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    Great Expectations: Classic Tales Edition
    Great Expectations: Classic Tales Edition
    Great Expectations: Classic Tales Edition
    Audiobook18 hours

    Great Expectations: Classic Tales Edition

    Written by Charles Dickens

    Narrated by B. J. Harrison

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A heartless convict. The devil's fairy godmother. A beautiful girl with eyes of stone. A spectral benefactor.

    These and many others shape the fortunes of young Pip, as he is transformed from a blacksmith's apprentice to a young gentleman with Great Expectations.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherB.J. Harrison
    Release dateSep 15, 2010
    ISBN9781937091996
    Great Expectations: Classic Tales Edition
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the most popular and, many believe, the greatest English author. He wrote many classic novels, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities are available from Brilliance Audio.

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    Reviews for Great Expectations

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    • 5/5
      Victorian literature was another revolution, replacing the romantic literature of the past that had romanticized the upper classes. Victorian literature was written for the people. Magazines became very popular with the English people and catered to all classes of readers. The popular magazines provided an outlet for many writers who wrote their novels in month-to-month sections, much like a serial. The pressure of social problems tended to create a new awareness of and interest in human beings and relationships; thus, characterization became a dominant quality in literature.Dickens was a master at creating characters and bringing them to life. Great Expectations houses some of the greatest characters of all time. The timeline of Pip as he grows from the loneliness of a little orphan boy into the complicated world of a young adult has proven to be one for the ages. He encounters the likes of Magwitch, Miss Haversham, Jaggers, Wemmick, and Estelle along the way.
    • 5/5
      Dickens is in fact, “the” chronicler of the human condition. Great Expectations is the fifth Dickens novel that I have read (A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist) and it is probably my favorite. There are so many plot twists and turns that the reader is ever surprised. Miss Havisham is an engima, never fully explained, but certainly one of the most interesting and pathetic characters in literature.
    • 3/5
      Dickens was a great writer, and deserves all the praise he gets. That said. I didn't like this book. I don't relate to stories like this and have a hard time connecting with the motivations of the characters. I find the majority of the actions exasperating, and rather than propelling me forward in the tale, I'm just left wondering how long this will go on. Unfortunately Dickens was paid by the word, so the answer is inevitably, too long.
    • 5/5
      "Halloa!" said he. "Here's a couple of pair of gloves! Let's put 'em on!"As the gloves were white kid gloves, and as the post-office was widened to its utmost extent, I now began to have my strong suspicions. They were strengthened into certainty when I beheld the Aged enter at a side door, escorting a lady."Halloa!" said Wemmick. "Here's Miss Skiffins! Let's have a wedding."Where have you been all my life, Wemmick?
    • 5/5
      The book of course is to every expectation. Its the narrator who deserve praise for his astonishing and consistent performance of narrating this book.
    • 2/5
      Oh I really couldn't relate to this book at the time. Required reading in school.
      I was not cooperative in getting into it really. Can't say i gave i t any fair shot.
    • 5/5
      (Warning, this review has spoilers.)Books become classics for a variety of reasons, but I think this book is a classic because it tackles the major life issues: What do we want to make of our one life? How do the choices of our youth impact our one life, and what impacts, seen and unseen, do we have on the lives of others? Since life is valued uniquely by every individual, this book says something different to every careful reader. Some reviewers on this site even remark that the personal themes of this book change for them as they reread it at different times of their lives. So here are some of my reactions to the book, at least for this, first reading: (1) Pip's shame over Joe. Everybody has done things they regret but Pip's problem is larger -- there is a side of himself that he regrets but cannot bring himself to overcome. Partly because he's so ashamed of himself that he can't face it. What if he could only have talked to Herbert about it? He talks freely to Herbert about everything else -- Estella, Magwitch, his debts -- but not about his shame of home and Joe. He can't say it out loud. He *never* says it out loud. (Just as Miss Haversham won't turn her face to the sun . . . .) What if Pip could have said out loud, "I am ashamed of Joe, and ashamed of myself for feeling that way"? Would he then have been able to deal with it? (What if Biddy had had the nerve to say it to him?) (Tough