[ book tip by Emily Bullock ] Read it, read it, read it.... What more can I add, it's Dickens after all? This is the one of the very few books I have read more than once in my life. I’ve always followed the principle that there are so many new books out there I simply haven’t the time to re-read an old favourite. So if you haven’t picked up a copy yet, do so very soon. The first person narrator Pip is looking back on his life and telling his story from childhood to adulthood. It is a realist novel but for me it is the Gothic elements that stand out the most. Prepared to be horrified at the arrival of Miss Havisham, locked in the past, and Magwitch, an escaped convict, and that’s only to name a few characters. As in all Dickens’ novels there will be characters aplenty spilling from the pages but for me, aside from Pip, these two have made a lasting impression.

Great Expectations is a novel that deals with social issues; the corrupting power of money and the value of friendship are just as relevant today as they were back in the 19th century. You won’t be able to help yourself from longing for Pip to find his true self. Every time I read this book I see something new, a true vision of ‘Little Britain’ before the comedy show appropriated the name.

[ book info ] Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations. (Book language: English) OUP, 1998 . ISBN: 0-19-283359-6.