Title: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Date Finished: 22/06/12
Re-Read? : Second time read
Challenges? : Yes – Victorian Challenge 2012 & The Classics Club & The Literary Classics
Overall: 4/5 – rather good
I knew I needed to re-read Great Expectations at some point, because I was too young to really appreciate/understand it the first time I read it, a few years ago. Basically, I think I got the fundamentals – the basic story and who the characters were, but I remember it being a struggle to read and now I know I was just that bit too young.
Also, the edition I read a few years ago was an old Penguin paperback I found in a second hand book shop with lots of writing in, as the previous owner had obviously studied it at school. Now, I am someone who needs books to be “nice”. Note, I don’t say “new” because there is nothing wrong with reading a second (or third or fourth) hand book; but I have real issues with broken books, print that is too small and many other things that make reading harder than in needs to be. Therefore I thought I would treat myself to a nice new copy, and this was just the time that the Penguin English Library was launched. What a coincidence – one of their first books was Great Expectations, so that was that! You can see how lovely it looks.
So I was all prepared to read.
The plot in Great Expectations is something I thought I essentially ‘got’ from my first read of this book. However, I was wrong. There were so many twists and turns that I had completely missed the first time and even though I assumed I got the basic story, I didn’t really get that either!
I was really impressed by the story Dickens tells in this books – before, I thought it was a good idea but it was just another ‘hard-done-by boy grows up to be good with disappointments’ but it was so much more than that. Especially in the second half of the third volume, I could not stop reading.
The characters are another thing I presumed I understood already. Sadly, no – I was wrong again! Yes, I remembered Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella and Joe, but I had completely missed Herbert, Biddy, Orlick and many more. The characterisation was perfection, as I have come to expect from Dickens, and again all these characters are completely unique. It is truly amazing to think that one person thought up all these different people and got them absolutely spot on – you can see and hear them all right in front of you.
Of course the prose is flawless and the setting, especially the marshes, is completely unique. The reasons for me concluding with a 4/5 and not a 5/5 are twofold. Basically, I compared how I felt about reading other similar(ish) books that I really loved, such as Jane Eyre and David Copperfield and I realised that this didn’t spark my reading in the same way. Until the last 100 pages, I was going quite slowly (for me) and didn’t have the drive to plough on with the story. Secondly, I didn’t warm to the characters as much as I did with David Copperfield. I understand that this is obviously a less ‘nice’ book and that there are many unpleasant characters, but I didn’t feel the motivation to read all about the minor characters in Great Expectations as I did in David Copperfield. No-one rivalled Peggotty/Betsey/Mr Dick.
So overall I really did enjoy Great Expectations, especially towards the end. Also, it completely proves my case for re-reading. You can get so so so much more out of a book the second or third or fourth time you read it. I had missed so much the first time round. Re-reading lets you experience more because you can see beyond the major plot and characters – you get to really appreciate the author’s skill and craftsmanship. So yeah, everyone should re-read!
Adam's Bibliomania 
I plan on rereading this at some point. I read it twice–once for high school, once for college–and didn’t really appreciate it either time. Perhaps because it was required reading, perhaps because I just wasn’t ready to enjoy Dickens or admit to enjoying Dickens. But I do agree that rereading books–even books we didn’t absolutely love the first time around–can be beneficial! I had such a change of heart about Silas Marner, for example. Thanks for your review!
It’s certainly true that required reading can completely turn you off a book and that Dickens takes time!
I haven’t read any Eliot yet – I have Middlemarch for sometime this year and can’t wait.
Adam, rereading a classic as an adult is quite a difference. I love how you wrote this post. Especially the comparison of GE to Savid Copperfield. I agree with what you said about your experience with the characters in DC. I had not considered this aspect. GE is one of my favorites. I love the story line, but it was a little more difficult to get close to the characters.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Thanks, Ali. I think they compare quite naturally as there is so much similarity to the structure. I certainly felt closer to characters in DC but we have to consider that Dickens wasn’t particularly trying to achieve that in the same way in GE.
