesque tragi-comic conception." That's accurate. My memory of the contemporized 1998 film version with Ethan Hawke & Gwyneth Paltrow had me reading the signposts wrong. The real romance in the story is not between Pip and Estella, but between Pip and Herbert. It's a bromance and the more English literature I read, the more import I see placed on the stoic camaraderie between men, whereas the American version would probably tend more toward the romance between a man and a woman. Estella never becomes much more than an exotic creature at the zoo in this text, something to throw peanuts at.

I don't rule out a return to the Dickensverse but with a much shorter book and hot tea spiked with something medicinal like vodka.

”I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose had shrunk to skin and bone.”

n  n
How do you do Miss Havisham? She makes many lists of the twenty greatest characters from Dicken’s novels.

I hadn’t ever met Miss Havisham officially, although I knew of her. I have heard of her circumstances, discussed her in English Literature classes, and even referenced her in a paper. She is a tragic figure tinged with true insanity; and yet, someone in complete control of her faculties when it comes to talking about HER money. She was jilted at the altar and like a figure from mythology she is suspended in time. She wears her tattered wedding dress every day and sits among the decaying ruins of her wedding feast.

We meet our hero Pip when in an act of charity born more of fear than goodwill he provides assistance to a self-liberated convict named Abel Magwitch. It was a rather imprudent thing to do similar to one of us picking up a hitchhiker in an orange jumpsuit just after passing a sign that says Hitchhikers in this area may be escaped inmates. Little does he know, but this act of kindness will have a long term impact on his life.

n  n
Pip and the Convict.

Pip is being raised by his sister, an unhappy woman who expresses her misery with harsh words and vigorous smacks. ”Tickler was a wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame.” She also browbeats her burly blacksmith husband Joe into submission. Mr Pumblechook, Joe’s Uncle, is always praising the sister for doing her proper duty by Pip. "Boy, be forever grateful to all friends, but especially unto them which brought you up by hand!” In other words she didn’t spare the rod or the child. Mr. Pumblechook is one of those annoying people who is always trying to gain credit for anyone’s good fortune. He intimates that he was the puppet master pulling the strings that allowed that good fortune to find a proper home. Later when Pip finds himself elevated to gentleman’s status Pumblechook is quick to try and garner credit for brokering the deal.

Things become interesting for Pip when is asked to be a play companion of Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter Estella. The girl is being trained to be the architect of Miss Havisham’s revenge...on all men. She is the brutal combination of spoiled, beautiful, and heartless. She wants Pip to fall in love with her to provide a training ground for exactly how to keep a man in love with her and at the same time treat him with the proper amount of disdain.

As Pip becomes more ensnared in Estella’s beauty Miss Havisham is spurring him on.

"Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces,— and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper,— love her, love her, love her!" Never had I seen such passionate.

n  n
Estella, the weapon of man’s destruction, walking with Pip.

Pip is fully aware of the dangers of falling in love with Estella, but it is almost impossible to control the heart when it begins to beat faster. ”Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it.” His hopes, almost completely dashed that he will ever have a legitimate opportunity to woo Estella properly are buoyed by the knowledge of a benefactor willing to finance his rise to gentleman status. No chance suddenly becomes a slim chance.

Pip is not to know where these great expectations are coming from, but he assumes it is Miss Havisham as part of her demented plans for exacting revenge by using Estella to break his heart. He is willing to be the patsy for her plans because some part of him believes he can turn the tide of Estella’s heart if he can find one beating in her chest.

"You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart,— if that has anything to do with my memory."

The book is of course filled with Dickensonian descriptions of the bleaker side of Victorian society.

”We entered this haven through a wicket-gate, and were disgorged by an introductory passage into a melancholy little square that looked to me like a flat burying-ground. I thought it had the most dismal trees in it, and the most dismal sparrows, and the most dismal cats, and the most dismal houses ( in number half a dozen or so), that I had ever seen.”

As I was reading the book it felt like the plot suddenly sped up from a leisurely world building pace that permeates most Dickens novels to the final laps of an Indy 500 race. I was not surprised to discover that Dickens had intended this novel to be twice as long, but due to contractual obligations with the serialization of the novel Dickens found himself in a quandary. He had a much larger story percolating in his head, but simply out of room to print it. Nothing drives a reader crazier than knowing that this larger concept was realized, but never committed to paper.

n  n
The rest of Great Expectations exists only in the lost dreams of Dickens.

