Mr. Pip

Mr. Pip

Lloyd Jones

4 out of 5


From where the first chapter begins to where this books ends is nothing short of a surprise. Usually, you can pick up a book, read the first chapter or two and know the direction that the writer wants to take you - not so with Mr. Pip. What begins with a classroom enjoying Great Expectation will lead the reader to a devastating end that has a young child rebuilding her life --with the help of Charles Dickens and an unforgettable teacher lovingly call Mr. Pip.

Told from the perspective of young Matilda, the reader is introduced to Mr. Watts, a white man who has come to a small island near Papua New Guinea to teach the local children. However, his teaching is a little different then what you would expect. His whole curriculum is based off Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

Amidst the racial conflicts between the blacks and the redskins, Mr. Watts, or Mr. Pip - as he wants the children to call him, begins the Dickens tale and quickly draws the children in, while gartering the mistrust of many adults, into Pips world and thereby captivating the children during the liberation struggle that is going on around them.

This is no sweet little tale, the times and people are brutal, but with determination, Great Expectations, Mr. Pip and Matilda's story will live on for many generations.