There have been a couple of bad reviews on Amazon about this book, but I think the reviewers have not thoroughly read the book. I also feel that they may be gunning for the author because he had a brilliant idea.
The author (Dale Powell) is a middle school teacher, and this book is written for kids- it is full of history that is craftily woven into the tale. That is part of its brilliance.
Also Powell acknowledges in the preface that he is in no way a Dickens and fully acknowledges his "shortcomings to the master" as he puts it.
I am also a teacher and the author has nothing for which to apologize. He created a great moral tale that my students and I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of my students thought it was better than the original, which is NOT timeless, but laced with antiquity.

There have been a couple of bad reviews on Amazon about this book, but I think the reviewers have not thoroughly read the book. I also feel that they may be gunning for the author because he had a brilliant idea.
The author (Dale Powell) is a middle school teacher, and this book is written for kids- it is full of history that is craftily woven into the tale. That is part of its brilliance.
Also Powell acknowledges in the preface that he is in no way a Dickens and fully acknowledges his "shortcomings to the master" as he puts it.
I am also a teacher and the author has nothing for which to apologize. He created a great moral tale that my students and I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of my students thought it was better than the original, which is NOT timeless, but laced with antiquity.

This is a must read for Christmas. It challenges the reader to something that so few books do any more. And that is........
THINK!
At times it is a tear jerker, but happy in the end. Even though the author claims he does not- he DOES do justice to the original.

I see, from the other reviews, that many boys and girls are reading this book in school. Maybe this is not a very good way to enjoy it, because they just have to read it! This is not my case: I read it just for personal interest and I found it very intriguing. Dickens, I think, is at his best when he speaks out of his personal experience; in this historical book he is maybe a little less convincing. But he is able, all the same, to create a wonderful plot, with some unforgettable passages. Sidney Carton on the steps of the Guillotine, holding the hand of the little seamstress, is simply unforgettable...

A Tale of Two Cities is a wonderfull book, I'm 14 so it was at first rather confusing and boring, but I knew that Charles Dickens would NOT end it boring and that in the end I would be stuck on it and keep thinking about it days after. So I stuck to it and I am really glad that I did. When I finished it it was just as I had expected. Its incredible how Dr Manette and Mr Darnay end up so connected! And how Sydney Carton fits into the story at the end. All the strings are tied up at the end wonderfully! The end is great and I love it that it doesn't leave you hanging wondering what happened to them later. I totally recommend it to people that like old fasioned books written long ago. I loved it!

This book was extremely well written. I would suggest this book to anyone. - The Bear

These Cliffsnotes have definitely helped me as a student to understand the book. It can get hard to read if you're a younger person who doesn't know much about the language Charles Dickens used.

I thought this was a great book. It was a really good summery on great expectations. I know how some people get really confused when reading books like this because it is sometimes hard to understand the language. So I highy reccomend this book.

I read this book as a freshmen in high school. The painful memory is still with me. The characters are somewhat colorful and eccentric, but Pip, the main character appears to be a weak individual. It seems to fit the ideal English novel, not a fast moving plot, but revalations still happen none the less.

I thought it was a great book. I'm only in 4th grade but, I thought it was pretty easy. My favorite characters are Estella, Pip, and Miss Havisham. The other characters are fine too. I reccomend this book to grades 4th and up

I may be only a 6th grader, but you wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed this book. Charles Dickens having a poor childhood because of the little money his family earned, has written a miraculous book having to do with money. Charles Dickens makes his case for there being a potential for good and evil in everyone. I really enjoyed reading this book and if you are looking for a fabulous book to enjoy, I strongly reccomend you read this.

The first half of the novel is by turns charming and enlivening. David's challenges make it difficult for a man not to identify with his youthful trials. The bridges between acts - written with the reminiscence of an old man - are enough to make a man of 25 look back wistfully at his youth. Add the zany, lovable characters and this becomes my favorite Dickens - so why just four stars?
Some modern readers might find introduction a tad slow; forewarned, however, they should overcome it, as it is fairly interesting. More seriously, the major subplot (Little Em'ly, Steerforth, and Ham) is resolved too melodramatically in the latter half, which seems out of place with the more natural style of the rest of the novel. This flaw keeps it from being a top-shelf classic, but is in no way destructive to the novel. It is extremely enjoyable.

Phew! This took awhile to read, but fortuantely, I had anticipated that. I gave it 4 stars because that is how I felt about it when I finished it. Knowing that it is a Charles Dickens novel and touted as an all time great, I feel like I should have given it 5 stars. However, I'm sticking with my gut feeling.

David Copperfield is a character that I will never forget. How could I? I lived with him for almost 3 months! I will also remember the many other characters, as Dickens ability to bring them to life is his forte.

Perhaps the reason why I couldn't give it a fifth star is the reason why people gave it negative reviews. There may have been times when a little too much description was given which made it drag slightly. It may well be that due to the fact that he wrote in installments and got paid by the page, that the overall novel is sort of overdone. Some parts were a bit hard to trudge through, which meant I wasn't always compelled to read it. I loved the overall story, the many subplots, and the various personalities. One of my favorite characters is his Aunt Betsy. For anyone who thinks the female characters were all the same, I wonder if they skipped the scenes with the Aunt...or Martha for that matter.