Pip is a willing victim; and therefore, not a victim because he fully realized that Miss Havisham was barking mad, and that Estella had been brainwashed into being a sword of vengeance. He was willing to risk having his heart wrenched from his body and dashed into the sea for a chance that Estella would recognize that happiness could be obtained if she would only forsake her training.

Pip like most young men of means spent more than his stipend allowed and as debts mount he is more and more anxious to learn of his benefactor’s intentions. It will not be what he expects and provides a nice twist to the novel. There are blackguards, adventures, near death experiences, swindlers, agitations both real and imagined, and descriptions that make the reader savor the immersion in the black soot and blacker hearts of Victorian society. Better late than never, but I now have more than a nodding acquaintance with Miss Havisham, Pip, and the supporting cast. They will continue to live in my imagination for the rest of my life.

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Las obras clásicas son las -en teoría- más complicadas de leer, y por ende, entender ¿Por qué? Por su alto contenido metafórico y en mi opinión, también por una razón muy simple: los tiempos de aquellos libros son muy diferentes a los nuestros.
La forma de vida, la sociedad, la cultura, la libertad, lo que era bueno y malo, todo era diferente. Si se le suma a esto hablar sobre tramas sociales, familiares o amorosas... temas siempre complicados para el ser humano, se vuelve aún (valga la redundancia) más complicados.
Y es en esta temática donde Grandes esperanzas aparece en todo su esplendor. Un libro difícil de comprender si se lee por primera vez y sin la atención necesaria.
La señora Havisham, un personaje tanto completo como complejo. En pocas palabras, ella para mí simboliza perfectamente a un padre (o una madre) buscando el éxito a través de su hijo.
La forma que usó Dickens para escribir el libro también la encontré genial: es totalmente impredecible, ya que a veces está lleno de amor, otras de esperanzas, otras de esfuerzo y otras de odio. El orden siempre varía en el libro y ese es el tipo de libros, que al menos a mí, me gusta.
Creo que no es necesario que hable de Pip o Estella, por ejemplo, ya que, si leyeron el libro, se sabe de quien se habla. Lo importante aquí, más que describir cada personaje, es describir el libro en general, the book as a whole.
¿Recomendable? ¡Absolutamente! Siempre y cuando se dediquen a leer el libro pacientemente, ya que la idea de este libro en particular es amarlo y sentir lo que cada personaje siente.

Dickens is a jerk. Nobody likes his stuff, they're just afraid to say it because he's supposed to be classy. The man got paid by the word for crying out loud. Imagine if I got paid to write marching band drill by the dot. I would write a page for every four counts of music. What would I produce? A ridiculous tomb that nobody will ever get through and if they ever did it would be way too hard and too much work. And of course if you actually did it you would have to say that I was wonderful, otherwise, you'd look like an idiot. Like when you buy a new car and somebody asks if you are happy with it; nobody says "no, I just spend 30 grand on a pile of crap". Thus concludes my critique on Dickens. Those of you young enough can feel free to plagiarize it for you college essays.

I was really mad when I finished this book last night. I have to say I enjoyed this much more than the other Dickens' books I've read which is funny because someone told me it was written for kids so I should read it because I would like it better probably and I did. It just felt too long and I kind of saw the twist of who was Pip's benefactor coming but at the same time I think the way everything is told and developed is really good. I think I mostly felt it was long because I had to read slower than I would have otherwise because the writing was more complex and I wanted to make sure I was understanding what was happening and fully understanding each sentence. I think the last sentence or two of this book was really beautiful and so well written but it made me really mad to have it end that way despite the fact that it was a really good ending because it was ambiguous. I know it seems like no matter what happens with a book I complain and I think that's just my disposition as a person. Most of the characters were so unlikable though, especially Pip, so many times through out the book I wanted to throttle him. Anyway definitely the best Dickens book I've read thus far, and I would say this ones a 3.5 stars from me, it be higher but reading it felt slow and like I had to trudge through it at multiple points.

With this, completing 7 of 339 from The Rory Gilmore Reading List.

5/5 stars

With every read book, I get more and more fond of Dickens' emotion capturing capabilities. Great Expectations had always been on my radar. Needles to say, due to it's immense popularity in classics world. Therefore, I had great expectations from it. And, I must say, Great Expectations stands head and shoulders above some of the other works I've read by him.

The plot of romance that Dickens portrayed is by far the best I've read invented by him. Most of my reads are based out of recommendations. I like going into a book blind and explore the joy as I unfold the story. I'd no idea Great Expectations was so much about the romance aspect of it. That being said, there was something about the story that hit me hard on so many levels I can't begin to elaborate.

