It tells the story of an orphan named Pip who receives money from a mysterious benifactor, and leaves for London to pursue a life of 'great expectations'.

After reading the book i then went to see it at the theatre, and believe me, that was even better than the book.

I do have to say though, that i do not agree with a previous reviewer who said that this is a comedy. I always thought that comedys were suposed to make you laugh, and it sure didn't make me laugh. Its just a truly amazing novel, not a comedy.

As everyone knows, you have to be of a very high literacy standard in order to read any Dickens novel, and i have read a few and i have to say that i think that this is by far the easiest one to understand. At least you don't have to sit for about ten minutes trying to translate each sentence into English that you are familiar with.

Well, if you are a fan of Dickens then this is a MUST buy, mainly because it is his best novel, and if you are not a fan of Dickens, then still buy it because you will really enjoy it.


definitely a classic.   November 26, 2003
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

from the other reviewers you probably have gained enough information to convince you to buy it. However, I do have something to add, there is a very "intelligent" reviewer who thought the book was wonderful only if you were a die hard christian, well guess what, I am a muslim, and I rank that book as one of my most adored books, I even cried at some point, it is rather sad that someone has strayed so far from values and ethics as to classify the most basic values of most religions something so far from life that you would dislike the book because it celebrates those values.
as for the reader from suffolk, no, the book is not boring, even the middle section which a few reviewers classified as boring and just there because dickens got paid by word, well, it's not exactly exciting, but definitely not boring, and most definitely essential to the plot, considering that it highlights the middle period between his childhood and his "maturity", the same transformation that is the essence of the story.

if you like literature,
do your self a favour and buy this book.


Didn't see that coming...   November 20, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Great Expectations does induce great expectations, what with all the hype my english lit. teacher has given me over the years, and true to the global impression, this book does live up to what has been said about it. The range of characters are absolutely extraordinary, and so is the personality given to each of them. There is the young Pip, and his sister (whose fate I personally did enjoy) and the crazy old crone, Ms. Havisham, whose obsession with her wedding dress and the (fairly revolting) banquet table really did cause one to question her sanity. The change in character is strikingly evident as the novel progresses, and any existing thoughts of how the stroy will end is left behind as the tale twists and turns through a complex series of plot developmetns. Suprisingly, however, the plot comes together very neatly at the end, leaving absolutely no plotholes or strayends.

The sheer artistry of this book is a marval to me, and i always wondered why i didn't start it sooner. Perhaps the thickness of the book is what put me off. A great read, and i recomend it to any hardcore reader


Is this a comedy?   November 6, 2003
 0 out of 2 found this review helpful

Well i did love this book and it did keep me thoroughly enthralled, but did Dickens intend this to be a comedy? My father thinks not and that I am foolish for assuming this, but I disagree. I feel that this is one of the most cleverly written comedys' ever. Although on the face of it it seems to be a thoroughly engaging tale of Pip's rise from obscurity to win the heart of the fair Estella (This was my perception when I finished it for the first time three years ago) after you read it again though you also appreciate it also as an hilarious comedy. The characters are so over the top that you seem to marvel at the fact that you didn't notice it at first, you have Miss Havisham the tremendous, psychopathic old crone who wants to take her revenge on the entire male gender, you have Estella the beautiful daughter who takes perverse pleasure in Pip's commonness and of course, my favourite character, the pale young gentleman (Herbert) who has such a lack of understanding of the world outside himself that it makes my sides ache every time I read about his "fight" with Pip.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not in any way slandering this book, as it is one of my favourites and fully deserves its place in the BBC's top 21 books of all time. I feel that it is a testament to the genius of Dickens that even all these years later we can still find this tragi-comedy so absorbing, engagingly but most of all funny.
It is my advice to anyone to buy this book, it is not one of those books you just take out of a library and then return it a few weeks later it is one of the few rare books that you actually live rather than simply read, a classic in the truest sense.