Readings Classics: Great Expectations

Description

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

Considered by many to be Dickens’ finest novel, Great Expectations traces the growth of the book’s narrator, Philip Pirrip (Pip), from a boy of shallow dreams to a man with depth of character. From its famous dramatic opening on the bleak Kentish marshes, the story abounds with some of Dickens’ most memorable characters. Among them are the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery, the mysterious convict Abel Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella, Pip’s good-hearted room-mate Herbert Pocket and the pompous Pumblechook.

A powerful and moving novel, Great Expectations is suffused with Dickens’s memories of the past and its grip on the present, and it raises disturbing questions about the extent to which individuals affect each other’s lives. This edition includes a lively introduction, Dickens’s working notes, the novel’s original ending, and an extract from an early theatrical adaptation. It reprints the definitive Clarendon text.

Author Biography

Charles Dickens (1812-70) was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1812. He received little formal education as the conditions at home forced him to leave school and work in a factory at an early age. His early circumstances left a lasting impression on Dickens and greatly influenced his work, be it literary or philanthropic. He had his first, astounding success with his first novel The Pickwick Papers and never looked back. In an extraordinarily full life he wrote, campaigned and spoke on a huge range of issues, and was involved in many of the key aspects of Victorian life, by turns cajoling, moving and irritating. He completed fourteen full-length novels and volume after volume of journalism. The magical opening scenes of Great Expectations draws heavily on his own love of north Kent which he had known as a boy and in which he lived as an adult.

Having worked in various professions, Dickens started writing in newspapers and magazines and most of his work was published as monthly serials in them. Dickens was a prolific writer. He wrote over a dozen novels, many a collection of short stories, a large body of non-fiction and poetic works, and many plays. He was arguably the best Victorian novelist and enjoyed great fame during his lifetime. He died in 1870 but even today he is one of the most popular authors of all times.

The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Mutual Friend and The Mystery of Edwin Drood are some of his notable writings.