Great expectations [review]

By amber-fish

Just finished *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens, and I genuinely loved the whole thing. From the very first chapter it had this calm, steady feel to it, and I was really into that slow-burn pacing. I like when a story takes its time so you can actually hang out with the characters and watch how their thinking changes. And honestly, the cast is probably the best I’ve seen in a while. Everyone felt clearly different, like you could tell them apart instantly. I’d heard Dickens can be wordy, but for me it read as super detailed and rich, not dragging at all. If anything, it kept pulling me along. One thing I didn’t expect was how funny it could be. I thought it would be all dark and heavy, but then his wit would pop up here and there and I’d end up smiling. Pumblechook is ridiculous in the way he carries himself, Mr. Wopsle trying to act is just absurd, and Wemmick… I loved that contrast where he’s all stiff and “office mode” during the day but at home he’s softer and almost cheerful. Pip and Estella’s whole situation was also really interesting. And then there’s Miss Havisham—what a character. She’s impossible to forget, still in that wedding dress after all those years, basically keeping Satis House stuck in the past. That whole image just stuck in my head. Magwitch really hit me too. At first he comes off rough and scary, but later I felt my opinion completely flip. And then his ending is so tragic that I actually got teary-eyed, which is rare for me—like I don’t usually cry at character deaths. I think I’ve only done that once before. Joe Gargery might be the most wholesome person I’ve read. His loyalty to Pip, even when Pip didn’t really earn it, was honestly kind of beautiful. And Pip’s growth felt real—messy, believable, and not magically fixed overnight. One moment that totally threw me was when Pip figures out Joe is marrying Biddy. I was not expecting that at all, and Dickens somehow captures all those messy emotions without spelling everything out. Overall, it went way past what I thought it would be. Now I totally get why it’s such a classic. It’s definitely going on my all-time favorites list.