Great Expectations (NHB Modern Plays)

By Charles Dickens

A beautifully simple adaptation of one of Dickens's best-loved novels, bringing it thrillingly to life for the stage.
When the orphan Pip meets the convict Magwitch in a graveyard and is forced to help him escape, his life takes a series of unexpected turns. Invited to the house of the mysterious Miss Havisham, he falls in love with her adopted daughter, the beautiful but cold-hearted Estella. Then the generosity of an unknown benefactor sends him to London to become a gentleman. But the truth behind his change of fortune, once revealed, is not what Pip expects...
Eminently actable and stageable, this version is also ideal for schools and amateur theatre companies.
This book contains introductions by Simon Callow, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley (great-great-great granddaughter of Charles Dickens) and Clifford herself.
'What is so admirable... is that it decisively shrugs off the many screen adaptations to make something that is pure theatre' - The Times
'A striking piece of theatre... potently evocative' - Telegraph
'Breathtaking... one feels transported back to the Victorian era' - The Stage
'Arresting... the adaptation is a model of its kind' - Whatsonstage.com
'An incredibly cohesive and careful adaptation' - Exeunt Magazine
'Clifford's script is a miracle of intelligent compression that wraps itself elegantly round every essential element in the story' - Guardian

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780012162

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. Regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, Dickens had a prolific collection of works including fifteen novels, five novellas, and hundreds of short stories and articles. The term “cliffhanger endings” was created because of his practice of ending his serial short stories with drama and suspense. Dickens’ political and social beliefs heavily shaped his literary work. He argued against capitalist beliefs, and advocated for children’s rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens advocacy for such causes is apparent in his empathetic portrayal of lower classes in his famous works, such as The Christmas Carol and Hard Times.

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Reviews for Great Expectations (NHB Modern Plays)

[steve02476 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I spent my whole adult life thinking I’d read this book in Jr High school - but this month it was my book club’s selection and I discovered that the first few chapters seemed very familiar; the rest was a total surprise, clearly I’d only started the book as a kid. Anyway, an amazing story and I’m glad I read it now.

[kslade-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A favorite book. I read it in 8th grade and most everyone else hated it, but I was enthralled! I could relate to Pip somehow.

[anniik_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After being forced to read parts of The Tale of Two Cities in high school, I’d convinced myself that I couldn’t stand Dickens. After reading this book, I can definitely say that I was wrong. I very much enjoyed this book, its story, and the characters.

[ghost_boy-691444 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"I looked at the stars, and considered how awful it would be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude."

One of the many quotes I liked from this book, but this one really spoke to me for some reason. Probably because it's semi-haunting. Compared to other Dickens books that I'v read so far this one is the best written.

I'm very happy this was better than Oliver Twist. You can't really compared the two, but I really don't like Oliver Twist. This book made up for that one though. The character I liked far better. Pip I liked better because he's telling the story, but he also seemed more aware of what was going on. I also really liked Miss Havisham, she stole the show, she was on fire (okay bad joke).

If you're looking for a semi-Gothic and semi-crime novel, this is a good choice. I was in fact looking for something with a little crime and something that was Gothic, but not too Gothic.

[luminous4path · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was okay. I think its themes are meant more for a YA audience.

[chwiggy · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I did not finish reading this book. It just felt like an eternity every so often. And while I sometimes caught a sliver of enjoyable writing, the premise had never hooked me enough to now keep going. I think I've had enough at least for now.

[connorshirs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I took a buzz-feed quiz on which classic novel I should read and got this. 1) The cover is beautiful. 2) I thought Miss Havisham was a ghost the entire story. I loved Estella the most as a character. She proves that every individual has the ability to love; despite their background. One of my favorites.

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Better toward the end than at the beginning. Listening to it through tedium was better than trying to read it for myself.

[profh-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I remember my mother expressing surprise that Dickens wasn't read in any of my college English classes. I can't think of a single graduate student in or around my cohort who worked on him either, yet I knew he was one of my grandfather's favorites and that Dickens was very popular in his day. In sum, I think this is a fairytale style of prose that's gone out of fashion (and for good reason). Everyone in the novel is an exaggerated caricature. It makes for very predictable dialogue and a static, boring plotline. There's an interesting central idea: Does the source of wealth matter and does money change a person? The examination of this question is fairly surface level for a work of nearly five-hundred pages. I'm content to have had the experience of reading one of his more famous novels, but I would only recommend Dickens to someone interested in that particular time/place in the history of England and English Literature.

[composingcomposer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took longer to get invested in than some of Dickens's other works, but by the end I did care what happened to the various characters.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sensible chuckle. I was surprised to see how little humour has changed and how old the "old jokes" really are. Poor Pip, forever blueballed.

[steve_walker-348810 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not my cup of tea.

[veritythefox · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best novels ever written.

[felixfern · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Required reading for being a human. Also it's epic.

