Great Expectations from Charles Dickens
I believe that it has been a long while since I have written a book review and have stopped ever since work came up faster than I could finish them with enough free time to blog. Furthermore I started reading faster than I could write book reviews that I started reading faster than I can write book reviews (which is probably attributed to the fact that writing blog posts, especially book reviews, take a lot longer than a rumination is typical to the blog). However Great Expectations is no easy read, it being three volumes long, and it took me five weeks to finish, five times longer than what is the norm for me. The story is convoluted albeit cohesive, but nevertheless required a lot of recollections from previous chapters to determine the relationship between characters (aside from the main characters, it is hard to keep track of the many side characters mentioned in the story).
The story most reminds me of the biblical story of the Prodigal Son of which an individual, struck with a sudden inflow of money, spends his money haphazardly only to find himself in debt and bankrupt in the near future. Broken and poor, he returns back to his home to start his life back again, apologetic for all those who love him for having betrayed them. Of course, there are many other side-plots involved all of which significant in the characterisation of the protagonist, but this is probably the most concise way of summarising the story.
It is hard to describe the whirlwind of feelings that this book induces, both in the beginning and especially at the end of the book. However I shall not spoil, but it is hard to give a book review without revealing its contents. Instead, I figure it is best to proceed with my pros and cons of the book instead.
The book is known to be one of the better literature pieces in our history. Many educated people known and have read the book, and I consider myself to be left out had I not read it. Additionally, the book does have original ideas (the biblical adaptation is only a small percentage of the three-part series) and does have scenes which induce a strong feeling of catharsis, especially with the melancholy and bittersweet feelings of what ifs that one faces had the main characters taken a different path in their lives. This scene is not only exclusive to the end of the book, but can be seen in many cases throughout the life of Pip.
However the book does include a lot of irrelevant areas that, although creates a better rapport between characters, can be mentioned in a much more concise manner. Furthermore the book describes certain irrelevant areas in immense detail, such as a lunch meeting between two individuals that can take up a whole chapter, but puts little emphasis on the significant parts of the story, such as the twists, of which there are many.
Goodreads puts the book at 3.8/5 stars, and I do not think that it is far off from my personal rating of the book. However 3.8 stars is a good rating, although it didn't look like it to me at first, and I highly recommend all my readers to read the book. It takes a lot for me to stick with a book, especially one that is hard to read. Take Twilight for example, which I gave up reading after looking at the first chapter prior to the movie's release or any online divisions and opinions of the book became part of the trending public (then again I did give up reading Harry Potter after the first instalment).
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
The story most reminds me of the biblical story of the Prodigal Son of which an individual, struck with a sudden inflow of money, spends his money haphazardly only to find himself in debt and bankrupt in the near future. Broken and poor, he returns back to his home to start his life back again, apologetic for all those who love him for having betrayed them. Of course, there are many other side-plots involved all of which significant in the characterisation of the protagonist, but this is probably the most concise way of summarising the story.
It is hard to describe the whirlwind of feelings that this book induces, both in the beginning and especially at the end of the book. However I shall not spoil, but it is hard to give a book review without revealing its contents. Instead, I figure it is best to proceed with my pros and cons of the book instead.
The book is known to be one of the better literature pieces in our history. Many educated people known and have read the book, and I consider myself to be left out had I not read it. Additionally, the book does have original ideas (the biblical adaptation is only a small percentage of the three-part series) and does have scenes which induce a strong feeling of catharsis, especially with the melancholy and bittersweet feelings of what ifs that one faces had the main characters taken a different path in their lives. This scene is not only exclusive to the end of the book, but can be seen in many cases throughout the life of Pip.
However the book does include a lot of irrelevant areas that, although creates a better rapport between characters, can be mentioned in a much more concise manner. Furthermore the book describes certain irrelevant areas in immense detail, such as a lunch meeting between two individuals that can take up a whole chapter, but puts little emphasis on the significant parts of the story, such as the twists, of which there are many.
Goodreads puts the book at 3.8/5 stars, and I do not think that it is far off from my personal rating of the book. However 3.8 stars is a good rating, although it didn't look like it to me at first, and I highly recommend all my readers to read the book. It takes a lot for me to stick with a book, especially one that is hard to read. Take Twilight for example, which I gave up reading after looking at the first chapter prior to the movie's release or any online divisions and opinions of the book became part of the trending public (then again I did give up reading Harry Potter after the first instalment).
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
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