Mister Pip (edit title)

• Rated 3 stars

“A stunning book. I absolutely loved the description of the child growing to love Great Expectations and story. The relationships between her, her mother and Popeye are beautifully described. It has some of the power of To Kill a Mockingbird in the child's attempts to understand the adult world and the bravery of Popeye and her mother. I found the description of the violence and cruelty very upsetting. Overall a book that will live with me and which I will re-read when I can stomach the violence.”

• Rated 5 stars

“A story about the power of storytelling. Mr Pip takes place in Bougainville (part of Melanesian) in the 1990s. Bougainville Copper Limited was exploiting the island’s huge copper reserves. Resentment over the negative effects of the company’s activities on the area and the lack of any tangible benefit to the islanders erupted into conflict. Attempts at proclaiming the independence of Bougainville (Republic of North Solomons) have occurred twice, once in 1975 and the other in 1990. In the second case the government of Papua New Guinea moved to put down what became a secessionist movement. (http://en.wikipedia.org)

Mr Pip was the white man living on the island, isolated from the other villagers because of his colour. When school was closed because there were no teachers he volunteered to teach the local children. His first and most important teaching technique was reading aloud from his only book Dickens’ Great Expectations. So much of what was written was foreign to the students whose only home was on a tropical paradise that was now at war. Yet the moral truths did shine through.

A must read. Well deserved Booker Prize Nominee.”

• Rated 5 stars

“With this book, I have now done a 'first': I've read all five books from this past year's Man-Booker short list.

This is a wonderful, short, easy to read, meaningful book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“A wonderful and unusual book set on a Pacific Island slowly being destroyed by war. One eccentric white man stays behind on the island and teaches school to the local children. His only teaching tool is a copy of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. The story of the villagers and their experience of the war is interwoven with the story of Great Expectations. The book is beautifully written, the characters are wonderfully drawn and the plot is full of unexpected twists and turns and is deeply shocking in parts. Great Expectations and Pip are as important in this novel as the characters themselves.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Dealing with the gaps and differences created by race, MISTER PIP, describes the lives of the children living on an island. When Mr. Watts, the only caucasian man living on the island re-opens the school and starts reading Charles Dickens' GREAT EXPECTATIONS, the children are able to get a view of England and follow Pip's life. Throughout the book, the children are reminded that there are differences between them and Pip, and that they must deal with their own troubles, like the military conflict that begins to touch their island. Through this book, one can see that even though people may live in different times and with different appearances, their situations can be similar.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This is an unusual story of an old white guy on a Caribbean island who finds himself teaching young children by sharing his love of "Great Expectations" with them (hence thw title). There are lurking political undercurrents and later in the book a shocking and saddening sequence is played out. There are some great characters and the relationships between them are particularly well written and insightful.”

• Rated 0 stars

“This seems like a good book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“The storytelling of Great Expectations in the midst of the 1990s civil war in Bougainville that pitched the islanders against the government of Papua New Guinea.
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• Rated 5 stars

“One of my favourite reads for 2007. I loved the link with Dickens and especially Great Expectations, one of my favourite Dickens. Disappointed that the end was a little flat”

• Rated 4 stars

“Even if you have not read Great Expectations, this story will touch you. Book lovers will appreciate Mr. Watts' (Pop Eye) ability to teach Matilda and her classmates how to find a new world within their own imaginations. This novel will make you both laugh and cry.”