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Amazonaws.com's Price: $8.00
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
Fabric Type: 9780141439563
Fax Number: Revised
Legal Disclaimer: 0141439564
Maximum Color Depth: Penguin Classics
Metal Type: Penguin Classics
Publisher: 1
Region Code: 544
Total External Bays Free: December 31, 2002
Total Firewire Ports: Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics
Features:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Dickens considered Great Expectations one of his "little pieces," and indeed, it is slim compared to such weighty novels as David Copperfield or Nicholas Nickleby. But what this cautionary tale of a young man raised high above his station by a mysterious benefactor lacks in length, it more than makes up for in its remarkable characters and compelling story. The novel begins with young orphaned Philip Pirrip--Pip--running afoul of an escaped convict in a cemetery. This terrifying personage bullies Pip into stealing food and a file for him, threatening that if he tells a soul "your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate." The boy does as he's asked, but the convict is captured anyway, and transported to the penal colonies in Australia. Having started his novel in a cemetery, Dickens then ups the stakes and introduces his hero into the decaying household of Miss Havisham, a wealthy, half-mad woman who was jilted on her wedding day many years before and has never recovered. Pip is brought there to play with Miss Havisham's ward, Estella, a little girl who delights in tormenting Pip about his rough hands and future as a blacksmith's apprentice. I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began to consider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it. It is an infection that Pip never quite recovers from; as he spends more time with Miss Havisham and the tantalizing Estella, he becomes more and more discontented with his guardian, the kindhearted blacksmith, Joe, and his childhood friend Biddy. When, after several years, Pip becomes the heir of an unknown benefactor, he leaps at the chance to leave his home and friends behind to go to London and become a gentleman. But having expectations, as Pip soon learns, is a two-edged sword, and nothing is as he thought it would be. Like that other "little piece," A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations is different from the usual Dickensian fare: the story is dark, almost surreal at times, and you'll find few of the author's patented comic characters and no comic set pieces. And yet this is arguably the most compelling of Dickens's novels for, unlike David Copperfield or Martin Chuzzlewit, the reader can never be sure that things will work out for Pip. Even Dickens apparently had his doubts--he wrote two endings for this novel. --Alix Wilber
Product Description:
A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens' haunting late novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers thetrue nature of his 'great expectations'.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
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 ... Read More
Rating: -
I read Great Expectations back in high school, but had forgotten most of it. It was the selection for our book club, so I bought it to read again.
Although it's very long, it's a wonderful book, rich with detail and timeless for it's social issues and examination of interpersonal relationships.
I had forgotten (or perhaps didn't appreciate in high school) how funny Dickens is. His sense of humor, and ability to convey emotion and atmosphere are extraordinary.
I got it too late to ... Read More
Rating:  -
I have been a great reader my entire life, having read and enjoyed many classics as well as the modern books of today, but never in my life have I had such a difficult time getting through a book. I usually fly through novels within a few days, but getting through this one is likened to going through a maze in the dark. I give it two stars because I do think the plot was interesting, but the execution was abominably horrible. I actually had to have a dictionary next to me in order to understand all the ... Read More
Rating:  -
after reading this book i think dickens would benifit from very low expectations. and by that i mean a lot of people will be returning this book and giving bad reviews. all the classics always in my opinion, are very bad
Rating:  -
not "penguin classics" but bantam classics... wtf?, different book cover, and back page crumpled from delivery or ? everything else was fine.
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