Great Expectations

I entered into 'Great Expectations' with my own great expectation to dislike it immensely. Having tried - and failed - to read Dickens previously (with the exception of the wonderful 'A Christmas Carol') I fully anticipated hours of tedium. In many respects, Dickens lived up to my expectations - his narrative style and verbosity leaves me chilled around the edges and it has taken me weeks of...more

I entered into 'Great Expectations' with my own great expectation to dislike it immensely. Having tried - and failed - to read Dickens previously (with the exception of the wonderful 'A Christmas Carol') I fully anticipated hours of tedium. In many respects, Dickens lived up to my expectations - his narrative style and verbosity leaves me chilled around the edges and it has taken me weeks of determined effort to work my way through this classic. Reluctantly, though, I must confess that I'm glad I persevered and even more reluctantly I'm forced into an admittance that there were even moments of humour. I'm far from converted, but it certainly was not as terrible as I expected.   hide