Chicks On Lit discussion

We have a June buddy read title and welcome all to join us. We will be reading the classic Great Expectations by Charles Dickens starting June 1.
Great Expectations

I have started the book. I have to admit I am finding the style of writing to be easier to read then I expected. It does get a bit wordy but I don't really mind it.

I don't think I will start it until some time next week. But glad to hear that it is not a difficult read.

I finally picked this up last night. I did not get very far. I read the intro material from the editor and the first 4 chapters. I was surprised by the tone. I was expecting bleak and sadly tragic since we this was the story of one of Dickens poor orphan boys. But it is quite funny. Yes the kid's life is awful. But the story is told with such humor. Rather than fearing for poor Pip, I found his being shaken upside down by the convict almost slapstick. Rather than feeling sorry for poor Pip being raised by a brute of a sister, I found her depiction and that of the brother-in-law comic. The Christmas dinner sceen with the adults arguing that children should be grateful because they could have been born a pig and then they would have been eaten rather than brought up by hand to become a good, upstanding gentleman was such a wonderful spoof on the ridiculous nature of adult attitudes toward child raising. I loved the tar water in the brandy jug and so much more. This is not what I expect from Dickens.

I am starting this Wednesday, can’t wait to discuss.

I agree Irene. I am really enjoying the story. I like the humor that is mixed with the story. I think i like the sister more then you. Yes she is hard women but there is something that makes me think she has a soft center.

The only other Dickens I have read were Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cites. This is much lighter than either one. I love the way each char has such different traits. I find myself really drawn to the uncle. Pip's sister would need to look out if I were around. LOL

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I also think the uncle is a total hoot. I love the way Dickens creates such funny chapters, then throws in something so poignent that you almost get a lump in the throat such as when Jo tells Pip about his childhood and how he wishes he could absorb the sister's temper and protect Pip or when Jo tries to read the letter that little Pip writes on the slate or when Pip has his meltdown after Estella's first haughty humiliation of him. I am up to chapter 18; Pip is about to travel to London.

Estella is an interesting char. She is they type of person I dislike most in RL. She is more concerned about her appearance and reputation then people. Its all about what she looks like and where she is from.

Dickens actually made me like her. I think seeing how she became who she is helped. I hope she gets redeemed be the end of the book

Dickens made me feel sorry for her. Her up bringing trained her to be monsterous. I am surprised that Pip continued to adore her despite her casual cruelty. Can physical appearance be that attractive that it can overcome a horrid personality?

It seems the women in this book are all rather nasty, I hope Dickens gives us one kind female cchar

It seems the women in this book are all rather nasty, I hope Dickens gives us one kind female cchar

I have to listen, so forgive my spelling of names. Biddie is sweet, but I agree that the rest are nuts. I am up to chapter 24 and we have met the Pocket family. Mrs. Pocket is as crazy in her parenting as was Pip's sister. I knew that Dickens resented his father for the poverty he grew up in, but he seems to have a problem with mother figures. And the father figures are ineffectual.

Years ago I read a book about Dickens relationship with his wife. It was very dysfunctional. I wish i could remember the title.

It painted a picture of a man who just came home to father children. I think Dickens would keep the internet hopping if he were alive today. Dickens blamed his wife for the birth of their children. He accused her of being an bad mother. He blamed their financial problems because she kept having children. He ordered her to remain in bed. He tried to have her committed to a mental hospital to prevent more children.

The whole time Dickens was having affairs with numerous women. I think the marriage ended because his wife received a ring meant for another woman,

It changed how i looked at the man, He is a genius writer but I would not like him as a freind

Wow, how awful. I wonder if he was predisposed to treat women badly from some childhood experience or if he and his wife had such a problematic marriage that it turned his attitude away from anything positive about women.

I am loving this Dickens! I have previously read Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Miss Havisham is such a character and I think she’s the master manipulator. This story is so mysterious- what happened to the convicts, who whacked Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery (do we ever get a first name) and is Uncle Pumblechook a schemer or just mean? I just finished the first section so I am now off to London for answers with Pip.

I just finished part 2. I can see this working so well in serial form. I want to know who hurt Pip's sister also. I loved the scene where Uncle is saying good bye to Pip over dinner and keeps asking to shake his hand now that he rich. It is a hoot. I think the guy is just a brown noser, sucking up to anyone who appears to have money or status.

I finished. My book had an appendix that stated that the ending was not what Dickens originally planned, but he was convinced to alter his ending to the one we now have. I think I would have preferred what Dickens originally planned. I am very glad I read this.

I am also glad I read this. I am not sure how i feel about Mrs.Habasham. i feel like I should hate her. But I actually feel sympathy for her. I think we have all had our heart broken. I got through it with the help of family. She had no one.

What was Dickens original ending?

Spoiler Warning

His original intention for the ending was that Stella would have separated from her abusive husband by the help of a doctor who she would have married before Pip found her.

I never got Pip's unshakable love for Stella when she did everything to discourage him. She was not likable, just beautiful.

I finished too and really enjoyed this book. Provis turns out to be a likable character and gets his revenge on Compeyson in the end. Miss Havisham needs therapy in the worst way. In the three Dicken’s novels I’ve read so far (all revolving around single male character) there are lots of coincidences and loose ends all neatly tied up. I wasn’t a fan of the Molly/Estella/Provis line or that Compeyson was the fiancé that jilted Miss Havisham. I am sure the public ate up that sort of thing, but kind of bothers me. I would put this book between David Copperfield and Oliver Twist in order of favor. Bleak House will be my next Dickens as I hear it’s considered his best and may have a broader scope than one main character. There is a Facebook group reading all Dicken’s novels in publication order this year if you’re interested. They are through the early stuff and getting to his more well known titles now.

I also don't like it when novels tie everything up neatly based on coincidences. But I sort of expect it from books written in this era.

Do we want to do another group read in July?

I just got this book yesterday from the library.