Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Another book club gem! First the summary: The story is based around Pip. A poor boy who is raised by his very mean sister and her extremely nice husband. He is given the opportunity to go to the Miss Havisham's house (the rich, crazy old lady of the town) to sort of entertain her and be tortured by her adopted daughter Estella who Pip can't help falling in love with even though she pretty much has no care of other's feelings. As he grows older he is told that someone has given him expectations (a way for him to come into property and money). He draws many conclusions as to who and why he would be given this and goes to London to become a gentleman, his dream in life. Truths are revealed and dark plots darken our main character's life.

That's not really a great summary, but I really loved this book. I was surprised because I didn't think I would like Dickens. I think I read some of the Christmas Carol and though I love watching it portrayed in film or on stage I don't think I was really taken with reading the story. But this book has made me change my mind. My summary above makes this book seem like a dark drama but really Dicken's can be quite funny. I found myself giggling at some of his lines many times. The story was great and though I sort of knew what it was because I had seen the latest movie the book was very different in a lot of ways and better. I really hated the main character of Pip though. Well loved him and hated him. Loved him because he was written as a great character but as the the character hated him. Well, maybe that is a little strong. In the beginning I liked him because I felt sorry for him and how he was treated. Then he became rich and was a real jerk. Treated his friends terribly and they still loved him. Though he was conscious of his actions and felt a little bad he didn't do anything about it. Which I find in myself all the time. Then in the end I guess he becomes a little more redeeming. Well, I guess that is Dicken's point to show how social distinctions can affect us. I would highly recommend this book. The writing style and comedy is so wonderful. The characters are so inventive. My favorite I think was Wemmick. A clerk in Pip's lawyers office who lives dual lives of at the office and at home and neither can co-exist in the same time and space. Once Pip asks him a question while at the office and gets a very direct and intelligent answer but then Pip says What if I were to ask you at home and the guy won't give him an answer and says that he doesn't know what the answer would be because he is at the office. Later Pip asks him at home and gets a completely different answer. It was great.

Quotes:

"I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong."

After being told by Estella that he is course and common, Pip wants to be a gentleman in order to be worthy of her. He is very stressed out over the situation as in his mind it his hopeless and doesn't understand how he can love someone as cold as she is. " In short, I turned over on my face when I came to that, and got a good grasp on the hair on each side of my head, and wrenched it well. All the while knowing the madness of my heart to be so very mad and misplaced, that I was quite conscious it would serve my face right, if I had lifted it up by my hair, and knocked it against the pebbles as a punishment for belonging to such an idiot." I thought this was very funny, just the way it is written.