"Too many words"
"Many of the sentences would be considered run-on today."
"But the one thing that absolutely ruins this book is the clutter of coincidences. One of the first rules of fiction writing is NO COINCIDENCES. And Dickens goes out of his way to break this rule. Over. And Over. And Over."
"Not to mention the characters are just plaing weird. Where in the world did Dickens get a bizarre lady like Miss Havisham, who is practically ill in the head?"
"Charles Dickens wrote a novel about a boy who had a hard life, and in the end he was happy....Big Deal!"
"if Estella hit me like she did pip, I would have hit her back!! All the women in this book seem like stuck up b****es!"
"I have never read a more stupendesely boring book.It's a revered book but it lacks everything that makes a book truly great.It's poorly written,uninteresting,the characters are unlikable,there is very little theme or characterization,the plot is virtually non-existent.The chapters are so meandering and pointless you have to force yourself to read it.English students shouldn't have to suffer by being made read this incomprehensible,boring, overrated 'novel'.I'd rather watch paint dry than read this book again.Still,any insomniacs looking for a cure,this book's for you."
"I think Charles Dickens was not a smart man for writing
this book. He could have summed the book up a lot. He used
long word that some times were had to say."
"ZZZZZZZ SNOOZE ZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!"
"As far as the story is concerned, the 300 pages is crap.
I said it. Don't gasp.
...
Why is it that academics pick these boring books that can't tell stories as part of the western canon? I love reading classics, thanks, but THIS?
...
His prose is dense, sprawling, and unseemly as sentences are connected by ugly semicolons and don't flow beautifully at all.
...
Yuck.
People are irresistibly drawn to anything related to themselves. I have a sneaking suspicion that the academics who bill this book as 'most fascinating' and 'greatest and most sophisticated work' see THEIR prominent characteristic in it."
"Have low expectations when you read 'Great Expectations.' Modern books have much faster pacing and are more easy to read."
"Second question Where in his warped imagination did he get Ms. Havishom? News flash! Anyone who did so many terrible things because a man left her was mentally unstable before she met the jerk which explains why he left her. Oh and one more thing if your a feminists (like me) this book will get you upset enough. The only women in the book are either crazy old hags or out right bitches. It certainly says a lot about male Victorian sensibilities!!"
"By far the worst literary blunder the world has ever excreted. I would never wish this horific mass of boredom upon anyone. Avoid this book like the black plauge (another one of Europe's tragedies)."
"Funking exelen!
i havent read it yet but it shows diskousting:)I hate this book and i hope my mates of aal
"Put simply, Great Expectations is a wordy, convuluted, and overrated peice of trash. Written originally in different volumes and distributed to an excited Victorian republic, Dickens was able to make his audience care and feel for his odd, moving characters. He was the Stephen King of his day; a clever businessman who distributed mediocre books to the public. That Dicken's fever passed on from one generation to the next is fine, that this made Dicken's books classics in schools is a shame. But let me get to the actual book at hand! Yes, many characters in Great Expectations are original and interseting. Overall, however, Great Expectations is wordy (!), and painfully convoluted. It is often difficult to get through, and geared towards a certain audience only. This is not to say that everyone will dislike Great Expectations, but we live in an age (good or bad) of gritty realism ... Anyone who wants to live in a former era, Great Expectations is a must; for anyone who wants a powerful, sophisticated read PLEASE put Great Expectations in the incinerator."
"I honestly try to appreciate what is *supposed* to be fine literature, but 'Great Expectations' is about as entertaining as watching kale grow. First off, the fact that this book has two endings inspires a bit of skepticism in me. I've never heard of an author so indecisive that he would put two endings in a novel. It creates a generally unsatisfying conclusion, as you're at a loss for which ending to 'accept'."
"Who cares about Wemmick's stupid plays?"
"I hate this novel with a passion so great it scares even me. I'd like to see all copies burned. Okay, not really. That's a little extreme. But, at least take this garbage out of school curriculums. Its' making us stupid, making us believe Pip's world is what the world really is. Pip if a fool that got dumped too many times and where's the sex. Was Dickens scared of it. I believe that all great novels should have sex in them. It brings some humanity to them . Great Expectations is a fantasy on level with the Bible but worse, tragicly worse."
"I give you a generous TWO STARS this time Charlie! Youre getting there so keep trying!"
"This book was a very big disappontmet. I thought this book could have had a couple minor plot changes. I also thought the way the main charictor, Pip, transfored through his expectations was shallow and padanthic. To conclude, I belive that the chapters are cycled like story line with many charictors and an entire chapter with Pip talking to himself and talking about his expectations. Thank you for reading my review."
This novel isn’t meant to be flashy or captivating. It’s meant to be a character study of Dickens and the time era. At the time this was written, Dickens was going through a time where his past and present beat him down to his knees. He just went through a divorce and his brother, Alfred, has just died. This novel resembles a lot of Dickens’ childhood. If one cannot take the time to read scholarship before critiquing a novel, then they shouldn’t consider themselves an adamant reader of classic novels. If you want something flashy and easy to understand, read some YA Lit. Don’t attack a brilliant piece because you don’t understand he big words and themes that you must dig a little for. Educate yourself—or remain pressed...
ReplyDeleteThis is a great review of that abomination of a book. How could the academy curriculum still can add a novel like this is beyond me. I am impressed that someone more than 10 years before me had the same thought as me. I could still read it if Pip the protagonist was not a goody-two-shoes and wimpy. Also the end sucks.
ReplyDeleteIt would've been better to read the greek myth line by line than this book. Making us read this book with it's simple mediocre story but impossible to comprehend text is a pure torture. I hope this book get rekt from future academic syllabus.
(The person with the comment above me surely would love to get squished by Miss Havishams thighs. How could someone be so masochistic.)