Mister Pip (original 2006; edition 2008)

Amazon summary: On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens’s classic Great Expectations. So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide. As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen-year-old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. As Mr. Watts says, “A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe.” Soon come the rest of the villagers, initially threatened, finally inspired to share tales of their own that bring alive the rich mythology of their past. But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing. ( )

"Mr. Pip" tells the story of Matilda, a young girl who is coming of age on an island during a civil war. The book is an exploration of Matilda's relationship with her mother as well as Mr. Watts, the teacher who introduces her and the other schoolchildren on the island to "Great Expectations" -- "the greatest novel by the greatest English writer of the nineteenth century, Charles Dickens."

There are many things about this novel to love. Jones's writing is wonderful, and the escapism through literature theme will resound with all book lovers. Matilda is a great character -- her voice rings true throughout the book -- and her love of Pip makes you want to go out and read "Great Expectations" again (or for the first time).

This isn't a perfect book. I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, but I think it's a book that would hold up well to a book group discussion and recommend it highly to adults and older teens. ( )

I'm still not entirely clear how I feel about this novel, mainly because there are some absolutely brilliant and astounding elements in the way the author pits religion against Dickens and develops a very profound story. I was absolutely in awe of certain parts of what this book was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. It speaks about genocide equally with imagination, which is very strange.

At the same time, Mr. Watts, the only white man on the island is bringing to these children only Dickens..no novels from people who are minorities, for example. The book succeeds on this point only when it speaks of how it teaches them to relate to new people and places and to use their imagination. Still, the idea that Lloyd Jones, an older gentleman from NZ, can truly hope to know what little Matilda may have experienced discovering wonders and at the same time experiencing such severe brutality is a little naive. And yet, it's difficult not to get wrapped up in her story.

Basically, and I hate to say it, but if it had been a true story and written exactly as is, it would get 5/5 stars. As a work of fiction written by Jones I am more skeptical.

I will say I read this book while working out at my gym and at one point my silent sobs and sweat probably disguised my tears a bit. Yes, it made me cry and cry and cry. There's alot of revelations here that make the book very worth reading.

FAVORITE QUOTES:

pg. 40 "The great shame of trees is that they have no conscience. They just go on staring."

pg 45 "The trouble with Great Expectations is that it's a one-way conversation. There's no talking back. Otherwise I would have told Pip about my mum coming to speak to the class, and how, seeing her at a distance-even though only two desks back from the end of the room-she had appeared different to me. More hostile."

pg 255: "The tour ended back at Eastgate House. I followed the others up the stairs and there I encountered Miss Havisham in her white wedding gown. She was stuck behind glass, her back turned to us sightseers. There for all eternity. I wished she could turn, just for half an instant, to find a black woman staring at her." ( )

Strong: well-plotted, emotional, pretty language. Self-consciously literary, with a sum-up by the narrator at the end that it might have been stronger without. ( )

This excellent novel explores the power of imagination, particularly when inspired by great literature, to open up new worlds and possibilities. Although I've seen this described as a "young adult" novel, my 40s-something ladies book group is enjoying it. Parents of teens and younger readers should be advised that this story is set during a time of war and the characters experience the full brutality of it. ( )