This book starts its journey with BookCrossing from Delphi, Greece
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" 'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.'
Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on ... "



~~~~~~To the person who found this book:~~~~~~

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I've read this book many years ago in Greek and I was intrigued to read it now on its original language.

Well... This is a bit more melancholy and grave book than others written by Dickens. I wasn't enthused about it but on the other hand there is something that always make Dickens' books feel satisfactory when one turns the final page.

Great Expectations' characters are too over the top, extravagant, grotesque, weirdos, with ridiculous names and ridiculous behaviors, while the plot on close inspection features many gaps, ridiculous coincidences and all sorts of impossibilities. The main premisse is based on one of those. Many of the characters are inconsistent on their behaviors, beliefs and prior inclinations and I don't get how Dickens strongly focus on some aspects of the story/characters to make his points but ommits others... Even Pip, the main character, isn't very convincing character, not to mention rather dull, air head and obnoxious. The book is too dark and could be shorter. Then of course, it was firstly published in series on periodicals, thus the many small-ish chapters...

Among many irking points, the one that annoyed me most was the Estella character and the obsession people had with her. Class, finance, dressing and appearance, beauty, were important criteria to judge a person for the Victorians, especially for a woman, but education, mentallity and character had an importance too. All we hear about Estella's virtues is her beauty. So what? OK, rant over.

While the usual wit of Charles Dickens -that often lightens an otherwise serious chapter- isn't so apparent on this book, there were still some interesting passages written with lots of skill and humour, his clever prose and poignant comments appear every now and then, while his characters, although completely over the top will rather stay with the reader for a long time. Some scenes are unforgettable albeit their hyperbole. For most part of the book I felt like grabbing Pip from his hair and slap him hard, but I still wanted to see what will happen next in his life. I can't say that the end was very conviencing, impressive or original, but it was sort of a conclusion after all.

All in all, this book features many negative points, but it wasn't a difficult read and on a weird way I enjoyed it. The elements that often feel irking or ridiculous are those that after all make an impression and a lasting impact and make this book interesting I think. I'm afraid I can't explain this better...

The book got itchy feet and wants to trot the globe making many new frinds along the way. So it came with me to Naxos Island and who knows where it'll travel next...

Released on the causeaway from Naxos Town to Portara.

Good Luck my book and Don't forget to write your news from time to time!