Blue Archipelago

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Rating

4 stars - a challenging read — but worth it in the end

Great Expectations is about…

A boy called Pip, who has a chance encounter with an escaped convict, is given into service of the ancient Miss Havisham, and comes into some great expectations which change his life for ever.

Well, it feels like I have been reading this book forever; I think I started it in July - with an audio book I downloaded from librivox.org. Unfortunately the reader only made it to chapter 8 — and left me with Pip, alone in the old brewery, ‘looking up at the frosty light [and seeing] a figure hanging there by the neck. A figure all in yellow white, with but one shoe to the feet…‘! I quickly searched Book Mooch and was able to get hold of a copy of the book. I ended up, last Sunday afternoon, reading the last few chapters in eBook format on my iPhone. So I think this becomes the book that’s taken me the longest amount of time to read this year, and the only book I’ve ever ‘read’ in three formats!

I’ll admit; it was a challenge for me - but I had expected it to be. I found it hard to find my way through the traditional language; there were times where the story was so strong I would fly through chapters at a pace, and others where I would have to read the same page three times to take it in. In the end Dickens did a fantastic job of weaving all of the pieces together so that in the last few pages everything fell into place.

If you’re looking for a classic to get your teeth into I can definitely recommend this book - and once you’ve read it feel free to stop by the Blue Archipelago Virtual Book Club - which is where I am going now to discuss the book in more detail - click here if you’re interested in the discussion.

Have you reviewed this book?

If you have reviewed this book on your site please fill in the boxes below to link me up to your review - don’t forget to link to the specific post to make it easy to find:

Related articles by Zemanta

• How well read are you?
• Great expectations for Dickens collection
• E-book: New Chapter For Readers?

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Here are some Christmas Gift ideas you might find useful.

Related posts:

1. Currently Reading | Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
2. Book Review | Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3. Book Review | The Sea House by Esther Freud