question for any of us: What am I so ashamed of that I can't say it out loud?) (2) Pip's treatment of Joe. I see this as a two-way street (even though the narrator Pip blames only himself). In their first London meeting, Joe is so uncomfortable that he rushes back home without even staying for dinner. And the invitation he gives Pip is so open-ended, it's easy for Pip to talk himself out of it. Of course Pip wanted to avoid the people of his home town, they were horrible to him, before and after; and the longer he went without a visit, the more awkward the visit would be. But what if Joe had made a direct invitation: "Will you please join us at the Forge for dinner this Sunday, for your dear sister's sake?" Joe's afraid of rejection, perhaps; or feels he shouldn't have to ask; but, after a morning of calling Pip "sir" Joe becomes responsible for some of the distance between them. Unless you want to say, Joe is so simple and stupid that he doesn't bear equal responsibility. Maybe not until Pip accepts Joe fully can Pip shoulder his share of the responsibility in their relationship. And this, perhaps, is another of the gifts Pip receives from Magwitch. Pip feels himself superior to Magwitch, but is grateful towards him, and caring towards him, and patronizing towards him (not telling him the truth about the lost inheritance), and openly shows love towards him; then when Joe comes to take care of Pip while he's sick, Pip is able to adopt some of that same manner with Joe. And just to round out the discussion, I think one of the contributing factors to Pip and Joe's disengagement in Book 2 is the lack of an organizing maternal influence between them. Imagine if Biddy had been Pip's sister, instead of the live-in help -- she could have written a letter saying, "Joe would be so happy to see you. Why don't you come over for dinner this Sunday?" Sometimes a guy just needs to be told what to do. (As an aside, the whole business between Joe and Pip in Book 2 reminds me of what Mr. Emerson said to Lucy in A Room with a View: Take an old man's word; there's nothing worse than a muddle in all the world. It is easy to face Death and Fate, and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back with horror--on the things that I might have avoided.)(3) The last scene with Estella. To me, "He saw no shadow of another parting" means he had no problem saying goodbye, because their parting would have no dark side (no shadow). This parting wouldn't impact him the way the last one did. They walk away from the ruins, knowing that what happened there will always be a part of them, but letting go of the physical, worldly aspects -- she's selling the property; he's comfortable never seeing her again. I've googled and read a lot about this ending, some people prefer the original and some prefer this one, but what I haven't seen mentioned is what a disservice both endings do to the character of Estella. Mr. Jaggers had predicted that either Drummle or she would be the winner, but how can any reader believe it would have turned out as it did, that she would have allowed Drummle's abuse to bend and soften her? She was too cold and strong for that. I believe she would have tricked him into his own death within a year, and ended up with all his money, in addition to her own. That's how Miss Haversham raised her to act, and there would have been a cold, bitter justice to it. (4) The real ending. I am surprised that some people find this to be a dark or unhappy book, because to me it seems like a happy ending, for Pip, for Joe and Biddy, for Herbert and Klara, regardless of the last few paragraphs with Estella. Despite the fears he had when his life flashed before his eyes at the lime kiln, Pip lives to accomplish everything he feared would be left undone: he's at Magwitch's side until the end and brings him peace; he's able to open his heart to Joe and Biddy; he repays his debts; he takes joy in the happiness of Herbert and Klara, Joe and Biddy. And in the end he looks forward to being a good uncle to little Pip. Is it supposedly an unhappy ending just because he's not married himself? "A Christmas Carol" is considered to have a happy ending, and Scrooge doesn't come to regret his mistakes until the very end of his life: Pip figures it out in his mid-twenties. In the last paragraph of Chapter 59 (which should have been the last chapter in the book, in my opinion, leaving Estella's future an open question for another book), Pip says, "Many a year went round, before I was a partner in the House; but, I lived happily with Herbert and his wife, and lived frugally, and paid my debts, and maintained a constant correspondence with Biddy and Joe." He lived happily! How is that not a happy ending?
    • 4/5
      I'm sure I've read Great Expectations before, or I tried to, but after I got to a certain point I didn't remember ever reading any of it before, so I think perhaps I never finished it. It does take some time and attention, certainly, but it was easier to read than I remember. I'm aware that Charles Dickens' novels contain a lot of social commentary, but I don't remember as much about the context as I'd have liked. So I'm not going to say anything on that score, and just talk about what I did and didn't enjoy about the book.