Good point. Thinking about what the author intended is a good practice. Thanks for mentioning it.
Reading the classics as an adult is a different experience to reading them when young. I’ve just read Our Mutual Friend and loved it.
Adam, you are so right about the importance of revisiting a book. We can certainly catch things missed or misunderstood in the first reading. Our personal experience and insight since that first reading can expand our perceptions in the subsequent readings as you discovered. Great Expectations is one I’ve always wanted to tackle and I will. Thanks for sharing the impact of reading it a second time as well as your experience of reading the first time.
It is so beneficial and so overlooked by many people! – “I’ve already read that” is something I do not like to see/hear! I would certainly recommend it. It is the first time I’ve re-read a book and experienced something completely different, so I had to write about it!
My first encounter with GE was the movie years ago (Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella). I wasn’t quite impressed at that time, and that’s why I’m not too interested in reading the book. I think maybe I’m too young then to grab the essence of the story. However, after reading your review, I’m now convinced that I must read the book.
That may be true – as you can tell, only a few years ago I was too young to appreciate this book. It is definitely a great book, and if you like Dickens, then probably a must. 🙂
I will look out for the characters you mention when I pick up David Copperfield. Glad you enjoyed rereading Great Expectations, that’s another one on my reread list
I completely agree with you, I had to read Great Expectations at university and didn’t like it, but when it came to re-reading it earlier this year I loved it. My favourite thing about a Dickens novel is the part that you explained really well – all his characters are so unique. I love all the little details he puts in about them that I never could have thought up in a million years!
My english library has grown slightly – I got Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster… I can’t resist those covers!
Maybe this is a book that cannot be enjoyed first time round! Oh yes, it is definitely the characters for me too. Haha I thought this might happen – I just know that next time I visit Foyles or Waterstones in Bristol I will come back with more – for this reason I have delayed my next bookshop visit until after my exams…maybe I could pass it off as a ‘reward’?!
I’m planning to reread this at some point, pretty much for the reasons you give for your reread. That and I have an idea that I’ll really enjoy it the second go-round. Totally agree with your belief in rereads!
I’m sure you will enjoy it second time round 🙂 re-reads are so underrated!
I’m a little bit fritten by this book and so, do not dare reading it.
Frighten*
So far I have only read Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens. I remember enjoying it but finding it quite a hard read too. I think maybe like you I read it when I was too young to fully get it. So I think I should really consider re-reading it as I do still have my copy.
Meanwhile I have added a lot of Dicken’s novels to my Classics Club list, and recent purchased a copies of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. So look forward to reading both of these soon, I’m fancy reading Great Expectations first though now!
I haven’t read Nicholas Nickleby yet but it is on my Classics Club list 🙂 It sounds like you will probably enjoy it more the second time.
Oliver Twist is brilliant and was the first Dickens I truly enjoyed (read in December last year) – I thought it was a great story and rated it higher than Great Expectations but not quite as high as David Copperfield. I am interested to hear what you think of both of those.
Ooo now you’ve got me thinking Oliver Twist first! However I think Great Expectations might win out still, because I loved the BBC’s recent adaptation and I’m looking forward to the new hollywood version coming out later this year!
Well you can’t go wrong, whichever you choose! 😀
The BBC adaptation was great, especially as it’s such a hard book to capture on screen, I think. I can’t wait for the Hollywood version, especially as Helena Bonham Carter is Miss Havisham!!
I think Helena Bonham Carter seems born to play Miss Havisham. She does have a lot to live up to though because I thought Gillian Anderson was excellent in the BBC show.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed Great Expectations more upon reread (and yes, gaining life experience definitely changes how one views these stories). It’s one of those books that make you go through the entire emotional spectrum and then some, one which presents its characters so uniquely and passionately that you have no choice but to get invested in them- for better or for worse. I highly disliked Pip for the first two thirds of the book (you’re absolutely right, he had nothing on David’s lovability) but the way Dickens turned it around made him one of my favorite characters in fiction.