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.

Oh, the beauty and the agony tears at me as I think about this stunning story.

The characters are vivid and the settings so well written that I was transported to the graveyard alongside young Pip and his convict, fear streaking through me as it was for that small boy torn by a near-impossible decision. And I’m there with Pip and kind-hearted Joe in the forge. I can feel the fire on my skin and taste hot metal on the back of my tongue. In my mind, I hear the crackling of the decades-old crinoline of Miss Havisham’s skirts rustling against the marble floors of the mausoleum she calls home. Amid the stopping of Miss Havisham’s clock, the cool radiance that is Estella vibrates from the pages, bringing her to life.

If you haven’t read Great Expectations, I encourage you to do so. Yes, it was first published in 1861, and the syntax is more eloquent than that we’ve become accustomed to, but once this tale grabs hold, you will forget the language and year it was written and be all in with these new friends. The love, the heartbreak and the lessons still hold true today. Some choices, once made, can leave long-reaching scars on the hearts of those we never knew we touched. A good deed can ripple through time to places never imagined. The consequences of our actions must be accounted for, and there will always be outcomes we could never have anticipated.

Great Expectations is the real deal! The deliciously-satisfying prose is the whipped cream on the proverbial sundae that is Dickens. The plot and subplots (and sub-subplots) are astounding! The way he can weave this tangled web yet keep the interest of the reader while giving nothing away until the perfect moment … and BAM! He has you, and you sigh with the perfection of it all.

You’ve missed a gorgeous piece of literature if you don’t dive into this book!

n  "Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."n

That is such a quote. If there was ever a novel that shows us the dangers of false perceptions then it’s Great Expectations . Pip is such a fool; he constantly misjudges those around him, and he constantly misjudges his own worth. This has lead him down a road of misery because the person who held the highest expectations for Pip was Pip himself. But, in spite of this, Pip does learn the error of his ways and becomes a much better person, though not before hurting those that have the most loyalty to him.

The corrupting power of money is strong through this novel



The money Pip received clouds his vison completely. He, in his innocence, longed to be a gentleman, but when he has the chance he forgets everything thing he is. In his self-imposed aggrandisement he can only deduce that his money came from a source of respectability; his limited capacity has determined that only he, a gentleman, could receive money from a worthy source. But, what he perceives as respectable is the problem. Indeed, Dickens contrasts societies’ gentleman (created through social station) with the true gentleman of the age who may, or may not, have any money. Pip has falsely perceived that to be a gentleman one must have money, and must have the social graces that comes with it. However, this is far from the truth as Pip later learns. He thinks Joe is backward and ungentlemanly, but Joe, in reality, is more of a gentle man than Pip could ever be.

In this, he has forgotten his routes and his honest, if somewhat rough, upbringing. He has been tainted by money and the rise in class that came with it. I think if he never received the allowance he would have eventually been happy at the forge. He may have sulked for a year or two, but, ultimately, he would have got over himself as he does eventually do. The money gave him hope; it gave him a route in which he could seek his Estella. Without the money he would have realised she was, in fact, unobtainable regardless of his class; he would have moved on and got on with his life. But, that wouldn’t have made for a very interesting novel.

Pip’s journey of morale regeneration is the key

Indeed, Pip wouldn’t have learnt a thing. Through the correcting of his perceptions he learns the value of loyalty and simple human kindness. This changes him and he is, essentially, a much better person for it. He learns the errors of his ways, and how shameful and condescending his behaviour has been to those that hold him most dear, namely Joe. You can feel the pain in his narration as he tells the last parts of his story; it becomes clear that Pip could never forgive himself for his folly. He wishes forgiveness from those that love him that’s why he forgives Havisham, but I don’t think he fully deserves it. He is repentant, but the damage is done.

Heaven knows we never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of the earth, overlaying our hard hearts.



Pip’s morale regeneration was a necessary facet for the brilliance of this work. It creates an ending that, for me, was perfect. It is not the ending that Pip thought he would get, but it is the ending this novel deserved. Pip’s morale regeneration and revelations are just not enough to offset the past. He has grown but, like Havisham, cannot turn back the clocks. The ending Joe receives signifies this; he, as one of the only true gentleman of the novel, receives his overdue happiness. Whereas Pip is destined to spend the rest of his life in a state of perpetual loneliness, he, most certainly, learnt his lesson the hard way.

"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.

Anguish is in equal measures



Pip’s story though, ultimately, sad is not the most woe begotten of the character stories in this novel. Abel Magwitch and Miss Havisham are two incredibly miserable individuals because life has really got them down. Havisham is the caricature of the spinster; she is stuck in the past (quarter to nine to be precise) and is unable to move on; she has turned bitter and yellow; she has imposed herself to perpetual agony. Despite her harshness and venom there is a flicker of light within her soul that Pip unleashes. For me, she is the most memorable, and well written, character in this novel because her story transcends that of Pip’s.