      It's written in first person, which makes the young Pip's voice kind of endearing at first, particularly his observations about what he imagines his parents to be like, from seeing their gravestones, etc. Pip does get less likeable later on, due to his great expectations, but a lot of the other characters are interesting. If one doesn't get on with Pip, I should think there's some other character one can get interested in.

      I found the characters the strongest thing in this book, while some of the writing felt like filler. Not too much so, but some. The characters, however, were strong -- strange, some of them, and others loveable. Or both. All the imagery that surrounds Miss Havisham sticks really strongly in my mind; I wanted to hug Herbert a lot; Mr Wemmick was fun, with his secret castle and his strong division between work and home. I was surprised at how fond I got of Magwitch, too, but he turns out to be a more sympathetic and sweet character than you'd expect.

      The two endings are interesting. I think I prefer the one in my edition, which I believe is the second one -- the happier one. It reads better, and less like a last minute thought, giving a bit more resolution.
    • 5/5
      Dickens is in fact, “the” chronicler of the human condition. Great Expectations is the fifth Dickens novel that I have read (A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist) and it is probably my favorite. There are so many plot twists and turns that the reader is ever surprised. Miss Havisham is an engima, never fully explained, but certainly one of the most interesting and pathetic characters in literature.
    • 4/5
      Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; (4*)This book was not at all what I was expecting. I recall reading it eons ago for my Jr. Lit class and being sooooo bored that I ended up simply skimming through it & writing my report, which I Aced anyway. ??I don't think this is even the same book. Well, of course it is not as I was 16 then and am 69 now.Great Expectations is a wonderful work of 'art' about a young man who has lost his mother and father. He is raised by his older sister whom I immediately nicknamed 'Hagatha', for obvious reasons, & her husband. The story is one of great poverty, coming of age and all of the events, emotions & angst that go along with that. Pip, our protagonist, is an English lad. His tale of adventures of his life. As Pip grows up, he must strive to understand what is going on, why it is happening & how he should adjust to his life at the time.The book is long and covers most of Pip's life. Great Expectations is rich with humor which we can all relate to. Short episodes make up the majority of the book. Dickens is able to link the episodes together in a way that gives the readers a meaning behind the stories.A wondrous book to be read by those of all ages. Those of you with life experiences will love it.
    • 4/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable, thus far. For someone who was paid by the word, Dickens is doing a wonderful job getting to the point. Update: Excellent story. It's a moral story, but it doesn't really beat you over the head with the lessons - though Pip ruminates on them often in the second half of the book.Dickens' writing style is very much to my liking. He's long-winded, like Tolkien, but unlike Tolkien, he won't spend four pages talking about the same rock, but rather focuses more on ideas.
    • 5/5
      This is a classic that has been the favorite of readers for generations. I first read parts of this in high school but did not truly appreciate it at that point in my life. I then read it in full a few years back and totally fell in love with Pip and the cast of characters. The story, the setting, the people, the twists and turns of the plot, there was nothing about this book that I did not enjoy. Dickens was at his finest here and I recommend this book to all for enjoyment.
    • 1/5
      The only English class-assigned book that I didn't finish. And I never plan to.
    • 4/5
      Dickens needs to be consumed in whole big gasps so that one can appreciate the whole big story complete with his innumerable minute details.
    • 4/5
      Book on CD narrated by Simon Vance3.5*** Decades ago, I read a children’s classic abridged version; I’ve also seen at least one of the film adaptations, and read multiple books that reference Miss Havisham and her wedding attire. (My favorite references being in Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series; the scene where Miss Havisham reads Heathcliff the riot act – book 3 in the series - is priceless!) And a couple of years ago I read Peter Carey’s Jack Maggs which was inspired by Dickens’s classic. So, I figured it was time to get to the original.It’s typical Dickens in that there are many characters and many hidden relationships between them, which will eventually be revealed and explain the seemingly “random” encounters. I enjoyed watching Pip mature from a child to a young man finding his way to some measure of success. I absolutely loved Joe Gargery, Pip’s brother-in-law and an all-around good guy. He was so steady and caring, the epitome of a good father, IMHO. Magwich was a very interesting character, starting out as a dangerous criminal and later showing more humanity and caring. On the other hand, I thought Dickens gave too little attention to the women. Miss Havisham and Estella would be ideal main characters but were relegated to supporting roles. I haven’t researched this, but I hope that some talented author has taken up the task of fleshing out their story. The edition I read included a bonus epilogue, indicating the first ending Dickens wrote (originally published in weekly installments). I’m glad he revised it, for I prefer the ending as it was later written. Simon Vance does a marvelous job of performing the audio book. He has a wide range of characters to deal with and his skill as a voice artist was up to the task . (Though I did read the text for about a third of it.)
    • 3/5
      You can't fault Dickens for setting his sights too low. His novels attempt to capture the broad feeling of his age, and his ambition is palpable on each page. What makes reading his novels a slog is that he often tries to do too much - his prose is overstuffed, he says in 200 words what could have been elegantly stated in 20.

