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John

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John is Currently Reading

John is currently reading

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

bookshelves: favorites, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 2021

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John said: " Having completed my first reading of David Copperfield only several months prior, and subsequently claiming it was my favorite novel of all time, I was surprised to find myself so often questioning this sentiment—that I so optimistically said—through Having completed my first reading of David Copperfield only several months prior, and subsequently claiming it was my favorite novel of all time, I was surprised to find myself so often questioning this sentiment—that I so optimistically said—throughout my reading of Great Expectations. I was swept away, once again, by the depth of the characters presented, but whereas in David Copperfield, where I found both Little Em'ly and James Steerforth to be the most compelling, far more so than the protagonist or his significant other(s), here, I felt my heart being torn to pieces for the turmoil Pip and Estella were put through, and what Pip put Joe and Biddy through.

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While I cannot say much more that has not already been said by scholars and English teachers alike time and time again, or make any compelling theses out of this or that theme or motif, I choose to sprout these praises that I am sure are in fact an imitation of something already said: the themes and reflections of society and the class struggle, and what it is to be genteel and what it is to be uncouth, make Great Expectations one of the most profound works I have ever read. I still prefer the experience of reading David Copperfield for its lightheartedness and adventure which so heavily contrast with the bleakness (which reminds me that I must get around to reading Bleak House sometime) and the angst and the hurt; but reading this novel has been an experience like no other, and the bitter aftertaste of its denouement will be one that remains present in my mind for, I would imagine, a very long time. ...more "

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(page 311 of 512)
— Jan 25, 2026 12:55AM

Aug 21, 2023 08:28PM · see review

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Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol 1: From Earliest Times to 1600

by William Theodore de Bary

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progress:

(page 438 of 998)
— Oct 23, 2024 08:07AM

Jan 27, 2024 12:14AM

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Confucian Analects, The Great Learning & The Doctrine of the Mean

by Confucius

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May 23, 2024 11:21PM

John’s Quotes

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”
― Otto von Bismarck

282 likes

“The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.”
― Napoleon Bonaparte

233 likes

“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

tags: love, respect

3690 likes

“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.”
― Napoleon Bonaparte

tags: aphorism, self-reliance

600 likes

“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself. ”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

tags: death, inspirational

343 likes

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