Bicentenary of Charles Dickens
I distinctly recall the first time I held Great Expectations in my hands. I stumbled upon the book by chance, in the sales bin, at a local bookstore. Recognizing the author from A Christmas Carol, I took advantage of the fortuitous chance and purchased the book. I started reading a couple days later. It began one night of restlessness, where sleep eluded me. I picked up the book and laid in bed, between the covers, and began to read the first page. In a matter of days I swallowed the book, wondering the entire time, "Where has this book been all this time, and why haven't I read it?" This was the beginning of a journey through Dickens’ world, a journey which led to falling in love with the authors’ voice, style and most markedly, his characters. I have always found that his characters seem to sit in the readers’ imagination as a dear old friend that one loves to revisit.
Singular and distinctly like Charles Dickens, Great Expectations offers a kaleidoscope of characters and of settings, with frank reality and a deft hand at writing. Portraying Victorian London and it’s surroundings, he lays bare this city for all to marvel, gape, gasp in horror, and fawn at, one feels almost as if one knows the city and is transported. Briefly, the story is about a boy who enters life with great expectations and matures into a man that sees the world for what it is, not necessarily with a pessimistic eye but with a sobering maturity. Along with the trajectory of this boy, from having little to having much more, there is also an underlying exploration of guilt, duty and what it means to be "good" and “bad” which laces the novel, ruminating behind the vivid scenes of the story. It is this exploration that engages the reader. Don't let this brief summary deter you, dear reader, from delving into Pip's story, for he is all of us. All the complex and disadvantageous traits that we as humans have, Pip has, and honestly, haven't we all had great expectations and found, later on, that life had other things to say concerning those expectations? On the ending, Charles Dickens wrote the book with two, the first ending was found to be too harsh and Dickens revised it to create a more pleasing, if not vague and somewhat hopeful, finale.
 |
| Charles Dickens Source: http://www.charlesdickens.xelsion.com/about/ |
Like most of his books, this novel was first serialized, which gave an interesting dimension to the story unfolding before the eagerly awaiting reader. Now, what is special about this novel is not only the authors’ genius but that, unlike his other books, Great Expectations condenses everything for which Dickens stood. His signature preoccupations, motifs and
characters are tightly drawn, creating a story that doesn't sway, and drives its' point directly to the reader. This being said, this year happens to mark the bicentenary birth of this worthy author, and his novel, Great Expectations, is the perfect tapestry with which to begin delving into his talent.
by Wilkie Collins and I must say, I find it very engaging. 