[tehya13 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although lengthy, this book was hard to put down. Amazing characters all with unique personality and plot twists I didn't see coming. This book had a lot of humor in it surprisingly! And it had me laughing for 5 minutes straight. Pip living through hardship and experiencing family deaths at such a young age is bound to get someone down. But it never did get him down. He was a hard worker and always polite to his surroundings. Although he despised Mr. Pumblechook's claims of raising Pip up to the man he is today, he never snapped or said wrong things to him. His sister did more works in his life than he ever thought she did, she taught him well and he starts to realize it towards the end. (God rest Mrs. Joe Gargery's soul.) The ending is bittersweet yet happy. Turning over a new leaf at the end. I loved this book more than I thought I would and I'm happy I experienced it after years of it sitting on my shelf. (also my favorite character was Herbert, he's such a nice boy.)

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bit slow in parts. Since it was originally published in installments it has peaks and valleys. It pay better to have the story be longer. The ending is fitting

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Charles Dickens' classic of unrequited love, and failures of communication. Pip grows up without an understanding of where his situation in Victorian england comes from, and later suffers in his quest for understanding who he really is. A tearjerker by modrn standards, and certainly lacks the fairy tale ending that dickens must have tired of by 1861.

[steller0707 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Second time reading this - the first was in high school. First published as a serial in a magazine, I can see how it would have been very popular. It has a little bit of everything in it - adventure, crime, coming-of-age, love gothic and humor!

[stevenjohntait · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book. "You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose..." Perfect. I think I've read it four times, but I'm sure I'll read it again.

[isatyajeet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Speechless...!

[comfypants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A poor boy is promised to inherit a fortune.4/4 (Great).Pip is usually unsympathetic, but there are enough lovable secondary characters, and enough twists and suspense, to keep the book enjoyable, and to make a lasting impression.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What on earth can you say? Pip!

[nittnut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is classic Dickens. I know he uses a lot of words, but he tells tales of the human condition with such humor and compassion. My favorite characters were Joe Gargery and Wemmick. Wemmick was particularly endearing with his "aged P" and his life away from work. So glad I persevered and finished it.

[justagirlwithabook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is another one of my favorites of Dickens'! I have no clue when I read this one but the whole story of Pip really touched me. There were moments I thought he was a fool, but the vast majority of the time I really empathized with him. It's another classic example of Dickens' atmospheric style and wit coming together for an altogether great novel.

[deckla_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Who can resist Pip and Miss Haversham and Joe and Estella and the motley crew of characters that make up this extraordinary novel.

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I slowly work my way through Charles Dickens for the second time in my life (I was 13 when I worked my way through the first time) I am impressed at how well I still like the books. This one isn't my favorite. It is slow at times. This was the only flaw for me. Dickens captures me. There is something about his writing that transports me to a gray and sooty London. I am not sure which one I read next but this book has done nothing to slow down my desire to reread them all.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dickens' descriptions of locations, people and their characters (or lack of it) create a mellow reading experience.They make the plot, at times revolving around Bonkers Chicken predictable twists with a few delightful surprises, more memorable and enduring.His description of Pip's early encounters with the alphabet and numbers is a treasure:"...I struggled through the alphabet as if it had been a bramble-bush...""After that I fell among those thieves, the nine figures, who seemed every evening to do something new to disguise themselves and baffle recognition."Though not as compelling as A TALE OF TWO CITIES, Great Expectations offers fewerannoying personages than his other books and Joe, Wemmick, Herbert, and the Aged givereaders people to care about. Pip and his convict are more of a challenge.

[amerynth · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have liked all of the other books by Charles Dickens that I've read, but boy, I found "Great Expectations" extremely dull. This is the first time I found his work so wordy that it seemed like he was stretching things out to make his serial money add up or something.It's funny because a lot happens in this book, but it felt like the plot just wasn't moving -- perhaps I didn't like Pip, who rises to great fortune and then suffers the obvious fall, as the sole narrator. Glad to be done with this one (finally.)

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am giving this audiobook edition 4* but downgrading my rating for the book itself to 3 ½ stars. I found Pip's devotion to Estella romantic but unconvincing and Pip himself I don't care for very much. This is my third or fourth time reading this novel and I keep hoping that I will discover why so many people think it is Dickens greatest. I like David Copperfield so much that I guess I just wish to feel the same fondness for this... Oh well.

[etxgardener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is classic Dickens. Young Pip, living with his shrewish sister and her dull, but kindly husband falls comes upon Miss Havisham who, upon being jilted years ago has entombed herself in her huge house with the beautiful Estella with whom Pip immediately falls in love,.Miss Havisham tells Pip that he has "Great Expectations" and throughout the book he rises and then falls in business until he finds contentment back where he started from - a sadder but wiser man. If you've never read this doorstop of a book, it's worth your while for a vivid picture on Victorian England and the vivid characters who inhabit it.