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Editorial Review Product Description
Dickens' story of Pip and the fortune which falls into his lap, his rejectionof old friends and his growth through pain and mishap. 2 cassettes.Amazon.com Review
Dickens considered Great Expectations one of his"little pieces," and indeed, it is slim compared to suchweighty novels as DavidCopperfield or NicholasNickleby. But what this cautionary tale of a young man raisedhigh above his station by a mysterious benefactor lacks in length, itmore than makes up for in its remarkable characters and compellingstory. The novel begins with young orphaned PhilipPirrip--Pip--running afoul of an escaped convict in a cemetery. Thisterrifying personage bullies Pip into stealing food and a file forhim, threatening that if he tells a soul "your heart and your livershall be tore out, roasted and ate." The boy does as he's asked, butthe convict is captured anyway, and transported to the penal coloniesin Australia. Having started his novel in a cemetery, Dickens then upsthe stakes and introduces his hero into the decaying household of MissHavisham, a wealthy, half-mad woman who was jilted on her wedding daymany years before and has never recovered.Pip is brought there toplay with Miss Havisham's ward, Estella, a little girl who delights intormenting Pip about his rough hands and future as a blacksmith'sapprentice.I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began toconsider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt for me was sostrong, that it became infectious, and I caught it. It is an infection that Pip never quite recovers from; as he spends moretime with Miss Havisham and the tantalizing Estella, he becomes more andmore discontented with his guardian, the kindhearted blacksmith, Joe, andhis childhood friend Biddy. When, after several years, Pip becomes theheir of an unknown benefactor, he leaps at the chance to leave his homeand friends behind to go to London and become a gentleman. But havingexpectations, as Pip soon learns, is a two-edged sword, and nothing isas he thought it would be. Like that other "little piece," ATale of Two Cities, Great Expectations is different from theusual Dickensian fare: the story is dark, almost surreal at times, andyou'll find few of the author's patented comic characters and no comicset pieces. And yet this is arguably the most compelling of Dickens'snovels for, unlike David Copperfield or Martin Chuzzlewit, the readercan never be sure that things will work out for Pip. Even Dickensapparently had his doubts--he wrote two endings for this novel.--Alix Wilber ... Read more Customer Reviews (262) 
There's a reason Dickens is read 150 years later
This is a book worth reading, and it's a shame my first experience with it was having it force-fed to me 22 years ago as a high school sophomore or junior.I only wish I could find the crappy, soulless joke of a book report I regurgitated from Cliff's Notes to please my teacher and get that all-important "A."Suffice to say that if I found it I would not post it here.
Having re-read the book, I now can say with certainty that Dickens is a brilliant writer and storyteller.His use of language is phenomenal, and his characters tell a deep emotional tale.I suspect it is the tale of Dickens' own childhood dilemma:an emotionally abandoned boy seeking greatness and knowing at some level that he was born for it---and that fate somehow picked him out for it.
Pip is a multidimensional character, with hopes and charm and honesty and flaws.He is utterly sympathetic, as I'm sure little Charles Dickens once was himself.
Pip, an abused and undefended boy, is picked out rather randomly by a near stranger (seemingly the idealized parent for whom every child secretly hopes) to become a gentleman---to rise above the meagre expectations for which his limited birth has chosen him.Even his closest childhood ally, Joe the blacksmith, does nothing (read that:nothing) to defend him against Joe's abusive wife, Pip's older sister.To Dickens' discredit, I felt that he over-defended Joe's weakness as a non-defender.But, by the same token, Dickens' rendering of Joe's all-too-realistic weakness is quite honest and common:after all, so few adults really do stick their necks out to defend the child.I am only left to suspect that in Dickens' own childhood none did either.I would guess that like Pip, Dickens was surrounded entirely by adults who were weak, sadistic, self-centered, or manipulative.My guess is that only his talent, hard word, and patience allowed him to rise above.
My only real criticism of the book (and it's not a big one) comes near the end, when Pip tries to help Magwitch escape England and thus find safety.Granted, Dickens' treatment of this situation does assist the flow of the novel, and does allow him to show just how much Pip has grown to care for his benefactor, but it still left me shaking my head.(And I'm not spoiling the plot, because in the version I read the editor's footnotes spoil the plot anyway early on in the reading, as clearly the editor assumes that the reader knows the story beforehand.Then again, maybe the editor is spoiling the plot to give himself some power.I felt some of his footnotes, which are otherwise quite helpful for background, suggest that he was in an annoying sort of competition with Dickens to show his own greatness.)
