Great Expectations

I must mark down that we recently finished listening to Great Expectations in the car.  Occasionally we would pause to explain some obscure or reference or witticism, but generally the girls kept up with the plot and enjoyed the story.  It took us a few months to listen to all seventeen hours, and I feel a bit empty now, just like when we finished the Harry Potter or Chronicles of Prydain series.

I found portions of it quite tedious, but overall I enjoyed it.  The reader brought the characters to life, and after reading the biographies of Charles Dickens we could imagine him up on stage reading it himself with all the different voices and mannerisms.  I can still hear Miss Haversham's voice as she said "Do you love her, Pip?"

I think both girls will remember bits of this book for the rest of their lives, just as I had vivid images of Miss Haversham dressed in her wedding gown in her rooms (although to be honest I didn't remember anything else from the book).

I don't think it was quite as popular as the Harry Potter books with the kids, but then again it was shorter than The Half-Blood Prince.