Great Expectations

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman.

Public Domain (P)2008 Audio Connoisseur

Critic reviews

• Audie Award, Classic, 2010
• Audie Award, Solo Narration - Male, 2010

well read, great story

I love Dickens, and the audio version with his different voices helps sort out his sometimes wordiness. I enjoyed it very much.

That it was by Dickens should have been enough

That it was Charles Dickens should have been enough but, add to that a narration by Charlton Griffin and we have a masterpiece of a masterpiece. Sounds like hyperbole but how else to describe a book so well written and so well, well what? Surely not merely narrated. Not even only acted. It was like Charlton Griffin got into the mind of Dickens and transfers that experience to us. This is such a wonderful book and to have it presented to us here by Mr. Griffin is not something to be missed. Everything is so well tied up in the end with a pretty little knot but not before we are entertained with surprise after surprise. And the use of the English language... OMG, like few ever have before him nor I doubt few ever will again.

Expect Greatness

What can be said about a classic by Mr. Dickens that has not already been said? For me, I would merely add these two thoughts: 1) Charlton Griffin performs amazingly as the narrator (easily one of the best on Audible if not thee best) and 2) finally another audio book producer has come along who understands the importance of incidental music placed within an audio book.


This last point is a huge one with me. In the past, most audio books of any quality DID have some music within them, if only brief interludes between chapters. Of more recent times, the music has disappeared, and thus the overall entertainment experience has degraded. I have made this point to Audible and received genuine lack of concern on their part. After all, why should they care, when their money is coming in any way?! But...they should care. It's about the art; the overall art of the audio book experience. Music is the icing on the audio book. Without it, it's just someone reading a book.

Great Expectations does not have cars blowing up or blood flowing everywhere, and so if you are looking for that kind of a book, you will be disappointed. But Great Expectations is a well-written book by an author who, while on earth, had a firm control of the written language and an audio book read by a narrator who is clearly one of the best.

Biddie Rather Than Estella

Convinced that Dickens must have worthwhile aspects that I have heretofore overlooked, since he continues to be read and admired, I determined to give him another chance with the excellent reader, Charlton Griffin. The listen worked painlessly and well. Griffin helped me to believe in the improbable characters (except for Estella, who is beyond hope), and between writer and reader, they wrung a few laughs and tears from me. Apparently, in the original serialized version of Great Expectations, Pip and Biddie were to be united at the end, but Dickens was influenced to opt for Estella. Bad choice for both Pip and the novel, but Griffin eases us over it.

A must hear for everyone!

The best audio performance I've heard to date! Charlton Griffin is every character with exceptional versatility and perfect cadence. A truly remarkable story-teller. Great expectations is a beautiful and perfect tale of mercy, greed, repentance and just desserts.

Completely Engaging

Never underestimate the power of Dickens to enthrall. This is such a classic, and it was read so well. This listen got me through a month of washing dishes in the preschool where I work.

Great Expectations

The book was a good listen. It does have it's ups and downs and you have to sludge through them. Mr. Griffin did a good job and I would like to listen to more of his work.

Good nostalgic read

Meets expectations. This was a great story revived to me after 4 decades when it was a prescribed literature in high school. In my opinion this story is better taken as an adult with life experiences with which to digest the nuances. Or then again, may be the narrator reads so much better than I ever did !

worth a listen!

after reading the reviews about this reader, charlton griffin, i decided to give it a try. i'm pretty picky about who i listen to... but he's excellent. (and that's 20+ hours of listening). i really looked forward to my long subway ride so that i'd have an excuse to listen to this book!

One of the best I have ever listened to!

I have always been a huge Dickens fan, but the problem with Dickens and a lot of classic literature is it is so hard to find a well done audiobook. There are always scores of available audiobooks, and it's so hard to pick a good one based on the 30 second clip provided by Audible (which, btw, is still a huge help!). I have often been stuck listening to 40 hours of a dry, monotone narrator who has nearly ruined a classic for me. I listened to the Help in the summer and LOVE it, so when I noticed that Charles Griffin also won a 2010 Audie, I though I would trust the Audie awards once again and listen to his rendition of Great Expectations. I was not disappointed! Griffith has a fantastic narrative voice and uses just the right amount of drama in his telling of the story. It reminded me of being a little kid again and having my dad read some of the oldest and greatest classics to me before bed. I would highly recommend this version of Great Expectations.