Jack Maggs
Registered by 
perryfran
of Elk Grove, California USA on 7/12/2008
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
perryfran of Elk Grove, California USA on 7/12/2008 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Book Description:
The Booker Prize-winning author of Oscar and Lucinda returns to the nineteenth century in an utterly captivating mystery. The year is 1837 and a stranger is prowling London. He is Jack Maggs, an illegal returnee from the prison island of Australia. He has the demeanor of a savage and the skills of a hardened criminal, and he is risking his life on seeking vengeance and reconciliation.
Installing himself within the household of the genteel grocer Percy Buckle, Maggs soon attracts the attention of a cross section of London society. Saucy Mercy Larkin wants him for a mate. The writer Tobias Oates wants to possess his soul through hypnosis. But Maggs is obsessed with a plan of his own. And as all the various schemes converge, Maggs rises into the center, a dark looming figure, at once frightening, mysterious, and compelling. Not since Caleb Carr's The Alienist have the shadowy city streets of the nineteenth century lit up with such mystery and romance.
This is also No. 97 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
The Booker Prize-winning author of Oscar and Lucinda returns to the nineteenth century in an utterly captivating mystery. The year is 1837 and a stranger is prowling London. He is Jack Maggs, an illegal returnee from the prison island of Australia. He has the demeanor of a savage and the skills of a hardened criminal, and he is risking his life on seeking vengeance and reconciliation.
Installing himself within the household of the genteel grocer Percy Buckle, Maggs soon attracts the attention of a cross section of London society. Saucy Mercy Larkin wants him for a mate. The writer Tobias Oates wants to possess his soul through hypnosis. But Maggs is obsessed with a plan of his own. And as all the various schemes converge, Maggs rises into the center, a dark looming figure, at once frightening, mysterious, and compelling. Not since Caleb Carr's The Alienist have the shadowy city streets of the nineteenth century lit up with such mystery and romance.
This is also No. 97 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.
I've had this book on my shelves for close to ten years. I know I originally acquired this because it is on the list of "1001 books you must read before you die." To me, the books on this list are kind of hit and miss but this one was well worth reading.
It is basically a reworking of Dickens' Great Expectations from the point of view of the convict, Jack Maggs (Magwitch). Maggs has returned illegally from his exile in Australia to seek out the young man who did him a favor just before Maggs was transported to Australia. Maggs has become the boy's benefactor but the boy, Henry Phipps (Pip), has not reciprocated Maggs' generosity. Maggs ends up working as a footman in a household where he meets a struggling writer Tobias Oates (Dickens). Oates is proficient at somnambulism and is able to find out about Maggs' background while he is mesmerized and intends to use Maggs story as the basis for a novel. The plot has many twists and turns with many well-drawn characters. The story deals with many things that Dickens could not have portrayed in his novels including sexual passion, homosexuality, prostitution, and abortion. There are powerful scenes of how Maggs was forced into thievery at a young age including being forced down a chimney to open the door to the thieves. There are lots of twists and depictions of the poor and downtrodden, violence, secrets, joy and loss. Overall, I would definitely recommend this reworking of a Dickens classic. It was easy to read and very enjoyable.
It is basically a reworking of Dickens' Great Expectations from the point of view of the convict, Jack Maggs (Magwitch). Maggs has returned illegally from his exile in Australia to seek out the young man who did him a favor just before Maggs was transported to Australia. Maggs has become the boy's benefactor but the boy, Henry Phipps (Pip), has not reciprocated Maggs' generosity. Maggs ends up working as a footman in a household where he meets a struggling writer Tobias Oates (Dickens). Oates is proficient at somnambulism and is able to find out about Maggs' background while he is mesmerized and intends to use Maggs story as the basis for a novel. The plot has many twists and turns with many well-drawn characters. The story deals with many things that Dickens could not have portrayed in his novels including sexual passion, homosexuality, prostitution, and abortion. There are powerful scenes of how Maggs was forced into thievery at a young age including being forced down a chimney to open the door to the thieves. There are lots of twists and depictions of the poor and downtrodden, violence, secrets, joy and loss. Overall, I would definitely recommend this reworking of a Dickens classic. It was easy to read and very enjoyable.
Journal Entry 3 by perryfran at bookstogive's general lit VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Monday, February 26, 2018
perryfran at bookstogive's general lit VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Monday, February 26, 2018
Released 6 yrs ago (2/26/2018 UTC) at bookstogive's general lit VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to Spatial in VA...selected from the Lit VBB. Enjoy!
Thank you, perryfan! This book will help me with my 1001 reading goal and sounds interesting! Not sure why...but I love the cover!
An interesting read. Some parts I could have done without, but overall a strong book and I'd definitely recommend it, too. I was surprised how it ended! Bravo to the author for fooling me into thinking it would turn out differently.
Journal Entry 6 by 
Spatial
at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA on Friday, April 13, 2018
Spatial at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA on Friday, April 13, 2018
Released 5 yrs ago (4/22/2018 UTC) at Day Of The Book (Street Festival) On Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
2018 Day of the Book Festival in Kensington, Maryland.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
Congratulations! You've found a traveling book!
See where I've been and track where I go by creating an account and writing a journal entry for this book.
Wish to remain anonymous? Then no need to create an account, just write a journal entry letting us know where you found the book and review it if you like.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
