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A review by isabelsdigest
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
3.0
"It was an unhappy life that I lived, and its one dominant anxiety, towering over all its other anxieties like a high
mountain above a range of mountains, never disappeared from my view."
There are books that (for me) are meant for specific seasons. [b:Great Expectations|35619412|Great Expectations|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499466204l/35619412._SX50_.jpg|2612809] is a title of a certain reputation that screams 'Winter', and for some reason, sadness. Maybe because I am old enough to know that expectations hardly materialize as we want them, and how often we encounter that we have very little agency in our own life. Therefore, without investigating anything further about this novel, I went ahead and made it my first book of the year. January for me is the saddest month, and Great Expectations somehow managed to make it bright. I give it a 3.5.
In this novel, you will find beautifully crafted sentences and a mastery that only an experienced weaver would have. The plot expands in some ways that my untrusting mind thought “uhh, [a:Charles Dickens|239579|Charles Dickens|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387078070p2/239579.jpg] is telling me all these things that I have no interest in knowing”. As usual, he reminded me that he actually knows what he is doing and in the end, all the strands we had were stitched back together in a way that only someone with a ‘big picture’ brain could do.
With that being said, the heart of this novel relies on the characters that you will find. Some of the despicable -and yes, I am looking at you, Orlick-, and some of them are genuinely the sweetest characters you could find- and of course, I mean Joe. My favorite character, Miss Havishman teaches us so many lessons and her story convinced my fool old heart to give her all the sympathy in the world. I believe you will find a character that teaches you a lesson of how not to be, or how to act.
I recommend you to read this novel in January, or a cold month depending on where you are in the world. I can also recommend you to immerse yourself in the story so you can be surprised at the end. Contrary to how I usually jump into books, I will leave you a plot blurp so you can know what type of plot awaits you. Of course, I will like it very much if you take this as an encouragement to read it and not an easy way to act as if you read it. To ensure that, there are no big spoilers down below. You are welcome
The plot, no spoilers
With the nickname of Pip, our young protagonist starts the novel as an orphan child contemplating his parent’s tombs. Such a sad existence is established when we learn that Pip lives with his older sister, who is everything but affectionate. His only friend in the world is noble Joe, his brother-in-law. Pip is a good-natured kid, who after being threatened by a convict, agrees to steal food from his house to stay alive, not without much guilt for his sin. I would love to tell you that Pip remains virtuous as all children tend to be while uncorrupted. However, Great Expectations is not the story about dreams, but of reality, and how it hits Pip from childhood to adulthood.
The convict showed how the life of crime eats humanity out of poor men, but Pip is mostly influenced by good old Joe, a blacksmith that works hard and is content with his life as common and simple as it is. After that first sin, Pip’s life suddenly changes when he meets yet another possibility of life. He meets wealthy and lonely Miss Havisham, who lives in a mansion that is trapped in time due to her own animosity towards moving own. There, Pip meets the object of his affection, Estella, and his way of seeing life changes.
Our protagonist is then hit with another life-changing moment: he has an anonymous benefactor who is to make him a gentleman, and with those great expectations placed on him, he is free to believe that his expectations of sharing a life with Estella are only inevitable, right?
Video analysis coming up in my channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYIlVUaPpFE33KvomfCX7g
and make sure you follow me in Instagram @isabelsdigest.
mountain above a range of mountains, never disappeared from my view."
There are books that (for me) are meant for specific seasons. [b:Great Expectations|35619412|Great Expectations|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499466204l/35619412._SX50_.jpg|2612809] is a title of a certain reputation that screams 'Winter', and for some reason, sadness. Maybe because I am old enough to know that expectations hardly materialize as we want them, and how often we encounter that we have very little agency in our own life. Therefore, without investigating anything further about this novel, I went ahead and made it my first book of the year. January for me is the saddest month, and Great Expectations somehow managed to make it bright. I give it a 3.5.
In this novel, you will find beautifully crafted sentences and a mastery that only an experienced weaver would have. The plot expands in some ways that my untrusting mind thought “uhh, [a:Charles Dickens|239579|Charles Dickens|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387078070p2/239579.jpg] is telling me all these things that I have no interest in knowing”. As usual, he reminded me that he actually knows what he is doing and in the end, all the strands we had were stitched back together in a way that only someone with a ‘big picture’ brain could do.
With that being said, the heart of this novel relies on the characters that you will find. Some of the despicable -and yes, I am looking at you, Orlick-, and some of them are genuinely the sweetest characters you could find- and of course, I mean Joe. My favorite character, Miss Havishman teaches us so many lessons and her story convinced my fool old heart to give her all the sympathy in the world. I believe you will find a character that teaches you a lesson of how not to be, or how to act.
I recommend you to read this novel in January, or a cold month depending on where you are in the world. I can also recommend you to immerse yourself in the story so you can be surprised at the end. Contrary to how I usually jump into books, I will leave you a plot blurp so you can know what type of plot awaits you. Of course, I will like it very much if you take this as an encouragement to read it and not an easy way to act as if you read it. To ensure that, there are no big spoilers down below. You are welcome
The plot, no spoilers
With the nickname of Pip, our young protagonist starts the novel as an orphan child contemplating his parent’s tombs. Such a sad existence is established when we learn that Pip lives with his older sister, who is everything but affectionate. His only friend in the world is noble Joe, his brother-in-law. Pip is a good-natured kid, who after being threatened by a convict, agrees to steal food from his house to stay alive, not without much guilt for his sin. I would love to tell you that Pip remains virtuous as all children tend to be while uncorrupted. However, Great Expectations is not the story about dreams, but of reality, and how it hits Pip from childhood to adulthood.
The convict showed how the life of crime eats humanity out of poor men, but Pip is mostly influenced by good old Joe, a blacksmith that works hard and is content with his life as common and simple as it is. After that first sin, Pip’s life suddenly changes when he meets yet another possibility of life. He meets wealthy and lonely Miss Havisham, who lives in a mansion that is trapped in time due to her own animosity towards moving own. There, Pip meets the object of his affection, Estella, and his way of seeing life changes.
Our protagonist is then hit with another life-changing moment: he has an anonymous benefactor who is to make him a gentleman, and with those great expectations placed on him, he is free to believe that his expectations of sharing a life with Estella are only inevitable, right?
Video analysis coming up in my channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYIlVUaPpFE33KvomfCX7g
and make sure you follow me in Instagram @isabelsdigest.