• Great Expectations

  • By: Charles Dickens
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 17 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,058 ratings)

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Great Expectations  By  cover art

Great Expectations

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Classic, 2009

Considered by many to be Charles Dickens's finest novel, Great Expectations traces the growth of the book's narrator, the orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip), from a boy of shallow dreams to a man with depth of character.

From its famous dramatic opening on the bleak Kentish marshes, the story abounds with some of Dickens's most memorable characters. Among them are the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery, the mysterious convict Abel Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella, Pip's good-hearted roommate Herbert Pocket, and the pompous Pumblechook.

As Pip unravels the truth behind his own "great expectations" in his quest to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the convolutions of fate through a series of thrilling adventures serve to steer him toward maturity and his most important discovery of all - the truth about himself.

Public Domain (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The most perfectly constructed and perfectly written of all Dickens's works." (Edgar H. Johnson, Dickens' biographer)

What listeners say about Great Expectations

Average customer ratings
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Simon Vance is Great!

Loved this book! Supposed to read it in High School but, didn't remember any of it.
His performance was brilliant.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heart-breakingly romantic

The narration is solid. The story took my breath away. It’s slow at first, but keep listening. Now I know the meaning of the phrase “it hurts like the Dickens.”

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Story, But Poor Ending

Simon Vance is the perfect narrator for this story. Superbly done.

I liked the story all the way up to the end, which I felt was poorly executed — by the author, not the narrator.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • nm
  • 02-11-20

Weakest Dickens experience I've had so far

I listened to this right after Moby Dick, and granted, that may have been a bad idea since that novel was incredible and colossal and just wonderful on so many levels...

Nevertheless, I didn't get wrapped up in this one, and it felt as if characters declined from saying or doing the most natural thing sometimes, as a plot device, just to make the story a bit more suspenseful.

David Copperfield was one of the best novels I ever listened to. Nicholas Nickleby was a lot of fun. Great Expectations had some grand side characters and the witty, perceptive, effortless style of Dickens. Still, it was the weakest Dickens experience I've had so far.

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Great Expectations!

This book is written in old English style and difficult to read on paper. However the Audible is excellent as the actor used many different voices to convey each character. And throughout the book he was able to capture those same tones and voices for each character from the beginning to the end I would highly recommend this book!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Classic but really?

The performance was outstanding. The language was very hard to understand. Lots of words. I understand that this is a supposed to be a classic and once you grasp what's going on its a good story but so hard to follow. And the ending was not satisfying especially since its such a long story.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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sorry

Just very dull for me. maybe someone else night like it. i didn't really understand it.

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Simon Vance is a remarkable interpreter

A much more interesting novel than one might recall from high school.
Interesting novel which strides to a great finish in the last several hundred pages.
Simon Vance is a remarkable narrator and brings this novel to life.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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For a long time I was ashamed to admit that I hadn

For a long time I was ashamed to admit that I hadn't read Charles Dickens. Until now, I had only experienced his work through various adaptations of A Christmas Carol, (Scrooged being my favorite interpretation) and recently listened to Dodge & Twist. This was the first time I experienced his work unaltered and I have to say that I'm not sure why it's so beloved? Am I missing something because I'm too many decades removed from the time it was written in and embodies? Or am I missing something because I'm not English?

While only a fourth of this book was engaging for me, I'm glad I stuck it out to the end. I adored Joe, Pip's brother-in-law and guardian. There's also Estella, though not anywhere near as likable as Joe (and even Pip would have to admit that), every scene involving her grabbed my attention and greatly improved the book.

Unfortunately, as bored as I was with all the Joeless and Estellaless parts (aka all the parts with Pip interacting with anyone else), they're almost all existential to the overall comprehension of the story.

Simon Vance's narration is adequate, but not groundbreaking. I feel it neither added or subtracted anything from my enjoyment.

All in all, this book just couldn't live up to my great expectations. I see myself out now.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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expectations exceeded

narrator brought this Dickens classic story to life. highly recommend. many lessons can be learned

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