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whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
It is not as good as Oscar and Lucinda, but it has a blasphemous energy that I loved!
thereadingmum's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I decided to read this in tandem with listening to Great Expectations on audio and it was an interesting experience. I'm not entirely sure if it enhanced my reading of both books or not, but it made for a very immersive week.
While the story of Jack Maggs may be inspired by that of Abel Magwitch, it is quite different. So if you were expecting a spin-off, it's really not.
It begins with Maggs returning to London to seek out his benefactee, Henry Phipps, as he has promised in his letters. However, Phipps is not at home. Instead, Maggs is mistaken for a replacement footman for the household next door, Mr Percy Buckle's residence. He decides to take up the position in order to keep an eye on the Phipp's house and find out where he is. There then ensues a few weeks of aggro misunderstandings, magnet-induced hypnotism and very tense, unnecessary shenanigans.
Jack's protege, Phipps is vastly different and a much more corrupt version of Pip. The rest of the cast of characters are an extremely odd bunch, which add to the tragi-comic atmosphere of this story. There is a build of tension towards the end where I fully expected someone to die, instead it fizzles out into a weirdly happy ending.
I've given this 4 stars but I'm still undecided how I really feel about this overall.
While the story of Jack Maggs may be inspired by that of Abel Magwitch, it is quite different. So if you were expecting a spin-off, it's really not.
It begins with Maggs returning to London to seek out his benefactee, Henry Phipps, as he has promised in his letters. However, Phipps is not at home. Instead, Maggs is mistaken for a replacement footman for the household next door, Mr Percy Buckle's residence. He decides to take up the position in order to keep an eye on the Phipp's house and find out where he is. There then ensues a few weeks of aggro misunderstandings, magnet-induced hypnotism and very tense, unnecessary shenanigans.
Jack's protege, Phipps is vastly different and a much more corrupt version of Pip. The rest of the cast of characters are an extremely odd bunch, which add to the tragi-comic atmosphere of this story. There is a build of tension towards the end where I fully expected someone to die, instead it fizzles out into a weirdly happy ending.
I've given this 4 stars but I'm still undecided how I really feel about this overall.
merireadstuff's review against another edition
5.0
I did not expect a novel I had to read for class to be so good and yet here I am empathising with a murderer and crying for a girl who didn’t get what she deserved from the very start. I loved this rewriting and the different interpretation of dickens’s characters under the light of an Australian author.
Really really good!
Really really good!
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
From the book jacket: [A] novel of Dickensian London .. the 1830s. Jack Maggs, a foundling trained in the fine arts of thievery, cruelly betrayed and deported to Australia, has now reversed his fortune – and seeks to fulfill his well-concealed, innermost desire. Returning “home” under threat of execution, he inveigles his way into a household in Great Queen Street, where he’s quickly embroiled in various emotional entanglements – and where he falls under the hypnotic scrutiny of Tobias Oates, a celebrated young writer fascinated by the process of mesmerism and obsessed with the criminal mind.
My reactions
I had heard that this was inspired by and perhaps even a retelling of Dickens’ Great Expectations. I can see similarities, though there is no Miss Havisham, and the focus is not on Pip but on Magwitch.
I did get quite caught up in Jack Maggs’s story and wondered a few times how Carey was going to wrap this up. The plot is definitely convoluted in places, with many twists and turns, though Maggs’s goal remains the same. I enjoyed the relationship between Maggs and Mercy, and the complication of Mercy’s relationship with her employer, Mr Buckle. But I felt Carey took a wrong turn by relying on Tobias Oates and his efforts at hypnotism / magnetism. And the subplot of Toby’s romantic entanglements did little to advance the story (other than providing some motivation for his final journey with Maggs).
Carey’s writing is very atmospheric, and the city of London is explored in some detail, especially the impoverished slums and criminal underbelly.
My reactions
I had heard that this was inspired by and perhaps even a retelling of Dickens’ Great Expectations. I can see similarities, though there is no Miss Havisham, and the focus is not on Pip but on Magwitch.
I did get quite caught up in Jack Maggs’s story and wondered a few times how Carey was going to wrap this up. The plot is definitely convoluted in places, with many twists and turns, though Maggs’s goal remains the same. I enjoyed the relationship between Maggs and Mercy, and the complication of Mercy’s relationship with her employer, Mr Buckle. But I felt Carey took a wrong turn by relying on Tobias Oates and his efforts at hypnotism / magnetism. And the subplot of Toby’s romantic entanglements did little to advance the story (other than providing some motivation for his final journey with Maggs).