      This is the story of Pip from the marshes, and his transformation from a lowly blacksmith's apprentice to a young gentleman, thanks to the generosity of a mysterious benefactor. In the process, Dickens comments on class and gender relations, the criminal justice system, and the cultural distance between London and the provinces.

      Being able to appreciate this social commentary is necessary to really understanding Dickens' novels. Unfortunately, many of the characters are drawn as mere caricatures, and one has the sense that only the Victorian reader could get the inside jokes and references.

      Our hero Pip is not very sympathetic, either. He neglects his brother-in-law Joe and pines for Estella, the ultimate ice princess. He wastes his money in London (even though he spends much of it setting up his best friend Bernard in business). By the end of the novel, Pip remains a flat character - although he gains some wisdom and a deeper moral sense, he remains humorless and melodramatic.

      Great Expectations is worth reading if only to gain insight into Victorian English society, but don't expect a page-turner.
    • 3/5
      The first half of the book is pretty good. Every so often I got lost in the old style writing but I was still able to understand what was going on. Their is a lot of subtle humor that made this a less stodgy old fashioned read. Once Pip grew up and become a horrible snob it was harder to read. It has a satisfactory ending.
    • 4/5
      While many things happen, at its core this is the most straightforward plot that Dickens has mustered since the Curiosity Shop. Young Pip is destined for a lowly life as a blacksmith's apprentice, until he is introduced to Miss Havisham and her ward. Shortly afterward he comes into a bit of property and takes up the life of a gentleman, as if this were the story of Little Dorrit again. Dickens loves to repurpose ideas from former novels in new clothes, but there's some fun (eventual) twists to this one that make it unique.It never does to have too great expectations before reading any novel, and mine were relatively low after Two Cities didn't live up to its billing. Plus I had spoilers this time, vague memories of when I ripped through this novel as a teen reading every third or fourth word after it felt like treacle. Thirty-some years later it has none of those problems and proves to be one of my favourites among all of Dickens' work, although I wonder how much my opinion is influenced by having enjoyed the dramatic irony. A couple of minor quirks stand out. I don't like how Orlick enters the story out of nowhere in Chapter 15 as if he'd been there all along, and I couldn't shake thoughts of Dickens' poor reputation as a father that drained the fun from his depicting the Pockets' hopeless parenting. The coincidences nearly choked me this time and the conclusion feels too prolonged. I also can't help wondering (perhaps am meant to wonder) if Pip's original destiny he was steered from wouldn't have been the happiest outcome.This is a textbook study of the reckless ways one can get up to when coming into money without guidance; note to self, if I ever win the lottery. It's most true-to-life aspect is Pip's self-awareness, and yet he continues to do it, demonstrating how pernicious it can be. He has a similar challenge in the romance department, where again he knows his object is a poor choice but he's unable to direct the stirrings of his heart. Saying 'no' to yourself can be a difficult thing to do. Continually saying 'yes' to every temptation is the root of more evil than all the money and batting eyelashes in the world.
    • 4/5
      By 1860, Charles Dickens was a national celebrity and a sort of "elder statesman", now devoting much of his life to speeches, essays, social work, and generally not writing so many novels. Great Expectations is his 21st major work and 13th novel (of 15), and is - I would argue - his third masterpiece, following on from Bleak House and Little Dorrit, although in a very different way to either of them.

