students and some of my friends can't ever figure out why I love this novel so much.
I explain how the characters are thoroughly original and yet timeless, how the symbolism is rich and tasty, and how the narrative itself is juicy and chockfull of complexity, but they just shake their heads at me in utter amazement and say, "What's wrong with you, dude"
What's wrong, indeed.
I give them ten or fifteen years, Perhaps they'll have to read it again in college, or maybe they'll just try reading it again as an adult to see if they can try to figure out why it's such a "classic," but after some time has passed from their initial encounter with the novel, they will find that I am not so crazy after all and that the book is in fact one of the best examplesif not the best exampleof the novel.
This happens to me all the time: I will reread something I was forced to read in middle school and high school, remembering how much I hated it then, and will find that I actually love it now, as an adult.
Sure, those "classics" may have taught me something about literary analysis, symbolic patterns, and the like, but I couldn't appreciate it for its complexity until I was older.
I guess the rule of wine appreciation applies here, too: good taste only comes after much patience and experience.
Perhaps the thing I love best about this novel is the cast of characterstheir names as well as their personalities.
Ms. Havisham is one of my favorite characters to ever appear in all of the literature I have read.
There is so much density and complexion to her character that I could literally make an entire career out of writing discourses on her characterization.
She has even invaded the way I think about the world and the people I have met: I have, for instance, started referring to those instances where parents try to achieve success through their children "the Havisham effect" unfortunately, you see this all too often in the world of teaching.
Havisham's name is another exasperatingly fantastic aspect of her character: like the majority of Dickens' characters, you pretty much know what you're in for when you first read her nameshe is full of lies, tricks, and deceits or "sham"s.
You don't get this sort of characterization much of anywhere else in the literary scene,
Another reason I love this novel so much is its plotting, Remember, Dickens was writing in a serialized format so he needed to keep his readers hooked so that they'd want to buy the next issue of his periodical, All the Year Round, in order to see what happens next.
Thus, the plot of Great Expectations is winding, unpredictable, and quite shocking at points, Certainly, in terms of heavy actionwell, what our youngsters these days would call action, fighting and big explosions and whatnotthere is none, or very little at most, but that's not the thing to be looking for.
Figure out the characters first, and then, once you've gotten to know and even care for them or hate them, you will be hooked on the plot because you will want to know what happens to these people who you've invested so much feeling into.
This is, of course, true of all novels, but it's what I tell my students when they read Great Expectations for the first time, and by gum, it's helped more than a few of them get through the novel successfully.
So, if you read Great Expectations in middle school, high school, or college, but haven't picked it up since, I urge you to do so.
With a more patient and experienced set of eyes, you just might surprise yourself, Not as good as Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, a tiny bit better than A tale of two cities, but to its core just Oliver Twist.
with a first person narrator, and a perfect reason for why nobody likes serialized short stories condensed to weak novels.
I mentioned some of the weaknesses of Dickens writing in my review of A tale of two cities
sitelink goodreads. com/review/show
and the reason why its not as bad as it because he went back to a topic he could describe with more credibility because of the real life experiences he had made, and possibly people wanted more Oliver Twist and he knew he could sell more or just because he was nostalgic while getting old.
Dickens is a prime example of a not ingenious author motivated to produce new content due to market forces
sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/GreatE
sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/GreatE
sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/GreatE
and was unable to reach the level of the incredible quality and timelessness of Austen, London, Twain, etc.
Its quite kind of sad that his great, timeless, and important first works that point the finger at many societal problems are indirectly reduced by readers who choose to pick this work or Tale of two cities first instead of reading his
masterpieces.
I would completely understand if one wouldnt want to try a second book after this one,
From all UK/US classics Ive read, these two novels are by far the weakest, I do often think that some classics, many of them I wont be able or willing to read, werent really good, subtle, or ingenious, but just the first on the market and had no competition, as simple and unromantic that might sound.
I mean, reading outside stupid indoctrination BS was long time deemed a dangerous, stupid women activity real men would never do and as the wasted centuries were over and humankind awoke out of the terrible nightmare of the unnecessary Middle Ages, the first average writers had the easy stand of being the only person writing in a genre or even just one oftoauthors sold at all.
Thats what I call a monopoly,
And the authors were idealized and glorified, mixed up with patriotism and national pride, made superstars, it was the first wave of endless Bieber fever for all ages.
Both factors contributed to a romanticized idealization of works that are just your average reading if nothing else is out there, but nothing one would read with flow and enthusiasm, more with a meh attitude instead of watching TV, social interactions, or other wastes of lifetime.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
sitelink org/pmwiki/pmwiki. ph to sitelinkCharles Dickens's sitelinkGreat Expectations, So many good choices in the world of Charles Dickens, but ultimately, even though I love me some ghosts of Scrooge, Great Expectations wins out.
Most of us probably were "forced" to read this book in junior high or high school.
I am one of those people however, I was an English major in college and read it again for one of my courses.
It's one of those books that gets better as you get older and stronger each time you read it.
If you only read it once, or you barely recall the story, I implore you to give it another chance.
This is the story of America, This is the story within all of us, It challenges culture and race, It challenges rich and poor, It challenges men and women, It challenges children and adults, It challenges marriage and being single, It challenges everything.
There are multiple plots and stories within this book, The characters are classic icons, The themes are intrinsic and speak to everything that America is built on,
At first, I admit it could feel overdone, The plot is varied and complex at times, but within each story, the lessons you learn without even realizing it are the little surprises you encounter when you least expect it.
Who can't imagine the wedding dress Who hasn't contemplated what it would be like to steal something even a pencil or a photocopy at work Who hasn't contemplated what love means
You can't escape the realism and the drama all wrapped up in this book.
It's what helps you formulate so many ideas of life,
Go back and read it again if you haven't read it in years and didn't have an open mind.
Eh, then watch the movie if you still have questions, .