Carey’s writing is very atmospheric, and the city of London is explored in some detail, especially the impoverished slums and criminal underbelly.
tricky's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I have read Carey's works before and have really enjoyed them. Jack Maggs, I decided to read as the State Theatre Company of South Australia will be presenting the novel as a play in November 2024. So my reading was in preparation to find out how the novel becomes realised on the stage.
Jack Magg's to put it mildly is a bleak and violent, with a bunch of characters whose motivations are ever changing. We follow Jack Maggs, as he endeavours to locate his 'son'. Magg is relentless in his pursuit and you know that nothing good is going to come from this.
Carey is a wonderful writer and you are in the hands of a master who has created 19th century London that lifts off the page. The dark, the poverty, the disease, the filth, it is all there and there are times when you feel the grime. The characters are all created in a way that makes them believable as they are not all likeable. This is really good and Dicken's Great Expectations, is the inspiration but Carey makes this his own.
Jack Magg's to put it mildly is a bleak and violent, with a bunch of characters whose motivations are ever changing. We follow Jack Maggs, as he endeavours to locate his 'son'. Magg is relentless in his pursuit and you know that nothing good is going to come from this.
Carey is a wonderful writer and you are in the hands of a master who has created 19th century London that lifts off the page. The dark, the poverty, the disease, the filth, it is all there and there are times when you feel the grime. The characters are all created in a way that makes them believable as they are not all likeable. This is really good and Dicken's Great Expectations, is the inspiration but Carey makes this his own.
geeodes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nellday's review against another edition
4.0
This book has all the fun of Dickens without the long sentences but with the twisty turny plot and cast of orphans, criminals, charlatans, arrivistes, and backyard abortionists. There's a bit in the middle where nothing happens for a while but don't be put off, stuff eventually starts happening again and it's great!
thebobsphere's review against another edition
3.0
In the past I have read two Peter Carey novels (Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of the Kelly Gang) and I found them rather boring. With Carey I have a tendency to lose focus on the writing and drift off. Thankfully Jack Maggs is a different story altogether.
It’s London 1837 and Jack Maggs returns from his prison term in Australia in order to settle some dues with Henry Phipps. Upon arriving he finds out that Phipps is not there and is hired at the Buckle residence as footman. As soon as Maggs is hired he is thrown into a maelstrom of deceit, hidden relationships, the supernatural and certain secrets, most which affect his destiny throughout the novel and ultimately surprise the reader in the process.
After researching on the background of the novel I found out that ‘Jack Maggs’ is a sort of tribute to Charles Dickens ‘Great Expectations’ Now I confess that I have never read it so I don’t know how it compares but as a stand-alone novel I found ‘Jack Maggs’ to be highly addictive. Carey does not tell you a straight story, instead the novel give you new secrets about the characters pasts so in order to find out how the book develops you have to continue reading to the last chapter, where everything is revealed.
I also liked the way Carey made his characters realistic. I guarantee that you will not root for any characters as they all have their good and bad sides. In reality every human has their quirks and this is brought out. Carey has a way of presenting his protagonists as innocent people but slowly turning nasty towards the last few chapters.
Really there’s nothing left to say but if you do think of picking up this wonderful little book make sure you have some time one your hands, it’s one of those novels that will keep you glued to your seat! (in fact I was picking it up at every available moment)
It’s London 1837 and Jack Maggs returns from his prison term in Australia in order to settle some dues with Henry Phipps. Upon arriving he finds out that Phipps is not there and is hired at the Buckle residence as footman. As soon as Maggs is hired he is thrown into a maelstrom of deceit, hidden relationships, the supernatural and certain secrets, most which affect his destiny throughout the novel and ultimately surprise the reader in the process.
After researching on the background of the novel I found out that ‘Jack Maggs’ is a sort of tribute to Charles Dickens ‘Great Expectations’ Now I confess that I have never read it so I don’t know how it compares but as a stand-alone novel I found ‘Jack Maggs’ to be highly addictive. Carey does not tell you a straight story, instead the novel give you new secrets about the characters pasts so in order to find out how the book develops you have to continue reading to the last chapter, where everything is revealed.
I also liked the way Carey made his characters realistic. I guarantee that you will not root for any characters as they all have their good and bad sides. In reality every human has their quirks and this is brought out. Carey has a way of presenting his protagonists as innocent people but slowly turning nasty towards the last few chapters.
Really there’s nothing left to say but if you do think of picking up this wonderful little book make sure you have some time one your hands, it’s one of those novels that will keep you glued to your seat! (in fact I was picking it up at every available moment)
krobart's review against another edition
5.0
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/day-567-jack-maggs/
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/day-567-jack-maggs/