Because I had read Great Expectations for the first time only recently, I was intrigued with the title and the little bit I had read about this book. At first, the story went along pretty much as I had expected it to. As the children were using their imaginations to try to understand Dicken's main character, Pip, and the England he lived in; I, the reader, was learning about them and their families, their growing up on an island in Papua New Guinea. Even though there was a conflict between rebels and government troops regarding a mine on their island (a true event, by the way), it seemed more of a historical background for a coming-of-age story that was sweet/charming, as well as the reason for why this "last White man" had come into their lives. Instead, the book turns much darker as Mr. Dicken's "Pip" becomes a very real character in their lives in ways neither they (nor I) could imagine as the war comes to their village.

This book opens with so much praise from critics that it's initially a challenge to find where the story begins. It is recommended by newspapers from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, magazies including 'Saga' and 'Good Housekeeping', and it was part of Richard and Judy's Book Club, and it was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. In some respects, that makes this a daunting read. Not because I think it will be too worthy or challenging, but because I always suspect I will be disappointed when a book is so massively hyped up. How can it possible be as good as these thirty million people are suggesting? My inner sceptic folded its arms as I started to read.

'Everyone called him Pop Eye. Even in those days when I was a skinny thirteen-year-old I thought he probably knew about his nickname but didn't care. His eyes were too interested in what lay up ahead to notice us barefoot kids.'

The first paragraph immediately illuminates several key points. This is a retrospective narrative told by a maturing teenager, suggesting that to some extent we will follow her emotional development. We are introduced to a central character, whose nickname makes him seem strange but whose description hints at untold wisdom. Perhaps he will be some kind of mentor for the narrator. There is a sense of us and them which deepens when the reader learns that Pop Eye (or Mr Watts) is a rarity who quickly becomes an oddity: the only white man left on the island since it was blockaded as part of a civil war. In a way then, the basic themes of the novel seem clear from the first page; this is probably just as well, since this is a fairly slim novel (219 pages in the paperback edition).

The joy of reading this comes from the simplicity with which the story is told. The narrator's descriptions are simple but telling, using language that is appropriate to her life in a small, isolated village on a small, nearly-forgotten island. When describing Pop Eye further we learn that:
'His large eyes in his large head stuck out further than anyone else's - like they wanted to leave the surface of his face. They made you think of someone who can't get out of the house quickly enough.'

In fact, the simplicity of the style and language may initially lull you into feeling this is quite a calm tale, but as the civil war worsens and events become increasingly dramatic, the understated style allows the reader to be more shocked by the terrible events that happen.

The real story begins when Mr Watts decides to re-open the school and teach the children using only one textbook: 'Great Expectations'. This initially creates some mild humour as the children pass on Mr Watts' initial message to their parents: tomorrow they will be meeting Mr Dickens. This unfamiliar, white man's name creates quite a stir and the next day each child arrives to school with a list of things they would like the mysterious Mr Dickens to provide: kerosene, matches, aspirin...

What Mr Dickens really seems to provide, at least initially, is confidence for Mr Watts. Weak on geography, lacking in the history of the famous names he passes on to them, he is always grateful to pass on what he is sure of: the work of the greatest British writer ever. The children appear to be under a spell, for although they have to query much of the vocabulary ('What does "rimey" mean?' 'It means misty. Foggy.' 'Ok...what does "foggy" mean?') as they learn about life in Victorian London, they enjoy the story so much that they take little snippets home to their parents. This is where the story really provides something for the children: trapped in their homes with the danger increasingly threatening, (gradually, the families' older boys vanish to become fighters,) they are able to escape to a marvellous alternative world as they follow Pip's journey.

For their families, the story has a rather different effect: unease. The narrator, Matilda, seems increasingly drawn into a battle between her mother, who believes in the Bible, God and the devil, and Mr Watts, who believes in none of those things, but does believe in the power of literature. How Mr Watts responds to this leads to some quite entertaining scenes, until an underhand act and a child's error combine to create a violence that gathers a fearful momentum. The main section of the book is concerned with these battles.

The final section of the book is rather different and seems somewhat unnecessary. Matilda learns truths that seem of little value and the book feels rather aimless by the end, the links to 'Great Expectations' strained in order to create a work of thoroughly modern, post-colonial meta-fiction. It does start to feel a little 'worthy'. That criticism aside, the novel is worth reading to enjoy Matilda's distinctive voice and remember that literature really can have powerful effects - for good and ill. ( )

This was a strange little book, which has any number of elements which would normally combine to irk me a great deal: a middle-aged white man writing in the voice of a teenage girl of colour from a remote island in Papua New Guinea; a style so simple and staccato that it seemed almost tonally at odds with the extreme violence which is described towards the end; some rather smug, back-slapping, Kipling-esque undercurrents; a denouement which is described too quickly, falling rather flat and continuing on for a good forty pages longer than it needed to.

