An absorbing mystery as well as a morality tale, the story of Pip, a poor village lad, and his expectations of wealth is Dickens at his most deliciously readable. The cast of characters includes kindly Joe Gargery, the loyal convict Abel Magwitch and the haunting Miss Havisham. If you have heartstrings, count on them being tugged. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Originally published in serial form from December 1860 to August 1861, Great Expectations is the ‘autobiography’ of Pip, as he transformed from apprentice village blacksmith to a London gentleman. Unlike many of Dickens’s earlier works, the novel is not so much a protest against social evils as a sustained meditation upon the process of social reform in Victorian England. It is this which gives such importance to the book’s handling of the theme of the gentleman, a theme central both to Dickens’s society and to his own life story.

From School Library Journal

Cindy Lombardo, Cleveland Public Library, OH

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Grade 7 Up—A young man's burning desire to fulfill his "great expectations" of fame and fortune is presented in Charles Dickens's classic tale of love, madness, forgiveness, and redemption. Simon Vance's masterful narration brings to life such diverse personalities as Miss Havisham, the old woman who was abandoned on her wedding day and is determined to wreak revenge through her beautiful adopted daughter Estella; Joe, Pip's lumbering and slow-witted, but emotionally wise and faithful friend; the mysterious Magwitch, a convict who turns out to be Pip's financial benefactor; and Pip, the boy who longs for a destiny greater than that of living out his days as a blacksmith's apprentice. The companion ebook features automatic start-up, keyword searching, PDF printable format, and table of contents. An exceptionally skilled rendering of this classic.—Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.







My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my

infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than

Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.





I give Pirrip as my father's family name, on the authority of his tombstone

and my sister ? Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never saw

my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for

their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies

regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their

tombstones. The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea

that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the

character and turn of the inscription, "Also Georgiana Wife of the Above,"

I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. To

five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were

arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of

five little brothers of mine ? who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly

early in that universal struggle ? I am indebted for a belief I religiously

entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in

their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of

existence.





Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within as the river wound,

twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the

identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw

afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that

this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip

Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were

dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and

Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and

that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes

and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes;

and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant

savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the

small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was

Pip.





"Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among

the graves at the side of the church porch. "Keep still, you little devil,

or I'll cut your throat!"





A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with

no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A

man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by

stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who

limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in

his head as he seized me by the chin.





"Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir," I pleaded in terror. "Pray don't do it,

sir."





"Tell us your name!" said the man. "Quick!"





"Pip, sir."





"Once more," said the man, staring at me. "Give it mouth!"





From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Chapter I.My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, myinfant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit thanPip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.I give Pirrip as my father's family name, on the authority of his tombstoneand my sister ? Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never sawmy father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (fortheir days were long before the days of photographs), my first fanciesregarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from theirtombstones. The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd ideathat he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From thecharacter and turn of the inscription, "Also Georgiana Wife of the Above,"I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. Tofive little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which werearranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory offive little brothers of mine ? who gave up trying to get a living exceedinglyearly in that universal struggle ? I am indebted for a belief I religiouslyentertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands intheir trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state ofexistence.Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within as the river wound,twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of theidentity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable rawafternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, thatthis bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that PhilipPirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, weredead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, andRoger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; andthat the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykesand mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes;and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distantsavage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that thesmall bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, wasPip."Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from amongthe graves at the side of the church porch. "Keep still, you little devil,or I'll cut your throat!"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man withno hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. Aman who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed bystones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; wholimped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered inhis head as he seized me by the chin."Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir," I pleaded in terror. "Pray don't do it,sir.""Tell us your name!" said the man. "Quick!""Pip, sir.""Once more," said the man, staring at me. "Give it mouth!"--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors’ prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and “slave” factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years’ formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney’s clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review





''Altogether we take great joy in recording our conviction that Great Expectations is a masterpiece . . . In our opinion, Great Expectations is a work which proves that we may expect from Dickens a series of romances far exceeding in power and artistic skill the productions which have already given him such a preeminence among the novelists of the age.'' --Atlantic



''Considered by many to be Dickens' greatest work, this is a timeless story where vindictiveness and guilt clash with love and gratitude. Enriched by a cast of unforgettable characters, from the orphan Pip to the convict Magwitch and the bitter Miss Haversham.'' --Barnes & Noble, editorial review



''Unlike many nineteenth-century novels that rely upon the stale plot device of a surprise legacy to enrich the fortunate protagonists, Great Expectations probes deeply into the ethical and psychological dangers of advancing through the class system by means of wealth acquired from the toil of others.'' --Masterpieces of World Literature



''Altogether we take great joy in recording our conviction that Great Expectations is a masterpiece . . . In our opinion, Great Expectations is a work which proves that we may expect from Dickens a series of romances far exceeding in power and artistic skill the productions which have already given him such a preeminence among the novelists of the age.'' --Atlantic



''Considered by many to be Dickens' greatest work, this is a timeless story where vindictiveness and guilt clash with love and gratitude. Enriched by a cast of unforgettable characters, from the orphan Pip to the convict Magwitch and the bitter Miss Haversham.'' --Barnes & Noble, editorial review



