My feelings

Hi everyone. I am a high school senior and Great Expectations was assigned to our A.P. class as our first discussion novel. I have to say, that like most of the responses here, I found the novel very hard to get in to. It isn't the story itself, which is really very compelling and moving, but in the descriptive language that Dickens writes in. Now, don't get me wrong, Dickens isn't Cooper or anything, ("He consumed the meat without the aid of cookery/He ate the meat raw) but his extravagant wording can lead to sections of the book where one finds it difficult to keep their head up. I respect his ability to write so descriptively and detailed, but it simply isn't my preference for leisure reading. Once I got into the story, however, I found it to be very rich and deep, not only in the plot, but in lessons that can be extrapolated. It is rightfully considered a classic, in my opinion. Take the time to get through the first few chapters, and you will be rewarded.