      The psychological development of Pip Pirrip is perhaps unequalled in Dickens' canon, and it feels as if this is a breakthrough in terms of character. I've not yet read Our Mutual Friend, which I'm told takes this further, but it's certainly a good feeling. Estella herself is an interesting figure but ultimately more of a paper moth than a full human, although that is in some ways deliberate. More to the point, Great Expectations achieves its targets by applying characterisation to numerous supporting characters, such as Orlick and Magwitch, and in the rich history of Miss Havisham, a character who has so haunted Western culture ever since.

      It is also perhaps the most challenging of Dickens' novels in its more complicated moral message. Pip's "Great Expectations" in many ways don't seem so bad: success! comfort! Dickens' arguments against them, along the lines of a younger generation coming of age and staying steadfast to moral development, seem admirable, although I can't help seeing him as a man growing older and more disconnected from the younger members of his society.

      There's plenty of comedy sandwiched amongst the Gothic here, but what stands out most - as often with Dickens - is the beauty, from the ruined Satis house to the thriving metropolis and back to the rural marshes of Pip's youth. A truly poetic novel, that should cater to even the most Flaubertian of Dickens critics. (I hope!)
    • 4/5
      I spent my whole adult life thinking I’d read this book in Jr High school - but this month it was my book club’s selection and I discovered that the first few chapters seemed very familiar; the rest was a total surprise, clearly I’d only started the book as a kid. Anyway, an amazing story and I’m glad I read it now.
    • 5/5
      A favorite book. I read it in 8th grade and most everyone else hated it, but I was enthralled! I could relate to Pip somehow.
    • 4/5
      After being forced to read parts of The Tale of Two Cities in high school, I’d convinced myself that I couldn’t stand Dickens. After reading this book, I can definitely say that I was wrong. I very much enjoyed this book, its story, and the characters.
    • 5/5
      "I looked at the stars, and considered how awful it would be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude."

      One of the many quotes I liked from this book, but this one really spoke to me for some reason. Probably because it's semi-haunting. Compared to other Dickens books that I'v read so far this one is the best written.

      I'm very happy this was better than Oliver Twist. You can't really compared the two, but I really don't like Oliver Twist. This book made up for that one though. The character I liked far better. Pip I liked better because he's telling the story, but he also seemed more aware of what was going on. I also really liked Miss Havisham, she stole the show, she was on fire (okay bad joke).

      If you're looking for a semi-Gothic and semi-crime novel, this is a good choice. I was in fact looking for something with a little crime and something that was Gothic, but not too Gothic.
    • 2/5
      It was okay. I think its themes are meant more for a YA audience.
    • 1/5
      I did not finish reading this book. It just felt like an eternity every so often. And while I sometimes caught a sliver of enjoyable writing, the premise had never hooked me enough to now keep going. I think I've had enough at least for now.
    • 5/5
      I took a buzz-feed quiz on which classic novel I should read and got this. 1) The cover is beautiful. 2) I thought Miss Havisham was a ghost the entire story. I loved Estella the most as a character. She proves that every individual has the ability to love; despite their background. One of my favorites.
    • 3/5
      Better toward the end than at the beginning. Listening to it through tedium was better than trying to read it for myself.
    • 2/5
      I remember my mother expressing surprise that Dickens wasn't read in any of my college English classes. I can't think of a single graduate student in or around my cohort who worked on him either, yet I knew he was one of my grandfather's favorites and that Dickens was very popular in his day. In sum, I think this is a fairytale style of prose that's gone out of fashion (and for good reason). Everyone in the novel is an exaggerated caricature. It makes for very predictable dialogue and a static, boring plotline. There's an interesting central idea: Does the source of wealth matter and does money change a person? The examination of this question is fairly surface level for a work of nearly five-hundred pages. I'm content to have had the experience of reading one of his more famous novels, but I would only recommend Dickens to someone interested in that particular time/place in the history of England and English Literature.
    • 4/5
      It took longer to get invested in than some of Dickens's other works, but by the end I did care what happened to the various characters.
    • 3/5
      A sensible chuckle. I was surprised to see how little humour has changed and how old the "old jokes" really are. Poor Pip, forever blueballed.