Product Description

Introduction by Michael Slater

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #128684 in Books
• Published on: 1992-03-10
• Released on: 1992-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780679405795
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
An absorbing mystery as well as a morality tale, the story of Pip, a poor village lad, and his expectations of wealth is Dickens at his most deliciously readable. The cast of characters includes kindly Joe Gargery, the loyal convict Abel Magwitch and the haunting Miss Havisham. If you have heartstrings, count on them being tugged.

Review
"No story in the first person was ever better told."



From the Trade Paperback edition. -- Review

Review
“Great Expectations may be called a novel without a hero . . . In [it] Dickens was really trying to be a quiet, a detached, and even a cynical observer of human life . . . And the final and startling triumph of Dickens is this: that even to this moderate and modern story he gives an incomparable energy which is not moderate and which is not modern. He is trying to be reasonable; but in spite of himself he is inspired.” –G. K. Chesterton

“Great Expectations [is] generally regarded as Dickens’s artistic masterpiece, and a novel profoundly serious in its psychological and sociological import . . . Dickens tell[s] a universal story of human passions, mutual exploitation, selfishness, self-delusion, and selflessness . . . [It] is the subtlest and most profound, as well as the most triumphantly achieved, of all his great novels.” –From the Introduction by Michael Slater

Customer Reviews

Social commentary, mystery, romance and a great story...
I've never read any Dickens of my own free will. I was forced to read "A Tale of Two Cities" in high school and I thought that was enough for me. However, one day, on a whim, I bought a copy of Great Expectations. I'm not sure what I expected, but I certainly didn't expect to love it as much as I did.

Dickens is not a writer to read at a swift pace. Indeed, this novel was written in weekly episodes from December 1860 to August 1861 and, as it was created to be a serial, each installment is full of varied characters, great descriptions and a lot of action which moves the plot along and leaves the reader yearning for more. Therefore, unlike some books which are easily forgotten if I put them down for a few days, Great Expectations seemed to stick around, absorbing my thoughts in a way that I looked forward to picking it up again. It took me more than a month to read and I savored every morsel.

Basically the story is of the self-development of Pip, an orphan boy being raised by his sister and her blacksmith husband in the marshlands of England in 1820.

Every one of the characters were so deeply developed that I felt I was personally acquainted with each one of them. There was Pip's roommate, Herbert Pocket, the lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and his clerk, Mr. Wemmick. And then there was the wicked Orlick. The dialogues were wonderful. The characters often didn't actually say what they meant but spoke in a way that even though the words might be obtuse, there was no mistaking their meaning. I found myself smiling at all these verbal contortions.

Dickens' work is richly detailed and he explores the nuances of human behavior. I enjoyed wallowing in the long sentences and letting myself travel backwards in time to a different world. However, even with the footnotes, I found myself sometimes confused by the British slang of 150 years ago, and there were several passages I had to read over several times in order to get the true meaning. Of course I was not in a particular rush. I didn't have to make a report to a class or take a exam about the book. This is certainly a pleasure.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read.ting from the secret wealth of Magwitch, who made a fortune in Australia after being transported. Moreover, Magwitch's unlawful return to England puts him and Pip in danger. Meanwhile, Estella has married another, a horrible man who Pip despises. Eventually, with Magwitch's recapture and death in prison and with his fortune gone, Pip ends up in debtors prison, but Joe redeems his debts and brings him home. Pip realizes that Magwitch was a more devoted friend to him than he ever was to Joe and with this realization Pip becomes, finally, a whole and decent human being.

Originally, Dickens wrote a conclusion that made it clear that Pip and Estella will never be together, that Estella is finally too devoid of heart to love. But at the urging of others, he changed the ending and left it more open ended, with the possibility that Estella too has learned and grown from her experiences and her wretched marriages.

This is the work of a mature novelist at the height of his powers. It has everything you could ask for in a novel: central characters who actually change and grow over the course of the story, becoming better people in the end; a plot laden with mystery and irony; amusing secondary characters; you name it, it's in here. I would rank it with A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield among the very best novels of the worlds greatest novelist.

GRADE: A+

Human Nature VS. The Human Condition.
The description of Miss Havisham & her home alone is worth two to three stars. This is unlike any other book in the English language, with the possible exception of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights?" Dickens tells us many things in the begining of the novel that appear out of place or irrelevant, but later those pieces fall into place so that the big picture is revealed.

This story runs the gamut of emotions for the reader. Shock, empathy, joy, disappointment, & disdain are all there for the various characters at different times. Multiple plots, detailed descriptions, & ever mutable characters made this a long & entertaining read. This is the story of Phillip Pirrup or Pip. He is a true hardluck case that you root for. His family except for a brother & sister have all passed away. He lives with his sister{a husband beater} & brother in law Joe Gargery in a tiny English village. Oddly for this era, this is one of the few books where fear from a man's perspective is explored. That in itself was refreshing. Along the roller coaster life that Pip finds himself on he meets enigmatic people & gets an anonymous benefactor who helps him reach London to start a better life? Once there life & the nature of Pip himself is radically altered. This is when the title of my review becomes clear. Dickens asks & answers very poignant psychological questions long before Freud was ever heard of.

A great book, wonderfully read
I got the "cover-to-cover" book on tape for a long road trip, never having heard the story before. I loved every minute of it. The things that Dickens does with the English language is endlessly entertaining, the story he tells fascinating and fast-paced. The highly talented Martin Jarvis reads wonderfully, giving great characterization to the many people appearing in the story, allowing me to see them all as completely distinct.

It's a shame that people feel such resentment when forced to read something. Most of the bad reviews this book gets are from young people who were forced to read it for a class. When taken at one's own leisure, and in one's own time, it is quite entertaining. I'm not sure that the teachers who assign the book are pointing out all the things that make the book great, such as Dickens's flair with the language, the point he's making about a society that places birth above worth, and his ability to make abstract arguments that enhance the story. I'd be interested in hearing from literature teachers to find out how they use the book in their classes.

One of the best books ever written, this reading is one of the best investments of my time I've ever made.