Great Expectations

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) – The title of this book carries much of the weight of the story. This novel tells of a poor orphan boy, Pip. He is not able to recognize happiness and stay a hard worker in the blacksmith shop with Joe. He strives for what he thinks will be a better life. Once he is there he doesn’t find the happiness he desires because he finds his riches come from one that is not worthy in his eyes. I find that Pip is very ungrateful throughout most of the story. It is true that he is mistreated as a child and doesn’t have anything to be grateful for, but later he is blessed with some opportunities and doesn’t know how to be thankful for them.
There is a strange connection between all of the characters in this book. They are somehow related to one another in some sort of way. If not by blood then by incident. The book gives some very interesting twists in the relation of people that keeps it interesting. I almost want to yell at some of the characters to figure it out and to just get along. But the nature of the characters is very strong and unchanging.
Dickens definitely uses a style of writing that gets at your emotions rather than your head. It is very easy to follow the heart of the main character and what he is feeling. It is also easy to get angry at certain characters when they take advantage of another’s position. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and kept me interested. I will for sure read another Dickens book at some time or another.