Pip is our hero. Is he? We shall see. Week, dreamy, principle oriented and aspiring is the subject and victim of his great expectations.

We see Pip, growing from a child to this matured and transformed individual. He has so many aspirations and expectations from himself as well from his life. All he wanted was to grow into a noble and worthy gentleman to deserve the love of Estella. But, his ambitions blurs his vision of the more important aspects of life. One of which was seeing the social class from the colors of black and white.

There was a contrast in characters of an individual that Dickens wanted to put before it's readers. What is the definition of a real gentleman? Rich, hat wearing men with all the luxuries of life? Pip, who got the opportunity to become one? Or Joe Gargery, the blacksmith who even after years later addresses Pip as Sir, and tells him, 'You and me was ever friends. '?

Pip, tells the story of fortune and misfortune. He tells the story of passion, regret and obsession. If you haven't yet read Great Expectations, I urgue all to keep a place for it in your reading life. You will surely not regret!

Review Posted: 23 May 2022.

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Well, after all these years of loving and obsessing over literature in a somewhat unruly manner, I can finally say that I have read one of Dickens seemingly most popular and best-loved novels. This was a novel that I was initially in no haste to read, but now that I have, I've realised why people love it so.

Personally though, this wasn't my favourite Dickens, but it was a beautiful read despite that. I knew the basic outline of the plot, as I have admittedly watched a couple of TV adaptations over the years, but obviously those were not as satisfying as the book. We follow Pip throughout his life, and on the way we meet many interesting and quite memorable characters. Pip himself was at times a rather difficult character to relate to, he was inconsiderate rather often, which wasn't a joy to read about.

I favoured how the book is split into three parts, as it was easier to digest, however, I found that in parts of the book not a lot happened. I enjoyed reading about Pip growing up and the happenings during his childhood, but part two was a little slow, and I found myself wanting a little more. Part three was where things definitely became more interesting, and I loved the intensity of the ending.

I love a Dickens novel, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his works very soon.

My history with "Great Expectations" goes back quite a ways. It all began at a party, back in the days when I was young and full of hope, unaware of life's many pitfalls and twists and turns. This is to say that I was unaware of them except at a cognitive level and had yet to experience "life's brutal indifference."

The party was honoring some professor for one of the many awards the university bestowed and, shockingly, the crowd consisted mainly of professors from various departments. It was, as one might expect, a dull party full of fawning younger pedagogues being obsequious to their academic betters. No one got drunk and crazy and there were no scenes of untoward behavior.

I happened upon a literature professor who seemed very bored with literature and who wanted to talk about my job, which, I admit, was far more interesting than life as a pedant. I persisted, however, in asking what books he recommended me to read. He wearily named two, one being "Jude the Obscure" and the other "Great Expectations."

I had never heard of "Jude the Obscure" and rushed out to buy a copy. I was familiar with "Great Expectations," though had no idea of the story line, and at that point the only book I had read of Dickens was, "A Christmas Carol." My opinion of Dickens was low, not based on his actual work but based on a Thomas Wolfe novel I had recently read (can't remember if it was "The Web and the Rock" or "You Can't Go Home Again?"). The protagonist of the Wolfe book was forever comparing Dickens to Dostoyevsky, the implication being that Dickens was an overly sentimental purveyor of treacle, whereas Dos was the real deal, a chronicler of life as it really was--grim, filled with uncertainties and contention and people who asked a lot of questions about what life meant and whether living was even worth it. Dostoyevsky was a hero of mine and Thomas Wolfe's novel had given me reason to doubt that Dickens was in the same league with him.

I started reading "Jude the Obscure" and felt like I had found a kindred soul in Thomas Hardy. Jude had to be one of the most depressing books I had ever read, and as his hopes were continually dashed I felt pity for him while also realizing that this book was not going to end happily.

Somewhere along the way I'd also picked up a used copy of "Great Expectations," one of the old Signet Classic editions. I tried several times to read it and the book simply did not "grab" me right from the start. I had friends who told me it was on of their favorite books, with a wonderful story, but I found it extremely off-putting.