''Unlike many nineteenth-century novels that rely upon the stale plot device of a surprise legacy to enrich the fortunate protagonists, Great Expectations probes deeply into the ethical and psychological dangers of advancing through the class system by means of wealth acquired from the toil of others.'' --Masterpieces of World Literature --This text refers to an alternate ''Observe how finely the narrative is kept in one key. It begins with a mournful impression--the foggy marshes spreading drearily by the seaward Thames--and throughout recurs this effect of cold and damp and dreariness; in that kind Dickens never did anything so good ... No story in the first person was ever better told.'' --George Gissing, English novelist''Altogether we take great joy in recording our conviction thatis a masterpiece . . . In our opinion,is a work which proves that we may expect from Dickens a series of romances far exceeding in power and artistic skill the productions which have already given him such a preeminence among the novelists of the age.'' --''Considered by many to be Dickens' greatest work, this is a timeless story where vindictiveness and guilt clash with love and gratitude. Enriched by a cast of unforgettable characters, from the orphan Pip to the convict Magwitch and the bitter Miss Haversham.'' --Barnes & Noble, editorial review''Unlike many nineteenth-century novels that rely upon the stale plot device of a surprise legacy to enrich the fortunate protagonists,probes deeply into the ethical and psychological dangers of advancing through the class system by means of wealth acquired from the toil of others.'' --''Altogether we take great joy in recording our conviction thatis a masterpiece . . . In our opinion,is a work which proves that we may expect from Dickens a series of romances far exceeding in power and artistic skill the productions which have already given him such a preeminence among the novelists of the age.'' --''Considered by many to be Dickens' greatest work, this is a timeless story where vindictiveness and guilt clash with love and gratitude. Enriched by a cast of unforgettable characters, from the orphan Pip to the convict Magwitch and the bitter Miss Haversham.'' --Barnes & Noble, editorial review''Unlike many nineteenth-century novels that rely upon the stale plot device of a surprise legacy to enrich the fortunate protagonists,probes deeply into the ethical and psychological dangers of advancing through the class system by means of wealth acquired from the toil of others.'' ----This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review





"It is high time for this Dickens masterpiece to receive the kind of critical and contextual attention that this edition of Great Expectations affords. The editors provide essential information about Dickens's compositional as well as publishing practices, and they further support this background with a sampling of the lively contemporary dialogue about the text in the periodicals of the day. They issues raised by the novel—namely class and language, and crime and punishment—are amply explored by pertinent historical documentation, including highly-charged autobiographical writing by Dickens himself that was not available to his contemporary readership. Moreover, the introduction expertly guides the reader though the application of these materials in a creative and inviting manner. Law and Pinnington have gathered together an impressive array of contemporary documents to promote an informed reading of this classic text...In particular, the maps and illustrations of the novel's various settings allow the non-expert to quickly gain insights which should lead to intriguing arguments about how the novel has worked—for its own time as well as our own. I especially commend the editors for their resourceful choices related to the Victorian conception of what constitutes a true gentleman—itself perhaps the key question that helps to unlock the novel." (Carol Hanbery MacKay ) --This text refers to an alternate “The notes to this edition of Great Expectations are extremely helpful, and the supporting materials are useful, clear, and well-selected. Law and Pinnington have put together an edition that takes into account what the contemporary (and especially, the non-British) reader needs in order to appreciate the novel. All in all, this is an excellent edition.” (Sally Mitchell )"It is high time for this Dickens masterpiece to receive the kind of critical and contextual attention that this edition of Great Expectations affords. The editors provide essential information about Dickens's compositional as well as publishing practices, and they further support this background with a sampling of the lively contemporary dialogue about the text in the periodicals of the day. They issues raised by the novel—namely class and language, and crime and punishment—are amply explored by pertinent historical documentation, including highly-charged autobiographical writing by Dickens himself that was not available to his contemporary readership. Moreover, the introduction expertly guides the reader though the application of these materials in a creative and inviting manner. Law and Pinnington have gathered together an impressive array of contemporary documents to promote an informed reading of this classic text...In particular, the maps and illustrations of the novel's various settings allow the non-expert to quickly gain insights which should lead to intriguing arguments about how the novel has worked—for its own time as well as our own. I especially commend the editors for their resourceful choices related to the Victorian conception of what constitutes a true gentleman—itself perhaps the key question that helps to unlock the novel." (Carol Hanbery MacKay ) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Introduction by Michael Slater --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Author

Simplified English makes Dickens accessible for all children

Engaging illustrations bring the stories to life

A great way to introduce classic literature to younger readers

Leveled for classroom use, including GRLs --This text refers to an alternate --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study in English-speaking classrooms. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

This book is in Electronic Paperback Format. If you view this book on any of the computer systems below, it will look like a book. Simple to run, no program to install. Just put the CD in your CDROM drive and start reading. The simple easy to use interface is child tested at pre-school levels. Windows 3.11, Windows/95, Windows/98, OS/2 and MacIntosh and Linux with Windows Emulation. Includes Quiet Vision's Dynamic Index. the abilty to build a index for any set of characters or words. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14-18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From AudioFile