Dickens's "Great Expectations"

Christian Guides to the Classics

by Leland Ryken

We hear about the classics and assume they’re great, but many of us are too intimidated to read them on our own. Crossway’s Christian Guides to the Classics series is designed to help readers enjoy the greatest literature in history with the aid of a gifted teacher to answer questions along the way. Popular professor, author, and literary expert Leland Ryken situates each work in its cultural context, incorporates published criticism, includes brief bibliographies for further study, and successfully evaluates the classic text from a Christian worldview through analytic commentary.

In this volume, Ryken guides readers through Dickens’s quintessential coming-of-age novel, Great Expectations. Exploring perennial themes such as love, justice, and heroism, this book stands as the preeminent example of Dickens’s unrivaled ability to conjure realistic characters and palpable settings.

Genres: Literary Criticism

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

Dr. Ryken has served on the faculty of Wheaton College since 1968. He has published over thirty books and more than one hundred articles and essays, devoting much of his scholarship to Bible translations and the study of the Bible as literature. He served as Literary Chairman for the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible and in 2003 received the distinguished Gutenberg Award for his contributions to education, writing, and the understanding of the Bible.

He is the father of Philip Graham Ryken

Reviews

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great companion to a classic work of literature. Very helpful guide for my first time reading through Dickens' classic.

Rating: 4 Stars (Very Good).

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great series by Leland Ryken. Each of the books in this series would be a good supplement to a high school literature class. For each chapter in the novel, Ryken provides a summary of the chapter, commentary on the chapter, side bar notes, and reflection/discussion questions. I enjoyed reading through this as it's been a while since I read "Great Expectations." This was a good refresher on the book and helped me to understand it better. Leland Ryken is an excellent communicator. The other books in this series are on "The Pilgrim's Progress," "The Scarlet Letter," "The Odyssey," "Paradise Lost," and "Macbeth."

[Saphraneet · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not as helpful as I thought it would be.

[Emmanuel Oset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Read it alongside the actual book, and it helped in my understanding and retention. The last two sections on the Moral and Religious vision of Great Expectations were spectacular.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come to love these little guides and my only complaint is that there aren't more of them. This one should not be read until you have read the novel itself at least once because it contains spoilers along the way.