Review: Great Expectations (novel)

As a child I once sat through an incredibly boring black-and-white film, with a plot I didn't understand and could barely follow. So it's really not surprising that it took years before I decided to read the book that film was based on.

Great Expectations is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel, published in 1861. It revolves around Pip as he grows up and finds that an anonymous benefactor has given him money.

This is one of Dickens' best-known, most-read novels. Oddly, it's one of his least Dickensian works. Pip, instead of being a good-hearted, decent character like Nicholas Nickleby or Amy Dorrit, grows up to be a selfish, arrogant jerk who doesn't want anything to do with his poor but kind uncle Joe. Estella, instead of being a typical Dickens love interest, is a cold and cruel brat who makes men fall in love with her then breaks their hearts. There is a revelation about a character being secretly related to two other characters, but it has virtually nothing to do with the plot, and only one of the characters involved ever learns the truth.

Most people are of the opinion this is one of Dickens' best works. I'm afraid I disagree. All of his novels have dark moments, but this one is unrelentingly dark from the opening scene in a graveyard to the misty, late-night (and decidedly ambiguous) epilogue. Maybe it's an after-effect of trying to watch the 1946 film at the age of about five, but Great Expectations has never been on my list of "Dickens novels I love".

That's not to say I hate it. It's a fascinating and depressing look at how riches corrupt, and there are some moments of humour (mostly black humour, but that's par for the course with Dickens). There are even some likable characters. The problem is, they aren't the main characters.

The main characters are among the most infuriating people I've ever read about. Estella has virtually no personality beyond constantly tormenting men who fall in love with her, and Pip is one of the many characters I really want to punch. Seriously, Pip? You abandoned Joe and Biddy, who had always been kind to you, for who you thought was Miss Haversham, who never saw you as anything but a way to annoy her relatives? And then you fell in love with Estella, when common sense and even Estella herself warned you this was a terrible idea? What sort of idiot are you? 😒

Luckily, once Magwitch appears on the scene (again) the story stops being about just Pip and Estella, and becomes much more interesting. And unbelievable though it seems, Pip becomes less obnoxious and I was actually able to sympathise with him. My heart was in my mouth during the attempted escape-by-boat, and I cried when Magwitch died 😢 After this, Pip finally realises how horrible he's been and he tries to make amends. That leads us to one of the most vague and unsatisfying endings Dickens ever wrote.

Why on earth do Pip and Estella just happen to visit the same place at the same time after not seeing each other for eleven years? All right, so it isn't the most unbelievable coincidence in a Dickens novel, but still! And are we supposed to assume they get married afterwards? I have strong doubts about how happy they'd be together. Dickens' original ending, where Pip learns Estella is happily remarried, would have been more depressing but probably more fitting.

Overall, Great Expectations is one of Dickens' grimmest novels, with some of the least likable characters he ever wrote. But plenty of people enjoy it despite that, and it does have some very good moments.

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 7/10.