Thirty years pass, and now I have lived and suffered and had come to reconcile my successes and failures and not have too many expectations for life. I was still afflicted with the habit of reading, though this had dwindled with the coming of the Internet. Still, I somehow managed to derive pleasure from reading and, being a whim reader, I was in my usual frenetic state after finishing one book and examining the thousands of unread books in my "to be read" personal library. For reasons I cannot fathom, I settled upon "Great Expectations." I was prepared to scuttle the book if it still failed to hold my interest. By this time I had read "A Tale of Two Cities" and "David Copperfield" and felt a bit more respect for Dickens and did not feel "Great Expectations" would be beyond my admittedly limited apprehension.

It was a shock when I started reading the book and found that it made sense, that I understood the voice of this small boy, Pip, writing about life with his harridan sister and her kindly husband Joe after being orphaned at an early age. It was like looking at a complicated puzzle I'd been unable to solve for years and finally, for the first time, the solution was crystal clear. I was to continue having this crystal clear feeling for a bit over 200 pages, when suddenly the puzzle's solution once again became opaque. I blame the character of Mrs. Havisham for clouding my vision. I simply could not understand why this character existed in the novel or what the point behind her was, if any? Once again the book became a chore and I feared I would have wasted twenty hours or so of reading and consoled myself by thinking that I probably would have wasted the time listening to lectures on Ancient Rome only to forget them in a month.

It was Audible that saved my bacon. In one of my many manic book-buying sprees, I had at some point already purchased the novel on Audible; so immediately switched to the audiobook format for the remaining 11+ hours of "Great Expectations."

It was a listening slog and had it not been for the excellent narrator Mr. Simon Prebble, I might have abandoned the venture. As I listened, I continued to dislike the book and could never figure out what purpose Miss Havisham or her ward, Estella, actually served in the book. The whole tale of Magwitch, the criminal whom young Pip feeds after Magwitch accosts him in the cemetery where Pip has gone to view his parents' graves, seemed barely plausible to me and the convenient wrapping up of all the confusion seemed mawkish and incredulous (though I must admit I cried on a few occasions due to Mr. Prebble's remarkable narrative skills).

The moral of the story, as G. K. Chesterton said in his preface was: Don't be a snob--something I learned in kindergarten. I had understood all of the many characters in Dickens' other first-person novel David Copperfield. Mr. Micawber seemed like many people I had known, as did Uriah Heep, the scheming, unctuous clerk. The fault of "Great Expectations, for me, was the falsity of the characters and the storyline. Joe and his termagant wife and Solicitor Jaggers and his assistant Wemmick were the only characters in this story who rang true to me.

Given the near overwhelming love of this novel by my fellow goodreaders, I have also not ruled out the likelihood that I am a shallow Philistine who wouldn't recognize literary genius even if I had Mr. Pocket as my teacher.

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No soy mucho de amores y sus derivados trágicos. Esta es una de las pocas del género que me he leído, y la verdad es que me gustó mucho. Me encariñé mucho con el chico, su trama y ese amor tortuoso con una chica dedicada tb quererlo, pero no. Había visto el film en mi juventud y la verdad es que ahora después de leer el libro, creo que sí le fue bastante fiel a la historia del libro. No tengo mucho más que decir, prefiero dejar la reseña a los amantes del género. Lo aconsejo mucho, para esos días lluviosos y melancólicos en los que desea uno darse la oportunidad de entender al amor...el que no es complicado, sino más bien trabajoso.

n  The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me.n

Many people consider „Great Expectations“ to be Charles Dickens‘ masterpiece, his greatest work with the most impressive cast of characters. And while I cannot comment on its quality in comparison to other well-known Dickens novels like „A Tale of Two Cities“ or „David Copperfield“, it certainly managed to live up to my expectations and even more: to make me feel part of Pip Pirrip’s life, of his relations to Miss Havisham and Estella and Joe and Herbert and all the other memorable cast members of this novel.

Great Expectations accompanies the protagonist, a young boy called Pip, during his journey through life, his struggling and his attempts to overcome the obstacles life has thrown into his path. Being raised as an orphan by his elder sister and her kind-hearted and generous husband Joe, Pip faces the scales of fate, unease and love when being introduced to the eccentric Miss Havisham, a wealthy woman and one of the most memorable characters of the entire novel. Pip falls in love with Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter Estella, and several years later, a mysterious benefactor finances Pip’s climbing into the higher parts of English society. Confronted with dangerous secrets, friendships and enmities alike and a love foredoomed to failure, Pip is forced to find his place in life, to grow up and stand on his own feet – a task which proves to be more difficult than he would ever have imagined.

n  According to my experience, the conventional notion of a lover cannot be always true. The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorror, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I loved her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection.n

