Great Expectations

Great Expectations is one of those books that I always thought I must have read at some point, the story was incredibly familiar. However, I think it was probably one of those books that English teachers referred to occasionally at school, and of-course it seems to be a book that is adapted into a TV series every 5 years or so. So, when I started up this book, I was surprised to find that I hadn't read it before. Sure I knew the story was about a boy called Pip, and of-course I knew about Miss Haversham, and I knew about the storyline (boy gets rich by an anonymous benefactor, moves to London to become a gentleman etc) but what struck me is the depth of character that Dickens created.

I think I have avoided reading Dickens in my adult life due to being subjected to reading the entirety of A Tale of Two Cities by some well meaning but completely bonkers teacher, when I was far too young to appreciate the depth of language and the skillful layering of characters. I'm glad that I've dipped back into Dickens though as I really enjoyed reading Great Expectations, and thoroughly understand why his books are constantly listed in top 100 etc lists of books to read. What was a pleasant experience in reading this, however, is that despite watching a BBC adaptation fairly recently, the ending in the book was completely different to the TV adaptation - Dickens wasn't trying to be family friendly and sometimes there isn't a happy ending.