And yet almost despite myself, I found myself really enjoying Mister Pip. Jones has something wonderful to say about the power of the imagination, of shared imagination and emotion, which pulls the whole novella together and makes it work. It makes it entirely believable that a barely literate young woman would find a connection with a fictional character from a book set a century ago and thousands of miles away—and not just believable, but compelling. ( )

“I will be honest with you. I have no wisdom, none at all. The truest thing I can tell you is that whatever we have between us is all we’ve got. Oh, and of course Mr. Dickens.”

So begins Mr. Watts (Pop Eye) in his not-so confidence-instilling speech to the children at the inception of his informal, short-lived teaching career. Showing he does actually possess wisdom to some degree, Mr. Watts also tells the children “I want this to be a place of light…No matter what happens.” Mr. Watts is the sole remaining white man on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea throughout the dark times of the 1990s civil war.

In Mister Pip, Matilda narrates her story of going to school and learning about life and literature even as death and violence circles her village. As Matilda notes, school with Mr. Watts is different. “This was school, but not how I remembered it. Perhaps that’s why everything felt strange, as if we were trying to squeeze into an old life that didn’t exist anymore, at least not in the way we remembered.” Through Mr. Watts’ teaching methods, the children learn to navigate the new circumstances of their lives. A large piece of Mr. Watts teaching centers around helping the children discover new and personal connections with Mr. Dickens’ Great Expectations from which Mr. Watts reads one chapter every day.

To supplement Great Expectations and the other gaps in Mr. Watt’s knowledge (what is chemistry the study of again?), he invites the children’s parents into the classroom so that they can share their own particular knowledge. Out of these occasions the children come away with new insight into topics such as the color blue, faith, the devil, octopus slaughtering and turtle cooking techniques, sex, and weather forecasting (”Trust crabs above all others”). But it is the reading of Great Expectations that provides the classroom anchor and the daily haven even as the village is surrounded by both government and rebel troops.

As Pip and his story become more important and intertwined with the children’s stories, the parents become increasingly uneasy. Matilda’s mother, Dolores, in particular, feels that Great Expectations has no relevance to the children’s lives. For Dolores, her Bible is the only worthy book: “Faith is like oxygen. It keeps you afloat at all times,” and she worries that her daughter’s interest in Pip may lead her to disregard her ancestry and the teachings of the Good Book. Dolores begins to see Mr. Watts as her enemy and rival.

All of this unrest over Great Expectations leads to the only copy of the book disappearing, but by that time, the children know the story so well that they re-create Pip’s story from their memories and their imaginations. Mr. Watts teaches the children that they each have a unique voice and he encourages them to use it, “Your special gift that no one can ever take from you.”

Dolores’ insecurities about the book and about Matilda’s connections to it lead her to tell Matilda to record her ancestors’ names on the beach. Dolores hopes that this action will force Matilda to remember and revere her ancestors like she remembers the book. But Matilda feels more connected to Pip, and she ends up with “Pip” inscribed into the sand on the beach. When the redskins (government soldiers) see “Pip” written in the sand and when they keep hearing his name, they decide that Pip must be a rebel spy. They demand that he turn himself in.

The redskins issue ultimatums to the villagers that they procure Pip or else. Without the book and without a Pip to bring forth, Mr. Watts declares himself to be Pip, and he begins a multi-evening storytelling event in which the tale he tells is partly Pip’s, partly the islanders’, and partly his own as soldiers and villagers alike listen on. All do not live happily ever after, however, as this is war and the redskins and the rebels trust no one and treat others’ with wartime brutality.

Mister Pip stands as a profound post-colonial work commenting on story construction and the power of story, the atrocities of war, and the vicissitudes of human morality. Mister Pip has been recognized as such, making the short list for the Man Booker Prize and winning the Commonwealth Prize and the Alex Award (click here for more Alex Award Winners: adult books with special appeal for young adults).

Takeaway Quotes:

“A gentleman is a man who never forgets his manners, no matter the situation. No matter how awful, or how difficult the situation…A gentleman will always do the right thing.”

“…to be human is to be moral, and you cannot have a day off when it suits” ( )

Mr Pip is fiction set in an historically accurate context of the civil war in Bougainville in the 1990s - a contemporary conflict, and for Australians, one that is on our door step.

The story is told through the eyes of a young village woman, Matilda. It has an originality of theme and approach. Great Expectations is used as a framework for much of the narrative – so for lovers of Dickens, to meet an old favourite in this clever way is a wonderful “added value” to the read. There is also clever commentary on cultural imperialism, without it ever actually being directly mentioned.

The book’s many layers and themes were skilfully interwoven to the extent that it defies attempts to box it neatly into a genre. It is a mystery, a war story, a love story, historical fiction….

The technical quality of the plot development, the use of Matilda as story teller and the seamless way it moved from Bougainville to Townsville and then New Zealand was exemplary. There is beautiful use of language, a style that is factual, and almost non emotive while at the same time, telling an emotionally charged and powerful story.

The character development, the way Jones treats human frailties and the cameos – especially Grace’s story – are highlights.

Be prepared for violence and tragedy and an ending that perhaps isn’t what it could have been. But most importantly, the book taught me something. I had heard about Bougainville of course, but until reading Mr Pip it was just another conflict of the many in the world. On finishing the book I was moved to find out more. ( )