A review by samharnold
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Dickens is famous for picking an institution and showing what is wrong with it throughout his novel. Great Expectations is definitely an attack on patronage, as we see through Pip's journey that it does not always provide the results anyone hoped for. 

In the 1800s, patronage was a practice in politics, the arts, and academia. It involved wealthy individuals providing financial support or favours to those needing assistance. In Great Expectations, Pip is given patronage from a mysterious benefactor to become a gentleman. 

Pip is such an interesting character, and we see him grow throughout the novel. There were times when I loved him and times when I wanted to reach inside the book and give him a slap. 

Dicken's is unbeaten in classic literature at writing from the child's perspective, and this book shows him at his best. When Pip returned from Miss Havisham's house he takes refuge in a series of outrageous lies, lies that we can imagine our own child spouting.

One of the passages that most affected me in the book is at the beginning when Pip imagines what his parents look like from the slope of their writing on their tombstones. This powerful image of a young boy who never knew his mum and dad. 

When you think you want to love Pip better, you see the other side of him when he becomes ashamed of Joe Gargery and his common ways. This view of the working class is something I have questioned whether Dickens felt himself. 

Great Expectations is an engaging novel that is hard to put down. Typically it shows the flaws in patronage and the class system of the Victorian ages, but over all it is a study of human nature that transverses the decades. It is undoubtedly one of my top 3 Dicken's books.