One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.

Raised by a humble blacksmith, Pip is recruited by the wealthy Miss Havisham to be a companion to her ward, the cold but beautiful Estella. There, Pip learns to despise his rough origins as Estella torments him about his low prospects. When Pip is informed that an unknown benefactor expects to make him his heir, he sets off to London to realize his “great expectations.” But true gentleman stature, he will find, is a matter of character, not fortune.

Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Listening Length

18 hours and 32 minutes
Author

Charles Dickens
Narrator

Simon Prebble
Audible release date

October 24, 2011
Language

English
Publisher

Blackstone Audio, Inc.
ASIN

B005ZO8FGW
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	18 hours and 32 minutes
Author	Charles Dickens
Narrator	Simon Prebble
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	October 24, 2011
Publisher	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B005ZO8FGW
Best Sellers Rank	#2,351 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #74 in Classic Literature (Audible Books & Originals) #149 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #212 in Romance (Audible Books & Originals)

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Kindle Customer

Great Book on Great Expectations

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2017

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I avoided reading books by Charles Dickens because I thought the old style of English would be too tough to work through and keep my interest. I was wrong. I waited 64 years before I figured this out. Maybe I needed to wait until this before I could appreciate his work.
It is basically a story of a young orphan boy, named Pip, coming of age in the mid- 19th century. It is a life full of characters both good, bad and in between. The main thrust though is how theses characters all affect young Pip's beliefs; fears and... great expectations. As he grows he finds that many are not what he originally thought them to be. However, they are what they are. The story is about how Pip learns to deal with them and life's twist and turns.
It is really a good book. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It is tough to read in a few spots but you can still get the context and keep the story moving along. I highly recommend this book, but you will have to decide if you are old enough to appreciate it. Just don't wait too long...

86 people found this helpful

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Sesho

LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2021

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away kids weren't as dumb as they are now. In school, you read actual CLASSICS instead of now standard woke vanilla literature that is "safe" for everyone. I read an abridged version of Great Expectations in the 12th grade. It was actually IN our literature book. Not in an honors course, but the standard regular class that ALL 12th graders took. I had been feeling a bit nostalgic for those days and decided that I wanted to reread the novel. I remembered bits and pieces of the book, the overall plot, but not a lot of the particulars.

The main character, Pip, is just a young kid when the book starts, visiting the grave of his dead parents. While there, he encounters an escaped convict that will have a profound effect upon his life, though he doesn't know it at the time. He has been raised by his 20 years older sister and her husband, Joe, a blacksmith.

Pip's path is to apprentice with Joe and follow him into that that profession. But his aspirations begin to change when a rich weirdo woman named Ms. Havisham invites Pip to come "play" at her house. If that had happened in 2021, Havisham would immediately have been suspected as some kind of Michael Jackson pedophile. It's really not a completely far away comparison. Ms. Havisham's house is frozen in time because of a broken heart. All the clocks stopped at the same time, she still wears her wedding dress from twenty years prior. Even her wedding CAKE still sits on the table, covered by spider webs, bugs, and rats!

It's also at the house that Pip meets Estella, Havisham's ward, whose beauty is only matched by her coldness, and Pip is instantly smitten. Estella looks down on Pip's lowly blacksmith future, inspiring Pip to become a "gentleman" so he can win her heart! Strangely enough, soon after that, Pip is contacted by a mysterious benefactor whose sole aim is to make his dreams come true!

I have to admit I am a late admirer of Dickens. I had read David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and even this book in the past and was pretty meh about the author. But in the past year or so I have read Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities, and then a reread of this book and I'm pretty much a huge fan now and want to read all his works.

The blurb on the back of this book calls Great Expectations a "haunting late novel". Why haunting? I guess because it does have a sort of gothic supernatural tinge to it, bordering on horror at some points. Ms. Havisham is scary what with her haunted house and suspension in time, all her windows shuttered from sunlight. It made me respect Pip all the more that he was brave enough to interact and even "befriend" such a ghostlike apparition. Even Estella, the great beauty, reminds me of the robot from Ex Machina, who seemed to have human emotions but in the end was a purely reptilian entity.

And then there's Pip's encounter with an escaped convict at the beginning of the novel in a disquieting graveyard where he is threatened with a horrible death if he does not bring food and drink.

Another reason it might be called haunting is because the story lingers in your thoughts long after you finish reading it. Mainly, because it has a Shakespearean humanity to it. Yes, this is what humans do. They do stupid things in order to obtain the affections of someone they love, even though their purpose is completely doomed. They do good AND bad things. Pip disassociates with his former friends and family once he becomes a gentleman because he finds them embarrassing, but he also helps set up one of his friends in a good career situation. He does the good deed anonymously purely out of altruistic motives. That's why I compare Dickens to Shakespeare. He is talented enough that he can show the full breadth of human experience, which only the masters ever accomplish.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing. I marvel at Hendrix because he never seems to run out of a musical idea. He only puts the guitar down at some point or stops playing. No matter when he starts again, it just seemed like his playing was merely on pause, even when he begins a complete different song. It just flows out of him. I feel the same way about Dickens. His storytelling seems almost effortless. I don't get the feeling that he ever had writer's block. His plots seem so original even though they are pretty simple. Each book he writes contains a universe. Even the minor characters seem to be alive and make a statement even if they appear even in just a couple of lines.

