By Charles Dickens.
Begun 08 Mar 2008; finished 20 Mar.
Read for the Author A-Z Challenge.
Charles Dickens, like Patrick O’Brian, is one of those authors whom I have little to say about. Thematically and structurally his stories are all very similar, in detail they are quite different, and completely engaging and enjoyable to read despite, or because of, their similarity. If they were poor authors I would put their books down and never touch them again, but because O’Brian and Dickens are such skillful authors who — so far without fail — write stories I like reading, I keep reading, and keep enjoying.
Great Expectations is the third Dickens novel I’ve read (after Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby), and it contains all the usual Dickens themes. Characters are idiosyncratic and memorable; puns and humour abound at every turn. The story charts the main character Pip’s growth temporally, physically and emotionally, and the plot introduces mysteries and puzzles and gradually solves them through amazing turns of coincidence. An indomitable optimism and good cheer prevails throughout the story, even in the troubled times.
However, I remember Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby as buoyant, hopeful stories. Great Expectations was subtly different, it was somewhat more contemplative and melancholy. Read the rest of this entry »