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Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
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Mister Pip (original 2006; edition 2007)

by Lloyd Jones

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
3,4751803,660 (3.8)1 / 509
On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, on which survival is a daily struggle, eccentric Mr. Watts, the only white man left after the other teachers flee, spends his day reading to the local children from Charles Dickens's classic Great Expectations.
Member:ren47
Title:Mister Pip
Authors:Lloyd Jones
Info:Torino, Einaudi, [2007]
Collections:Your library, Read but unowned
Rating:***
Tags:Nuova Zelanda, Metaletteratura, Grandi speranze, Lettura

Work Information

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (2006)

  1. 80
    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (cbl_tn, HelenGress)
    cbl_tn: Mister Pip explores the reading and interpretation of Great Expectations in a late 20th century South Sea island culture in the midst of a civil war.
  2. 20
    Small Island by Andrea Levy (kathrynnd)
  3. 53
    Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Booksloth)
  4. 20
    Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2810michael)
  5. 21
    The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (Booksloth)
  6. 10
    The Other Hand by Chris Cleave (Booksloth, 2810michael)
  7. 10
    Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2810michael)
  8. 00
    Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (kathrynnd)
  9. 00
    Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard (bnbookgirl)
    bnbookgirl: tiny tim all grown up
  10. 00
    Wanting by Richard Flanagan (2810michael)
    2810michael: Mostly because of the role of Charles Dickens in both books...
  11. 00
    Jack Maggs by Peter Carey (suzecate)
    suzecate: both novels that revisit Great Expectations
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» See also 509 mentions

English (167)  French (2)  Swedish (2)  Spanish (2)  Danish (2)  Catalan (1)  Italian (1)  Hebrew (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (179)
Showing 1-5 of 167 (next | show all)
As a novel that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and that won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and awards from the American Library Association, you can be decently sure this is a well written book. Before reading it though, ask yourself this question: is it okay for a white author to write a story about a black girl in a third world country discovering great value in a novel straight out of the Great Western Canon of dead white males, as presented to her class by a white male teacher. If this makes you want to start warning about paternalism and condescending neo-colonial attitudes, or finds you incredulous that a poor black girl in a third world country wracked by violence would ever find escape in Charles Dickens's London, then you're not going to like this.

If you're prepared to believe that such a story could be written without the author being guilty of a nostalgic fondness for the alleged civilizing mission of the British Empire, or on the other hand possibly embodying the fantasies of white liberal academia saving the world to assuage its white liberal guilt, you could well identify with Matilda as she finds refuge for her mind in a great work of literature in the midst of a bad personal situation. Yes, many novels have been written on this general theme, because it is surely a not too uncommon real life thing, especially in the sub-population of authors and avid readers, one suspects. This one may not offer much that is new to the genre, other than its unusual setting in Papau New Guinea, but it is well done.

You might also want to be aware that the novel is in fact written in the voice of Matilda many years after the events that unfolded when she was a girl, after she has become a refugee in Australia, gone to university, and embarked on writing a graduate thesis. This might prevent you from complaining that the book's voice doesn't sound like it is coming from a young girl of little education. ( )
  lelandleslie | Feb 24, 2024 |
(audio) An imaginative story as told from the eyes and ears of a 13yr old black girl living on island caught up in a revolution. How the reading of Great Expectations by a white man living on the small island sparks the imagination of all who live there.
  bentstoker | Jan 26, 2024 |
This had a sad twist and an interesting ending. I enjoyed it well enough though it took me awhile to get through it. ( )
  secondhandrose | Oct 31, 2023 |
I saw this pass through the library a year ago or so, and I thought it looked interesting. But since Great Expectations figures so heavily into the plot, I didn't want to read it until I had read Great Expectations. So yeah, I read Great Expectations so I could read this book. It was about time I'd read some Dickens anyway, and I'm glad I read it.