And then there is the lovable Abel Magwitch. The poor man had been used and cheated; he had been bargained away and sacrificed. He has been shown no kindness in his life and when he meets a young Pip in the marshes he is touched by the small measure of friendship the boy offers him. His response: to repay that debt, with what he believes to be kindness, in turn. These characters are incredibly memorable and harbour two tragic and redemptive stories. But, in order to display their anguish to the world and society, they both use another to exact their revenge. Havisham uses Estella to break the hearts of men, like hers was once broken; Magwitch creates his “own” gentleman as a revenge to the world of gentleman that betrayed him.



I love Great Expectations. It is more than just a story of love; it is a strong story about the power of loyalty and forgiveness; it is a story about falsehoods and misperceptions; it is a story of woe and deeply felt sadness: it is about how the folly of youth can alter your life for ever. It is an extraordinary novel. I've now read it three times, and I know I'm not finished with yet.

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.

.

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.

Great Expectations…were formed...were met…and were thoroughly exceeded!n  n

The votes have been tallied, all doubts have been answered and it is official and in the books ...I am a full-fledged, foaming fanboy of Sir Dickens and sporting a massive man-crush for literature’s master story-teller*.

*Quick Aside: My good friend Richard who despises “Chuckles the Dick” is no doubt having a conniption as he reads this…deep breaths, Richard, deep breaths.

After love, love, loving A Tale of Two Cities, I went into this one with, you guessed it [insert novel title] and was nervous and wary of a serious let down in my sophomore experience with Dickens. Silly me, there was zero reason for fear and this was even more enjoyable than I had hoped. Not quite as standing ovation-inducing as A Tale of Two Cities, but that was more a function of the subject matter of A Tale of Two Cities being more attractive to me.

PLOT SUMMARY:

Here Dickens tells the story of the growth and development of young Philip Pirrip (“Pip”) who begins his life as an orphan, neglected and abused, by his sister (Mrs. “Joe” Gargery). "I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born, in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends." Through a series of chance encounters, Pip rises above his disadvantaged beginnings to become a gentleman in every sense of the word. Pip’s journey is not a straight line and his strength of character and inner goodness are not unwavering, but, in the end, they shine through and he the better for it.

THOUGHTS & GUSHINGS:

Dickens prose is the essence of engaging and his humor is both sharp and subtle and sends warm blasts of happy right into my cockles.

n My sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbors because she had brought me up “by hand.” Having at that time to find out for myself what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me, I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand.

In addition to his ability to twist a phrase and infuse it with clever, dry wit, Dickens is able to brings similar skill across the entire emotional range. When he tugs on the heart-strings, he does so as a maestro plucks the violin and you will feel played and thankful for the experience.

n   For now my repugnance to him had all melted away, and in the hunted, wounded, shackled creature who held my hand in his, I only saw a man who had meant to be my benefactor, and who had felt affectionately, gratefully, and generously, towards me with great constancy through a series of years. I only saw in him a much better man than I had been to Joe.
…
We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one. n

Dickens never bashes over the head with the emotional power of his prose. In fact, it is the quiet, subtle method of his delivery of the darker emotions that make them so powerful.

Okay…okay…I’ll stop on the prose. I think I’ve made my point that I love his writing.

Combine his polished, breezy verse with his seemingly endless supply of memorable characters that is his trademark and you have the makings of a true classic...which this happens to be. There are so many unique, well drawn characters in this story alone that it is constantly amazing to me that he was able to so regularly populate his novels with such a numerous supply. To name just a few, Great Expectations gives us:

- the wealthy and bitter Miss Havisham,
- the good-hearted but often weak social climbing main character Pip,
- the good-hearted criminal Magwitch,
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- the truly evil and despicable Orlick and Drummle,
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- the virtuous, pillar of goodness "Joe" Gargery
- the abusive, mean-spirited, never-to-be-pleased Mrs. Joe Gargery,
- the cold and unemotional Estella,
- the officious, money-grubbing Mr. Pumblechook, and
- the iconic Victorian businessman Mr. Jaggers.

It’s a veritable panoply of distinct personalities, each with their own voice and their own part to play in this wonderful depiction of life in 19th Century London.

The only criticism I have for the book is that I tend to agree with some critics that the original "sadder" ending to the story was better and more in keeping with the rest of the narrative. However, as someone who doesn't mind a happy ending, especially with characters I have come to truly care for, that is a relatively minor gripe.

4.5 to 5.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS!!!

P.S. A few bonus quotes that I thought were too good not to share:

Pip: “In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.”

Joe to Pip: "If you can't get to be uncommon through going straight, you'll never get to do it through going crooked."

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.....

A classic for certain, and only my second Dickens to date. The most surprising thing I found? Dicken's amazing humor! This is especially true in the first third, or so, in the story of Pip. But it may be the themes of this book that I remember most, and the growth of Pip. What does it take to make one happy? Is it wealth, or is it love and friendship? Those are the few things I thought about most often here.

Yeah, the writing is vintage. But, I found it mostly relatable, even a nice change of pace for me (all truth be told – some parts were confounding. I back-tracked often, sometimes I simply moved on). At story's end I was left these feelings: A little bit of joy, a little bit of heart-break, quite a bit of contentedness. Glad I finally read this one.