Very Good Expectations

by Pa Rock
Reader 

Charles Dickens populated the world's literary landscape with a whole host of unforgettable characters.  His Ebenezer Scrooge was the epitome of soulless individuals who hoarded their wealth at  the ultimate expense of the suffering masses (think Mitch McConnell with a  well worn topcoat and stovepipe hat), and on the other end of the social spectrum, the young orphan Oliver Twist gave readers a view into what life on the streets really resembled.  Dickens created characters whose very names became synonymous with their faults.  We all, for instance, instinctively understand what it means to be labeled a 'scrooge."

One of my favorite Dickens' characters is Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, the eccentric recluse living in her delapidated mansion, Satis House, where she has remained in seclusion since her fiancé hoofed it on their wedding day many years before.  The old woman was still wearing her wedding gown, the wedding cake was still one the serving table where it has been rotting away for decades, and all of the clocks were stopped at what would have been the hour of her wedding.  Miss Havisham was perhaps as unforgettable as any character ever given breath and dialogue by the pen of Charles Dickens - even Ebenezer Scrooge.

I first became acquainted with Miss Havisham and her ward, Estella, and Pip, the boy from the forge, through a literature textbook in high school that contained a chunk of Great Expectations.   It was years later (2012) when I finally went back and read the novel in its entirety, an endeavor that showed me just how much I had missed out on with the high school abbreviated version.  (With that in mind, I probably should also tackle Silas Marner, another literary exposure that I had in high school.)

(I know that I read Great Expectations in the fall of 2012, because I had it with me at the Toronto Film Festival one morning when I was out scouting around for a quick breakfast and a convenience store clerk who was operating the deli almost came across the counter when she noticed that I was holding a copy of the Dickens' classic.  "Oh my God,"  she declared.  "You're reading Dickens!  I love Great Expectations!")

Literature pumps the lifeblood through the brotherhood of man.

This week I watched the three-episode Great Expectations that was produced by the BBC in 2011.  The BBC  was not able to cram the entire novel into three hours while doing justice to  the Kentish moors and Dickens' London, but it caught most of the feel of the story nonetheless.  The story line, particularly in the second and third episodes was hammered about some, and the character of Biddie was dropped entirely, but it still managed to tell the basic story with much the same feel as had originally been imparted by the great Charles Dickens himself.

And Miss Havisham, portrayed by the amazing Gillian Anderson, remains unforgettable!

Overall I would rate the entire experience not as "great," but certainly as "very good" expectations.   The three-episode series is streaming now on Britbox, and it is well worth a watch.  Of course, if you have the time and the opportunity, the book will be even more satisfying.