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scottrushing 's review for:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
4.75
challenging reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have very vague memories of being introduced to this book in high school. I think we read excerpts from Pip’s interactions with Miss Haversham. So I took away from that that the central focus of the book was his relationship with her and Estella. 

But now that I have read the book, I am far more intrigued by the relationship of Pip and his brother-in-law Joe. That is where I see the heart of Pip’s character development into maturity. 

One other note: there is a bombshell of a reveal about 2/3’s of the way into the story that made me gasp. It is one of the great plot twists in literary history so far as I can tell, and it greatly helped Pip’s development into maturity. As you can see, I was a big fan of this novel, and it has earned its place on Classics shelves.