So although the plot device works for Dickens' purpose, it just didn't strike me as sufficiently realistic to keep my disbelief suspended.My reason:Magwitch is a hardy, intelligent, cunning world traveler, who suddenly, for no good enough reason, puts all his trust for escape from England (and thus his life) into the hands of a complete novice, Pip, who creates a foolhardy plan for escape that ends up getting Magwitch captured and sentenced to death.
In reality, given what Dickens' shows us about Magwitch's character, here's what I think would have really happened had Magwitch heard Pip's plan:
Magwitch:"Pip, thank you for creating a plan to rescue me, but I think I'll pass.I'll go off into the night on my own, and leave England the same way I came to it:on my own."
Magwitch would have traveled onward with less hurrah, more stealth, and far more privacy.And as the result he would have likely left England safe and sound, and continued to keep up his benefactor relationship with Pip.
But that wouldn't have suited Dickens' purposes for the plot, so the more realistic ending was avoided.
That said, the book was still great.I couldn't put it down.Kudos to Dickens!And to hell with my high school teacher for nearly ruining my regard for this great writer.
a masterpiece
All that can be expected from great English classic is here.This is arguably the best piece written by Dickens
a true classic, but a bit wordy
Witty, clever, and full of great characters and images.Laughed out loud a number of times. The plot was compelling and kept my interest, though at some point things began to bog down a bit.The chatty, meandering prose put me off at times.I thought I read Dickens was paid by the word for some novels, and I did get the sense that GE would have worked better as a shorter novel.Still, an enjoyable read.
Keep a dictionary handy to deal with some of the antiquated and/or vernacular language.
Good
The package arrived on time and was what was expected. The package did ship from Britain which caught my grandma's fancy.
Redemptive Themes are Always Among my Favorites in Books
Pip, the main character in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, writes the story in first person as a middle aged man looking back on his life. Pip's parents die when he is young making him an orphan.Pip is "brought up by hand" by his sister, who treats him with scorn. His sister's lack of love, however, is tempered by her husband Joe, a blacksmith. Joe is a simple, uneducated man and Pip's only "friend" during childhood. Pip commiserates with Joe about his sister's verbal thrashings, trying to make the best of his unhappy upbringing.
Early in the story, Pip has an encounter with a convict in the cemetery among the marshes near his home. Unbeknownst to him, this man would be the source for his "Great Expectations" later in life.
One day Pip is invited to the home of Ms. Havisham. Ms. Havisham is a single, eccentric, old woman who stopped living in the real world many years earlier when she was spurned by her lover on her wedding day.
Ms. Havisham has adopted the beautiful Estella, and from the moment Pip meets her, he is infatuated with her beauty.Estella represents wealth, education, success, and opportunity--things Pip values but thinks he will never have.
Dissatisfaction within himself grows as he wants to be more in life than a partner with Joe in the forge. Pip becomes unhappy not only with himself, but also with Joe, who represents what he does not want to be--uneducated and simple. Failing to appreciate Joe's moral character, Pip's world view begins to change as he sees education as something to be attained--the sure way out of his wretched life and the means by which he could woo the object of his unmerited affections, Estella.
Pip's life changes dramatically when he is visited by a well respected and fiercely admired lawyer, Mr.Jaggers, who brings him an unusual message. Mr. Jaggers tells Pip he is to receive "Great Expectations," but the benefactor is to remain anonymous until and only if they choose to reveal their identity. Pip mistakenly assumes the benefactor is Ms. Havisham, and the manipulating, self serving woman does nothing to dissuade him from his incorrect assumptions.
The story takes Pip to London where he lives a life of excess and discards many virtues from his childhood. He no longer wants anything to do with Joe and believes his future course has been immutably set--that he is to marry the beautiful Estella. He shares his indulgences with his new friend, Herbert, whose acquaintance he had made years earlier at Ms. Havisham's place. The two of them rack up excessive debt as Pip sees himself as "a man in waiting" for all his fortunes to come to pass.
Things are not what they seem, however. It is eventually revealed that the benefactor is not Ms. Havisham but the convict, Mr. Magwitch, whom Pip had met in the cemetery many years earlier when he was a young, impressionable boy.
