Charles Dickens - Great Expectations - 8

[SlowRain]

Great Expectations



This is the second novel that I have now read by Charles Dickens, the other being A Tale of Two Cities. The story is a coming of age tale centered around Pip, a young orphan raised by his fierce sister and gentle brother-in-law, who feels destined for greater things but seems doomed to become a blacksmith. His life is irreversibly changed when he receives a mysterious monetary gift with the condition that he be educated and raised to be a gentleman.

The narrative is a very lush, well-detailed, first-person account of Pip’s story. It never really has a slow part as the events are all relative to the characters and themes being discussed, but it’s more about character and lessons in life than a complex plot. We are treated to discussions of family relationships, generosity, gratitude, indebtedness (both financial and personal favors), infatuation, prejudice, judicial fairness, etc. Another treat is that Dickens is also fair with his characters: some are normal, some are weird, they all have obstacles that they must deal with - especially Pip - yet they don’t always do what we may consider to be the right thing, nor do they always act in a responsible way. We get to know Pip quite well, and by the end of the novel we are feeling his triumphs and sufferings.

There were a few things, however, that did affect my enjoyment of the novel. While not sinking to the level of A Tale of Two Cities, there are a few contrived coincidences that made me groan a bit. As well, the narrative, while highly enjoyable, was intrusive at times. There was also one scene that was staged to achieve maximum suspense and danger, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have actually played out that way in real life.

This is a novel that I would highly recommend to most readers who read and enjoy something more than thrillers and mysteries. I would certainly encourage every senior high school student and university student to read it for the timeless wisdom.



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[laurie]

I would certainly encourage every senior high school student and university student to read it for the timeless wisdom.

It's pretty much required reading in most US high schools, usually in 9th grade (age 14/15).

I absolutely hated it when I read it at that age, but when I had to re-read it 7 years later during my student-teaching stint (I was teaching 9th grade English), I found my views changing. While it still wasn't a favorite, I could appreciate the story and the writing style much more, and it led me to read many of Dickens' works, which I had avoided up to that point, thinking they were all like Great Expectations.

[de Selby]

Although I think it's one of Dickens' greatest plots, and definitely an excellent novel, I found Great Expectations a little gloomy, although there are certainly great passages and scenes. Overall I've found The Pickwick Papers the most purely enjoyable, Oliver Twist the most exciting, and Bleak House just simply the best: writing, story, atmosphere. (Although Pickwick has the best characters.)

The coincidence issue you mentioned can be a little annoying at times, and virtually none of his books seem to be free of it. It might be a consequence of the way he wrote the novels, turning out serialized chapters at a regular rate, and thus perhaps having to stitch things together more for expedience than credibility.

However, in a lot of the cases it seems to me he could have easily avoided the artifice -- in fact that he went the extra mile to make sure the one-and-a-million chance got in. So maybe -- just maybe -- it was Dickens' way of commenting on fate, divine justice or whatever, as if saying "God arranges the outcome." Who knows?

In any case, good review. And you're right, this book has a lot to offer.

[tollbaby]

I haven't read it yet, but I loved the Southpark version (I've also seen a film adaptation of it that wasn't bad... but it wasn't Butters)

[SlowRain]

I know what my own reading tastes were like in junior high and high school: it was pretty much Dragonlance, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and Michael Crichton. If I had been forced to read something like this back then, I'd have hated it. That all started to change in grade 12 when, I'm sure like most students, I started to think a little more about my future. I think this would be the best time to introduce this novel to students; any younger, and you risk resentment.

I've thought about the fate/destiny issue with the coincidences, and I agree that may have a bearing on some: But wouldn't that have been better served by saving them to drive home more important plot elements and resolutions? He also must have noticed that coincidence didn't drive his own life and the lives of others to the same degree as in his novels. I'm beginning to wonder, and I haven't read enough of his novels yet to prove this, if he wasn't just trying to sensationalize things at the expense of credibility. Perhaps he wanted his readers to be hooked and then shout out "Oh, dear me! I never expected that!", not really concerned if the twist was plausible. He writes so brilliantly, it just seems uneven to have something like this thrown in the mix.

The only movie version I've seen of Great Expectations was the 1998 Ethan Hawke movie. While stripping most of the story away and focusing on, and expanding, the Estella portion, it still did a pretty good job with what was left to work with. However, I think a lot of the value was left on the cutting room floor. It's been a few years now, so I should watch it again.

[mccormack44]

There is a J. Arthur Rank (Bob isn't sure it's Rank) Great Expectations probably from the late 40s or early 50s that I will remember forever! I think it does a very good job in following the spirit and the letter of the book. It's a black and white film that is absolutely LUSH in the gray-scale coloring. Once you have seen Miss Haversham's parlor you will never forget it.

As to Dickens and his coincidences, that was pretty much a mid-19th century style. You dismiss it in lesser writers, because they aren't good enough to make you care. But Dickens IS good, so you resent this style more in his works. I too might wish that he had risen even further above the style of his time, but it is always unfair to wish that an author of an earlier time thought like we do.

Slow Rain wrote

Perhaps he wanted his readers to be hooked and then shout out "Oh, dear me! I never expected that!", not really concerned if the twist was plausible.

One of Dickens' great strengths is his foreshadowing, so it is much more likely that the reader will say "I SHOULD have seen that, why didn't I?!" and perhaps Dickens did want the reader to do this.

Sue

[SlowRain]

I picked up a few pieces of foreshadowing in A Tale of Two Cities but I didn't pick out anything in Great Expectations. Does anyone have some examples?

[Evaine]

Sue is right - the best ever version of Great Expectations is the 1940s version starring John Mills. Alec Guiness is in it, too. It's very atmospheric in black and white.

I heard John Mills interviewed recently on the radio, and he had just been asked to take part in a new stage adaptation of Great Expectations. "They won't let me play Pip," he complained. "I can't think why."