I especially enjoyed reading it with Lydia. She surprised me one day by looking through the bookshelves in my room (my room is my sanctum sanctorum--it houses my Victorian novels, Harry Potter, and all the Barnes & Noble Classics I've accumulated) and stating her intention to read a Dickens. "Don't get too excited, Mom," she stipulated, "or I probably won't do it." (I made that mistake with Anne of Green Gables, and I fear she'll never give those gems a try . . . *sigh*) She raced ahead of me--she can read like the wind, and she comprehends everything. I was overjoyed to hear her laugh out loud at Mr. Wopsle & Mr. Pumblechook--she got it! She discovered Dickens's masterful humor! I felt like she'd finally joined my personal Dickens Fan Club. Here are her thoughts--if nothing else, she's honest!
I liked Great Expectations. The ending was different from the way I expected, but it was good overall. There were some pretty interesting characters. Wemmick was one of my favorites because of his funny double-life. It taught a good lesson about thinking about what you choose, because Pip made lots of decisions, but not all of them were good. He was kind of hasty at making choices.
I think Charles Dickens is a great author. Great Expectations wasn't my style, but I think that's because I am a younger girl. The older you are, the closer you are to that time period, so I'd suggest it to older people.
Yes, thank you, Lydia. And if you're an "older person," as I obviously am, and closer in years to the 1800's, the story of Great Expectations is probably familiar to you, with its themes of crime, broken promises, and ambition. I have to agree with Lyd--Pip has never been my favorite character (he seems so weak!), but his choices made for some of the best discussions we have ever shared about books. I mean, haven't we all let someone down? Haven't we all wanted to be popular, neglecting loved ones and dear friends in the process? I'm glad we now have this great classic to fall back on as Lyd nears the teenage years--I can refer to Pip for examples of what not to do. And there are so many redeeming characters--Joe, Biddy, Herbert, Wemmick--who somehow help make Pip become the man he should be. We treasure the Biddies and Joes in our lives, don't we?
Dickens is beloved to me for another reason--he offers mutual ground for Seth and I. While Seth barely tolerates my Jane Austen "chick flick-ish" movies, he hasn't met a Dickens movie he didn't like--or at least one that didn't keep him intrigued. He actually grew up on this version of Great Expectations, thanks to my wonderful Mother-in-Law, Elaine:
I haven't been too interested in any other version, especially the risque 1998 version (Dickens must have rolled over in his grave)--however, the BBC has made a new one (2011) that looks very intriguing. I love what Gillian Anderson, the new Miss Havisham, has to say about her role in the film, as well as the book itself:
"I can imagine that journey [reading Great Expectations] as a young kid, especially a young boy, must be unbelievably exciting.
"It was the journey pre-Harry Potter. Of course it was longer ago, but I can imagine young people having the same kind of magical response to Great Expectations that we did when Harry Potter books first started to come out.
"That's if it does get introduced at an early age, in school or through a parent or whatever and the child is able to crack the density of it." http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/12/great-expectations-gillian-anderson.shtml
I may shy away from the even newer version (2012) with Helena Bonham Carter, bless her creepy heart, as Miss Havisham. We'll have to see.
Seth marvels that I can enjoy new versions of shows I have seen so many times before, but I'd like to think Dickens would be proud that his stories are so timeless. So go ahead--celebrate his birthday with a wonderful book or movie, and I guarantee you'll thank me.
