Thoughts on reading Great Expectations

     After finishing reading Great Expectations, I must say my view of the novel has changed significantly. To begin with, Pip's character arc, from innocent orphan to his corruption in the city to the wisdom he gains as a result of it, became much more clear. In essence, Dickens had created an update of the biblical story of the prodigal son for his audiences. I thought the settings and some of the minor characters, particularly Wemmick, added a note of humor in an otherwise very Gothic novel, which was appreciated. As for Dickens' style, early in the novel, I had trouble with it but by Stage Two I could understand his flow with ease. Even Joe and Magwitch's speech stopped bothering me. As an author, I think I might have managed to enjoy his style, and might look into another of his books in the future. Although he is not my favorite author, he still managed to capture my attention by the end. In the case of the mysteries, I knew that Magwitch, then known as Pip's Convict, would be important later on, and I knew that Pip's benefactor, having not been revealed for so long, could not have been Havisham, I half-jokingly guessed that Magwitch was Pip's father and benefactor. One of two is not bad, I suppose. Loose-lipped freshmen who had read ahead might have been more of an issue than sophomores or Sparknotes, but some of the revelations at the end, particularly Joe and Biddy's wedding, managed to come as a surprise.

     I actually did read the entire book, although I may have skimmed some paragraphs while half-asleep. I never had to cram in pages, having kept up with the daily reading the entire time, but I generally left reading as the last part of my mountain of homework, so, exhausted by biology and soccer, I may have learned more of the plot from the discussions in class than from reading, particularly in Stage Two, which dragged. I generally read in my room, while one or more family members used to computer, at around 10:00, which can't have helped either. This ended up as my routine, and I can't help but think that if I had read the novel on my own time, without having to scan for annotations, I might have enjoyed it more. However, reading Great Expectations in this serialized manner, rather than over a weekend or two, did make the final revelations and the endings more enjoyable than if they came a few hours after starting Stage Three. Overall, the novel was decent, but my reading style was no help to it.