Great novel.

26 people found this helpful

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NanaMother

There is a reason this book is considered a "Classic".

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2021

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My most common!y enjoyed type of reading is fast paced and possesses many twists and turns before some type of mystery is solved, I am not even sure what possessed me to re-read this book but I am ever so glad that I did! The complexity of both the story and the characters was enhanced by both the beauty of he moral theme ( social class and human worth) and Dicken's elegant use of symbolism to get his point across. Reading it for the first time as an adolescent,. I missed out on much the story had to offer. It was worth reading a second time and I recommend it highly.

One person found this helpful

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marvaleo

Good example of why Dickens is a great author!

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2019

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I took to Dickens when I was in high school in the 1950's and read several of his classics. When I was in my 30's, I had a lot of time on my hands one winter, bought a complete set of his books, and read every one. Well, they sure aren't all great - he did write potboilers - but his language is good and still readable. Great Expectations came up in a reading group this winter, so I re-read it. Wonderful! I laughed and laughed through the first chapter! Plot worked. Characters worked. I think it's good for at least another 50 years. (Best movie? Go back to 1947. Prime has it on file now.)

31 people found this helpful

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Llewellyn

Great story, terrible edition

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2018

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The tiny type in this edition is set in three columns, like a newspaper shrunken down to miniature. All but unreadable, no idea who would want this. I think that the publisher is counting on the low price to dissuade people from sending it back, but I am just annoyed enough to bother.

33 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Faye Sirs

Difficult

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2018

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It’s taken me over 7 months to complete this book. The longest it’s ever taken me to finish a book. Honestly, running the risk of sounding unintelligent, I found the old language difficult to keep up with. A lot of the time, I wasn’t too sure what was going on, who a character was or what they were saying. I have seen some of the film before so I was able to fill in the blanks, but it didn’t lure me the way a book usually does. It seemed more like hard work than enjoying the journey. Im sure the author is very talented and writes very well, but it can be hard to tell from a modern perspective.

22 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Terrible version

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2018

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This is a terrible version of the book. Each page has a dozen errors. It reads as if it has been translated from a foreign language. "Dog" in the original is "canine" in this version; "file" in the original has become "document"; "tremendous" has become "maximum incredible"; "man" has become "guy". That is just a short summary of the errors in the first two pages. The whole thing is unreadable and a waste of money. Avoid this version of the book.

51 people found this helpful

Garg Ankit

Worth a re-read

Reviewed in India on June 4, 2019

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Just like he did in A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens emphasizes the importance of friends and family and the need to stay in touch with one's roots in the classic novel Great Expectations.

The story brilliantly depicts the evil side of money, how it changes a person. It is an extraordinary depiction of love, loyalty, and forgiveness, of false perceptions, and the derived sadness. The plot is slow at the beginning, but it picks up pace as the pages turn, only to keep the reader hooked to it.

As is always the case with Dickens' characters, they are vividly described in the prose. It is easy to fall in love with the positive ones, but the way he writes, makes one intricately understand the negative ones as well. And let's be honest, people are both good and bad, so there is always a gray area. Miss Havisham (a character in this book), for instance, is so eerily described that the reader is left unsure whether to love her or hate her - certainly can't just ignore her!

There is no doubting the genius that is Dickens. Few instances:

The subtlety by which he takes a jab at the way humans misuse religion is just wonderful:

"Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and some people do the same by their religion."

How life is nothing but a chain of connected events, remove any one and the result would have been different:

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

"life is made of ever so many partings welded together"

How those who are affectionate are weak. Or are they?

"It’s a weakness to be so affectionate, but I can’t help it. No doubt my health would be much better if it was otherwise, still I wouldn’t change my disposition if I could. It’s the cause of much suffering, but it’s a consolation to know I possess it, when I wake up in the night."

On the importance of crying:

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts."

The definition of real love:

“I’ll tell you,” said she, in the same hurried passionate whisper, “what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter—as I did!”

How looks are deceiving:

"Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule."

Verdict: Highly recommended. Worth a re-read.

47 people found this helpful

SEA WARRIOR

I PREFERRED A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2019

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I enjoyed this but found my enthusiasm waning around the middle of the book. The author, like many of his age, seemingly paces the plot to fill the days of readers with time on their hands. But things pick up when the big reveal comes about two thirds of the way in and Dickens then keeps the reader guessing as to how the book will end. A particular joy of this book is that it is often very funny - particularly when recounting Pip's early days. Those who have seen the 1946 film adaption might agree that the film's casting was superb.

9 people found this helpful

Tone the Cone

A very rewarding read of an old classic.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2017

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I decided to read Great Expectations having seen a little bit of the 1946 film adaptation and thought what a great story. Having never read a Dickins novel before I thought at 55 years it was about time I did!
I have read a few novels by different authors from the 1800s and found that they read quite awkwardly, not so with this novel.
A great story, with the usual great Dickins characters. The film has large chunks of the story missing so it was still rewarding to read.
If you haven't tried reading an older classic author before I would recommend this book as a springboard Ito a different genre.

11 people found this helpful

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