Apart from the perfect way Dickens weaves the words he chooses in, he also manages to characterize his protagonists in such an easily remembered style that you can’t help but feel sorry for what Pip, Estella or even Miss Havisham have to endure. Pip, the first-person-narrator and thus the character we have to spend the entirety of the novel with, is known to the reader from the very first days of his (conscious) existence, and Dickens allows us to accompany him on his troublesome way through life during his childhood and his early adolescence. While not always the most likeable person, Pip remains a realistic character with faults and mistakes of his own, the essential aspect which ultimately defines human beings.

n  “Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, […], 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.“n

The character of Estella is another person we encounter during her childhood and whom we accompany while growing up. While Pip misses significant parts of her life, the reader is also able to judge Estella’s development through Pip’s eyes, which – of course – can’t be a reliable perspective, but even more emphasizes the love Pip feels for Estella. The true scales of Estella’s coldheartedness and her hostile behaviour will become clearer during the course of the novel, and it is not surprising that she is a character you find yourself wanting to know a lot more of. In modern days, Estella might be a (stereo-)typical prude, someone people are fascinated with, but never quite manage to get through to the core of her soul. Raised by Miss Havisham, Estella is far from the happiness other girls her age might be allowed to experience, yet those lessons of life she has to learn very early draw her character and her behaviour more significantly than anything else.

n  “Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her! […] I adopted her, to be loved. I bed her and educated her, to be loved. I developed her into what she is, that she might be loved. Love her! […] I’ll tell you […] what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter – as I did.“n

Oh, Miss Havisham. Throughout the entire course of the novel, she was the character I looked forward to meeting again the most, who I missed the most when not present in Pip’s narrations, who I want to know more of even now, after finishing the novel. Such a well-drawn character with a tortured soul and wishes and desires of her own based on her fateful experiences. In contrast to the time this novel was written in by Charles Dickens, today’s literature is partly marked by many authors developing trilogies out of their stories in order to write more stuff about their characters (which is a general direction I definitely don’t approve of due to various reasons), but if there ever was a story which I wanted to follow more closely, more elaborately, more intensively, it would certainly be Great Expectations. The mysterious appearances of Miss Havisham and Estella were very appealing to me; not knowing their true destinations, their true motivations before their reveal to the main character Pip was even more appealing; but reading something about their thoughts from their own points of view would have been most appealing. I wouldn’t want Charles Dickens to have written his novel from any other perspective – this merely emphasizes how memorably and full of potential he has managed to draw his characters.

n  There was a melancholy wind, and the marshes were very dismal. A stranger would have found them insupportable, and even to me they were so oppressive that I hesitated, half inclined to go back.n

His ability of developing a setting, a Gothic atmosphere, which will allow you to feel part of the story, is one of the aspects which ultimately succeeded in allowing Dickens to become as popular as he later did. Psychologically the latter part of Great Expectations is about the best thing Dickens ever did. –I could not have expressed it in any better way than George Orwell did in this sentence. The novel did have some flaws, after all. I needed to read chapter summaries on the Internet to figure out how Pip was related to people like Mr. Jaggers, Wemmick or Bentley Drummle, party because I wasn’t particularly interested in those characters, partly because I only read one chapter at a time and thus was likely to forget aspects and not remember exact details when reading about them again. However, Great Expectations influenced me like few other novels managed to do before. Whether it was Pip’s friendship with Herbert, his love for Estella or the complicated relation to Joe – Dickens made me fear with Pip, feel for Pip, and hope for Pip to find happiness.

As improbable and moralizing as it is, the story completely seduced me. Pip's life is an adventure, and the small events that mark her are just as exciting as the big ones: her encounters with Miss Havisham, the dinners in Wemmick's Castle, the rivalry with the brooding Drumble, the love for Estrella, the meeting with the convicts, the friendship with Herbert, the young gentleman.
I enjoyed the little touches of humor, especially the Avenger Jack or the grotesque Pumblechook. I found Pip intelligent and lucid despite his cowardice and pettiness. Suddenly, I particularly enjoyed the 2nd part, which was weaker in twists and turns than the other two but exciting as a learning novel in reverse.
On the other hand, I had a lot of trouble with the styling. I may not have chosen the best translation, but I found it choppy, sometimes obscure, and often painful. I am surprised I remember a very smooth reading of 'A Christmas Carol.'
In short, it was a good book, but it did not entirely meet my great expectations.