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Great Expectations

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Great Expectations

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
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About this listen

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Pip is an orphan, brought up in a village on the Essex marshes by his disagreeable sister and her husband Joe Gargery, the kind-hearted village blacksmith. Life is harsh and Pip has few prospects until he receives from an anonymous benefactor the chance of escaping the forge for a more promising life in London. But his expectations are fraught with difficulties as he is haunted by figures from his past such as the escaped convict Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham, and her proud and beautiful ward, Estella. As he passes from childhood to adulthood he in time discovers his true self.

Powerfully moving, the story is immersed in Dickens's own memories of the past, raising questions about the extent to which individuals affect each other's lives.

Often considered Dickens's best-loved work, Great Expectations features some of his most memorable characters and continues to attract fans of all ages.

Dickens was one of eight children from a very poor family, with his father eventually being sent to debtors' prison. At the age of 12, Dickens had no choice but to start work in order to help clear the family debt. It was this troublesome childhood that provided him with much of the material for his novels and lent him a sympathetic voice for the poor.

Narrator Biography

Martin Jarvis is one of Britain's most admired actors. His audiobook output is legendary. He is described in Vanity Fair as 'the Olivier of audiobooks' and 'genius of the Spoken Word' in the LA Times. Award-winning recordings range from titles by Charles Dickens, P.G. Wodehouse and Michael Frayn to thrillers by Jeffrey Archer, Wilbur Smith, Ian Fleming and Dick Francis. Martin's BBC Just William recordings are worldwide best sellers.

Martin Jarvis has starred in many acclaimed West End and National Theatre productions and received the Theatre World Award as Jeeves on Broadway. Numerous UK television appearances encompass Law & Order, Doctor Who, Endeavour, Inspector Morse and The Forsyte Saga. In America: Murder She Wrote, Numb3rs, Cosmos and Walker, Texas Ranger. Films include Titanic, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Wreck-It Ralph. Videogames: 'Alfred' in Batman, 'Finn McMissile' in Cars.

Martin is invested by HM the Queen as Officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Theatre Heartfelt
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Martin Jarvis is amazing! He brought this book to life in such a wonderful way.
Great expectations is both a step back in time and demonstration of the timeless struggles presented to mankind. Great book, amazing Audible version! Thank you.

Great Edition of a high Expectation

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Outstanding performance of the wide range of colourful dickens characters with beautiful nuance and authentic emotion. Thank you

A classic among classics

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Such a fabulous story and read so well. All the different people given voice. Sometimes very amusing.

What's not to live about Charles Dickens

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A classic literary masterpiece by Charles Dickens beautifully narrated. Every tragedy and triumph felt.
Highly recommend listen.

Literary masterclass

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What a dynamic combo - Dickens and Jarvis! This is - in my humble - Dickens's finest piece and the performance given by Mr Jarvis lifts the socks off a literary scorcher. Do yourself a favour!

Such Listening Pleasure!

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This is a wonder narration of a splendid story. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Loved the version of this book. wonderful narrat'n

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An absolute masterpiece, personality given to every character and Martin Jarvis’ voice was a perfect reminder that this is an older Pip telling the story of his youth. I just loved it!

Fantastic to listen to!

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Thank you for this wonderful version of this classic. All the voices of Martin Jarvis just made it a wonderful experience. What a beautiful story.

Martin Jarvis is phenomenal

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Initially I had to re-listen to the first few chapters to get into the book but enjoyed it afterwards. The narrater does a splendid job telling this story.

Wonderful narration

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I don't know if this is a book I could read the English is too old and harsh, however listening to it, it really is one of the best books

Absolutely great listen.

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