A review by kahell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

2.0

Charles Dickens attempts a great feat here: trying to make a first-person narrative work in the voice of a character who should really shut up. Unfortunately, I don't think he succeeded. The catharsis brought by the third volume, where everyone gets what they deserve, more or less, could have been good in any other novel, but it fails to compensate for the total bore and disappointment that is the second volume. I suppose that's an effect of the book originating as a serial – Dickens had to keep the audience hooked for as long as possible, so the story is filled with arcs that have no bearing to the whole. I did like the undertones of class commentary, especially in Magwitch's characterization. I don't regret reading this, but I'm also not thrilled to have read it.