Great Expectations Hardcover – September 27, 2016

I took to Dickens when I was in high school in the 1950's and read several of his classics. When I was in my 30's, I had a lot of time on my hands one winter, bought a complete set of his books, and read every one. Well, they sure aren't all great - he did write potboilers - but his language is good and still readable. Great Expectations came up in a reading group this winter, so I re-read it. Wonderful! I laughed and laughed through the first chapter! Plot worked. Characters worked. I think it's good for at least another 50 years. (Best movie? Go back to 1947. Prime has it on file now.)

I avoided reading books by Charles Dickens because I thought the old style of English would be too tough to work through and keep my interest. I was wrong. I waited 64 years before I figured this out. Maybe I needed to wait until this before I could appreciate his work.It is basically a story of a young orphan boy, named Pip, coming of age in the mid- 19th century. It is a life full of characters both good, bad and in between. The main thrust though is how theses characters all affect young Pip's beliefs; fears and... great expectations. As he grows he finds that many are not what he originally thought them to be. However, they are what they are. The story is about how Pip learns to deal with them and life's twist and turns.It is really a good book. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It is tough to read in a few spots but you can still get the context and keep the story moving along. I highly recommend this book, but you will have to decide if you are old enough to appreciate it. Just don't wait too long...

I am not attempting to review a Dickens’ writing here-it was analyzed and praised by thousands of scholars.Instead I want to praise the narrator, Michael Page.He is a true narration genius, talking in multiple distinctly different voices and creating, sometimes sinister and sometimes grotesque, atmosphere all by himself.So even if you know the book, this audio version is definitely worth listening to.The book itself is also great, it passed the test of time in flying colors and can easily amuse contemporary readers with it’s half-absurd situations and a parade of weird characters. But even more amusing is its audio version..Since there are multiple versions of this book and of it’s audios I am attaching image of edition that I got. It came included with free Prime book. But when I checked recently the different audio version was included with the same book. So I am pasting below a link to the audio version I am talking about (put this link directly as an address into your browser rather than searching Amazon page).https://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-AmazonClassics-Edition/dp/B073ZLF78Q/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=great+Expectations+Page&qid=1618720926&s=audible&sr=1-1It is a part of Amazon Classic Editions, which I love. There are so many old friends there and so many surprises. Like surprise of me discovering that despite being familiar with the title I never read the “Great Expectations”.

The tiny type in this edition is set in three columns, like a newspaper shrunken down to miniature. All but unreadable, no idea who would want this. I think that the publisher is counting on the low price to dissuade people from sending it back, but I am just annoyed enough to bother.

This book is a classic for a reason -- Dickens' insight into the human mind and spirit is phenomenal. He is a master writer and psychologist and perhaps spiritual leader. He strips bare the human condition especially how we get stuck in our moments of trauma like Miss Havisham, or stuck in our insecurities like Pip longing for what he knows is emotional poison (Estella) because he imagines her love and attention will elevate him. This book ought to be read and studied.

Great Expectations, a 19th Century classic by Charles Dickens. Good book, good story, but suffers from what afflicts most 19th century novels, the language.At least for me, it's not quite 'pleasure reading' when I 'work' my way through some of the novels by Dickens, Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson and others.Some 'classic' favorites of mine areJules Verne's The Mysterious Island and Stevenson's Treasure Island. Even Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was quite worth the effort it took to get through the language.David Copperfield Is a more engaging Dickens novel, worth the effort to get through. Great Expectations on the other hand seemed to be more obviously written as a serial, the author getting paid by the word, thus the over embellished writing style. I used CliffsNotes throughout to help with things I missed.But what do I know? I'm no brilliant consumer of great literature. I'm just your average Joe trying every once in a while to catch up on the great novels and writers of the past.

For Christmas, my three children have me the entire Jane Austen collection of Penguin Classics Clothbound. Since then, I've been adding other titles to my collection and GREAT EXPECTATIONS was a no-brainer. One of my favorite books by Dickens. Well, one of my fAVORITE books, period. This edition, in my opinion, is just the loveliest. So beautiful in person and easy to hold on one's hand. I highly recommend the Penguin Clothbound Collection. Great for book collector's of any age. Start a collection for little ones and by the time they are old enough to enjoy they'll have a wonderful set of books.

It’s taken me over 7 months to complete this book. The longest it’s ever taken me to finish a book. Honestly, running the risk of sounding unintelligent, I found the old language difficult to keep up with. A lot of the time, I wasn’t too sure what was going on, who a character was or what they were saying. I have seen some of the film before so I was able to fill in the blanks, but it didn’t lure me the way a book usually does. It seemed more like hard work than enjoying the journey. Im sure the author is very talented and writes very well, but it can be hard to tell from a modern perspective.

This is a terrible version of the book. Each page has a dozen errors. It reads as if it has been translated from a foreign language. "Dog" in the original is "canine" in this version; "file" in the original has become "document"; "tremendous" has become "maximum incredible"; "man" has become "guy". That is just a short summary of the errors in the first two pages. The whole thing is unreadable and a waste of money. Avoid this version of the book.

Just like he did in A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens emphasizes the importance of friends and family and the need to stay in touch with one's roots in the classic novel Great Expectations.The story brilliantly depicts the evil side of money, how it changes a person. It is an extraordinary depiction of love, loyalty, and forgiveness, of false perceptions, and the derived sadness. The plot is slow at the beginning, but it picks up pace as the pages turn, only to keep the reader hooked to it.As is always the case with Dickens' characters, they are vividly described in the prose. It is easy to fall in love with the positive ones, but the way he writes, makes one intricately understand the negative ones as well. And let's be honest, people are both good and bad, so there is always a gray area. Miss Havisham (a character in this book), for instance, is so eerily described that the reader is left unsure whether to love her or hate her - certainly can't just ignore her!There is no doubting the genius that is Dickens. Few instances:The subtlety by which he takes a jab at the way humans misuse religion is just wonderful:"Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and some people do the same by their religion."How life is nothing but a chain of connected events, remove any one and the result would have been different:"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. 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.""life is made of ever so many partings welded together"How those who are affectionate are weak. Or are they?"It’s a weakness to be so affectionate, but I can’t help it. No doubt my health would be much better if it was otherwise, still I wouldn’t change my disposition if I could. It’s the cause of much suffering, but it’s a consolation to know I possess it, when I wake up in the night."On the importance of crying:"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts."The definition of real love:“I’ll tell you,” said she, in the same hurried passionate whisper, “what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter—as I did!”How looks are deceiving:"Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule."Verdict: Highly recommended. Worth a re-read.

I enjoyed this but found my enthusiasm waning around the middle of the book. The author, like many of his age, seemingly paces the plot to fill the days of readers with time on their hands. But things pick up when the big reveal comes about two thirds of the way in and Dickens then keeps the reader guessing as to how the book will end. A particular joy of this book is that it is often very funny - particularly when recounting Pip's early days. Those who have seen the 1946 film adaption might agree that the film's casting was superb.

I decided to read Great Expectations having seen a little bit of the 1946 film adaptation and thought what a great story. Having never read a Dickins novel before I thought at 55 years it was about time I did!I have read a few novels by different authors from the 1800s and found that they read quite awkwardly, not so with this novel.A great story, with the usual great Dickins characters. The film has large chunks of the story missing so it was still rewarding to read.If you haven't tried reading an older classic author before I would recommend this book as a springboard Ito a different genre.