My Dutch version of the novel |
The forge is near a moor where escaped prisoners sometimes end up and Pip has a frightening encounter with one of those criminals on the loose.
Rich and
reclused mrs. Havesham asks if Pip can come to her house every now and then, to
entertain her and to play with her ward, Estella. In this house and in the
dealings with Estella and Mrs. Havesham Pip realizes how common he is. He longs
to better himself to become a gentleman and to be worthy of Estella.
His chance
comes when solicitor Mr. Jaggers comes to inform him that he has a benefactor
who wished Pip will go to London and become a gentleman. The only thing is that
Pip cannot know who his benefactor is.
Without any
hesitation Pip leaves the forge and goes to London. He does not really live up
to the Great Expectations, even though he learns how to behave like a
gentleman, mostly he wastes his time and money on nothing. Because he is
ashamed of where he came from, he doesn’t keep in touch with Joe. He thinks
mrs. Havisham might be his benefactor, so he can become a worthy husband for
Estella. Mrs. Havisham has different plans for Estella and when Pip finally
finds out who his benefactor is, he realizes the mistakes he made.
Charles Dickens
wrote Great expectations in 1860 as a newspaper serial. When it came out, the
critics were not that positive about the story, but the opinion has changed and
now most people see this as one of Dicken’s best novels.
I have some sort of a Dickens-blockade, I never managed to finish a Dickens novel before. With Great expectations I had no difficulty whatsoever to read it and finish it. I loved it. (which is a good thing, since I read this for my bookclub)
I enjoyed
his style of writing, the way he can describe a person in just a few sentences
or just a few actions. He is also a master at making the poignant funny and the
funny poingnant.
Pip’s
childhood it terrible, but some descriptions make you chuckle out loud. Also the
clerk at the sollicitor’s office who made a real castle from his home (complete
with drawbridge) was an amazing and great character.
Other
scenes are moving, like the one where Pip stand by his benefactor at his
deathbed and the scenes where Joe explains that he does not blame Pip for his
actions because Joe blames himself so very much for not protecting Pip better
against the abuse from his sister.
Dickens
wrote two separate endings, and I liked the one better that made everything
alright, since I wanted Pip to have his happy ending.
Originally
published in 1860
This is the Dickens novel that I just can't make myself finish! I don't hate Dickens; I just don't like him very much. I guess he's just not my favorite author.
ReplyDeleteThat is a shame, but of course we cannot all be great fans. I am not a great fan yet, I really enjoyed this book, and I will read another book by him, but not very soon.
DeleteKind regards,
I recently attempted to read a Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, but I was unable to finish it. I'm keen to return to it one day. Along with Oliver Twist on my unread shelf I have Great Expectations too. It sounds like a great read and I'm keen to delve in to it but I feel Dickens is better off as a autumn/winter read for me.
ReplyDeleteI believe you're taking part in the book to movie challenge - have you seen any of the film adaptations of Great Expectations?
:-)
Bits & Bobs
It was indeed very wintery, but it was for my bookclub, so I had no choice!
DeleteI did not see the film, so I could not use this one for the book to movie challenge. Did you see it?
Kind regards,
I haven't seen any of the film version but I have seen the most recent on my Netflix, I'm going to wait until I've read the book to watch the film though.
Delete:-)
The movie is on my 'to watch list', so I think somewhere in the future I will watch it as well!
DeleteKind regards,