Pip is confronted face to face with the despised convict, hounded by the remembrances of him torturing him in the cemetery, dreams that lingered, causing him much consternation. But now he has to accept the undeniable truth that his turn of fortune is not because of Ms. Havisham's provision, but the despicable convict's desire to make him a gentleman. The convict wants his life to be redeemed for something good and chooses Pip to be that vehicle.
Through a series of events, Pip acknowledges the inexcusable way he has treated Joe and wants to make amends. Before he can accomplish this, however, other happenings complicate his life. The convict, now in England, needs Pip's protection. Pip must make a way for Magwitch to leave England without being discovered.
While Pip hides him with a trusted friend, Pip comes to realize that the convict he had earlier despised has more redemptive qualities than Pip has within himself. As he makes provision for the convict's escape, Pip sees Magwitch change for the better, and in so doing, Pip also changes. Instead of hating the convict, Pip grows to love him. The self centeredness of Pip's indulgences is replaced with care, not only for the convict, but in growing degrees, for others.
In the process of trying to escape, the convict is attacked by his long-time archrival and enemy. As a result, Magwitch is severely injured, discovered by the authorities, put on trial and convicted, but dies from his injuries before his death sentence can be carried out. Magwitch's estate is turned over to the authorities to make restitution for past wrongs. Pip is left penniless and obligingly accepts that his Great Expectations and source of income have dissipated into nothing. Meanwhile, Estella marries someone else--a man whom Pip despises.
A few years earlier, Pip had secretly made arrangements for his friend Herbert to have a small expectation out of his "Great Expectations," amounting to a sizable sum of money. When it becomes known to Pip that he will lose his "Great Expectations" to the authorities, his only thought is for his friend. Pip returns to visit Ms. Havisham and requests, in a show of repentance for the wrongs she had done to him, a sum of money that Pip could again secretly provide to Herbert.
Herbert wisely uses this money to successfully buy into a business venture. He later marries and moves overseas in his business pursuits--none of which would have been possible without Pip's anonymous provision to Herbert.
Pip credits this as the only redeeming thing he has accomplished, reflecting on all the other things he did or didn't do that could have been used for good.
Pip falls ill following the death of his convict friend, Magwitch, and Joe comes to England to care for him until he is well. Joe surreptitiously leaves early one morning when Pip is sufficiently recovered, and when Pip wakes up, he discovers Joe has paid off all his creditors. Pip immediately returns home in penitence to confess to Joe all his past wrongs, realizing that Joe is a better man than he. He recognizes in his now humble state that his "Great Expectations" deceived him into using it as a source of pride against Joe.
Upon arriving home, Pip's expectations are not what he envisioned. His sister who raised him by hand has long since died as a result of an attack on her by the evil Orlick. His childhood friend and confidant, Biddy, has just married Joe. In the end, redemption works its way for good. Joe and Biddy are happily married and the sore memories of Pip's sister are forgotten.
Pip returns to London and within a month, leaves England and joins Herbert's firm, Clarriker and Company, overseas. Pip lives abroad with Herbert and his wife, and after successfully making partner, eleven years later, returns to his boyhood home in England. He discovers Joe and Biddy now have a son who reminds him of himself.
Before bidding Joe and Biddy a final farewell, Pip makes one last trip to the Havisham place, the old woman having died many years earlier. Pip discovers Estella in the garden, a chance meeting since she no longer lives there. The old house and brewery have been torn down and sold off except for the garden enclosed by the ivy covered wall.
Years of a stormy, failed marriage have softened Estella's vindictive, prideful nature, and she confesses that "suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be."
The reader is left to ponder whether Pip and Estella ever marry because Pip says, "I saw no parting from her."
In the end, Pip learns much about what matters--wisdom he would not have possessed if he had stayed working at Joe's forge. As a middle aged narrator looking back, there is sadness but sweetness about what he has lost because of what he has gained. Perhaps the reader is the real winner, having seen redemption on so many levels within each character. In the end, if we are honest, we can identify these shortcomings in ourselves. If Pip can work out his "Great Expectations" to bring redemption, perhaps we can, also--that is, again, if we are honest.Our sinful nature will always be there, but if we look for good, God will not disappoint us. Maybe "Great Expectations" will not only find us, but redemption will be there, too, just as it was in Pip.
Lorilyn Roberts
Children of Dreams andThe Donkey and the King
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too quirky
Three For Three