Reading this book, I learned about a horrible piece of history I'd never heard anything about, the Bougainville conflict in Papua New Guinea in the 90's. In this setting of fear and violence, Mister Pip takes place. Mister Pip is told from the point of view of a teenager, Matilda, who has become enamored of Pip and his world. It's an escape for many of the children who are read to by the only white man left on the island, Mr. Watts. It's a story of resilience but also of misdirected hostility and senseless violence. What happens in Matilda's village is at times a reflection of the larger conflict in her country and at times a reflection of the plot of the novel she has come to love and use as an escape.

The sudden violent deaths of Mr. Watts and Matilda's mother were powerful, and (even though at the time I felt like throwing the book across the room)necessary. From the bit of reading I've done on the subject, it portrayed the horror that the people living on the island at that time experienced.

I recommend it, with the warning that it delivers some heavy punches to the stomach, and you might be a little wrecked after reading it. ( )
  Harks | Dec 17, 2022 |
Mister Pip by the New Zealand author Lloyd Jones offers a story of how one brave but unassuming man keeps his village together during a time of brutal civil war through his lessons to the town’s children. HIs biggest interest is in the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens with which he mesmerizes the town’s children while the unspeakable horrors of war surround their tiny village.
The teacher, Mr. Watts had been an enigma to the town as its only white resident amid a clan of black local residents. He is an unlikely hero, yet provides the emotional rudder for the town’s people as they come into the crosshairs of two competing and ruthless jungle warriors.
His love of Dickens invades the hearts and souls of the children, most notably central character Matilda who never loses her interest of passion for Dickens.
The war surrounding the village is brutal. The towns people lose all of their possessions to the rebel force which later returns to even destroy their homes. Later in the story, the rival force wrecks even more havoc, scarring the children with nightmarish memories they will struggle with for the rest of their lives.
The book is strong in its portrayal of war, of the poverty of native peoples, of the beliefs and superstitions of the people and it portrayal of the violence they endure.
The book converts through its story a love of the works of Charles Dickens which he has portrayed through this engaging story.
I came across the book while visiting New Zealand where I asked a used book store owner for his recommendation. I was able to read the entire novel during the long airline flight I had after my visit to this gorgeous island nation had ended. Thus I returned home with both gift of a fine vacation, a good book and an author I would not have experienced had I not stopped into that bookstore. ( )
  PaulLoesch | Apr 2, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 167 (next | show all)
if “Mister Pip” is preachy — and it is — it’s also a book with worthwhile thoughts to impart. Mr. Jones’s ability to translate these thoughts into the gentle, tropical, roundabout idiom of his setting (“braids remind us that sometimes it is hard to know where goodness ends and badness begins”) turns out to be genuinely affecting.
added by NinieB | editNew York Times, Janet Maslin (pay site) (Sep 17, 2007)
 
Jones covered it as a journalist, and this delicate fable never shies away from the realities of daily life shadowed by violence..... In this dazzling story-within-a-story, Jones has created a microcosm of post-colonial literature, hybridising the narratives of black and white races to create a new and resonant fable. On an island split by war, it is a story that unites....There is a fittingly dreamy, lyrical quality to Jones's writing, along with an acute ear for the earthy harmonies of village speech... Mister Pip is the first of Jones's six novels to have travelled from his native New Zealand to the UK. It is to be hoped that it won't be the last.
 
added by lucyknows | editscis (pay site)
 

» Add other authors (42 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Lloyd Jonesprimary authorall editionscalculated
Hyllienmark, OlovTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lyons, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Riera, ErnestTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
'Characters migrate.' Umberto Eco
Dedication
To my family
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Everyone called him Pop Eye.
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"...you cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames." (page 155)"
"A Prayer was like a tickle. Sooner or later God would have to look down to see what was tickling his bum."
I do not know what you are supposed to do with memories likes these. It feels wrong to want to forget. Perhaps this is why we write these things down, so we can move on."
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Wikipedia in English (1)

On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, on which survival is a daily struggle, eccentric Mr. Watts, the only white man left after the other teachers flee, spends his day reading to the local children from Charles Dickens's classic Great Expectations.

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Book description
'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.'

Bougainville. 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island.

When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of Great Expectations.

But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns. Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished.
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Penguin Australia

2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 1921145579, 1921520248

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

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