I hope that when and if I have fulfilled my insatiable hunger for the pile of books I haven't read, I can read this again and gain a better understanding of it. I am sure I missed a lot.

I wouldn't have appreciated this book when I was in high school, or probably even college. I think it would take a rare young person to have the patience to stick with it, with all the other crazy things that happen at that time of life. I'm glad that I was able to wait until a point in my life where I was ready to read this book and it wasn't shoved down my throat by some professor.

David Copperfield was always a favorite of mine. It is wonderful, how, circling with the years, I can make my own retrospect and read it again from my older perspective.

When I was younger, I too, wanted to complain that all of Dickens' heroines were the same, and now I realize how wrong I was. Agnes is good and beautiful and patient of course, but what about the heroine Aunt Betsey? What about Miss Mowcher, who gives David a piece of advice "from three foot nothing ... Don't confuse bodily defect with mental!" she exclaims, and this is advice we coudl still use today! What about Peggotty, who is true and good and occasionally silly? Then there are the women who are not so good: Mrs Heep, Miss Murdstone, Mrs Markleham (the Old Soldier) and Rosa Dartle?

Dickens' characters are marvelous, but what I find most wonderful is the love that brings them together. Aunt Betsey takes David in, and is rewarded by the softening of her own heart; Mr. Peggotty seeks and finds his niece; Traddles finally marries "the dearest girl" and long-suffering Mrs Micawber will never desert her husband and something at last turns up Down Under. The characters who are courageous enough to choose love over pride are almost always rewarded at the end -- assuming that they survive, of course! (I'm thinking of Ham.) Perhaps it is just a novel, and those who have courage to love are not always rewarded in real life, but the idea is wonderfully satisfying.

As a Dickons reader and enjoyer, I can testify the author has caught the Dicksonian style beautifully. But, I must confess, I've only HEARD the book read aloud on an NPR affiliate. On the basis of that I would recommend it be read by all who have come to love the original "Scrooge" Christmas Carol by Charles Dickons. It is "the same story" from Marley's point of view. Movement from abysmal greed to heavenly generosity with the help of the 3 spirits and an imp.

I had the pleasure of seeing Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol in Chicago at the Goodman Theater over Thanksgiving weekend (performed entirely by author Tom Mula). His performance inspired me to read the book. I don't know which I enjoyed more! Both, in a word, terrific!

Marley and the bogel take the reader on a wonderous journey through Scrooges transformation from crudgemudgon to Christmas spirit. Author Tom Mula has created a story destined to be a Christmas classic in it's own right. In the Dickens style the reader views Scrooges change from Jacob Marley's side of the picture. Aided, and sometimes abeted, by the bogel Marley leads Scrooge, himself, the bogel, and the reader along the path to the true meaning of Christmas. Any who read it or have it read to them cannot help but enjoy this story. Bravo to Mr. Mula for creating this work.

Jane Smiley is a leading contemporary novelist whose insight into the difficult arcane world of writing for profit is helpful in reviewing our greatest English novelist. As self-described Charles Dickens was the "inimitable." Dickens draws a broad stoke as his thousands of characters lie, cheat,[borrow], love, live and [end life] on the canvas of humanity.
As one who has read all the standard biographies of the 19th behemoth of literature that was Dickens I can highly recommend this excellent book.
Smiley provides a sketch of Dickens life including warts and all. Her dissection of the affair the middle aged author engaged in with actress Ellen Ternan was well done in looking at what may have motivated Dickens to break with his wife Catherine and thumb his nose at Victorian respectability.
Dickens is a mixture of good and bad with the humanity and essential goodness of the man on display.
This little book in the excellent Penguin Viking Biography series could be well used in an introductory course on Dickens, the nineteenth century English novel or on the art of literary biography.
Smiley made me smile and laugh as I explored the mind of a genius with this gifted biographer. It is the best biography I have so far read in this series.

This lively book provides an overview of the literary achievements and personal life of Charles Dickens. For those Amazon.com customers who, like me, don't know how to approach this writer's vast achievements, I provide this advice from Smiley, who is an intelligent, charming, and enthusiastic biographer: "But a newcomer to Dickens can do no better than to begin with a novel-my suggestions are David Copperfield, to be followed by Great Expectations, Dombey and Son, A Tale of Two Cities, and Our Mutual Friend, in that order, light, dark, light, dark, light, a wonderful chiaroscuro of Dickens's most characteristic and accessible work." Bravo for Jane and her fun and concise treatment of an enormous subject!

I've read about half the books in the Penguin series and I'd rate this at the top (other favorites are the bios of Leonardo da Vinci and James Joyce). It's only 207 pages long but there is no sense that anything important was left out. I hadn't realized that Dickens was such an astounding character--Ms. Smiley brings him to life with precise detail, through knowledge, and insights that DESERVE to be called insights. She's obviously an excellent writer herself and every page radiates her professionalism.

once again, (OK it does not happen that often, otherwise we would stop trusting Amazon and shopping with them, would'nt we?) the description is not accurate : this version ISBN 1569945233, monterey media etc.... is an ADAPTATION of Dicken's novel by the St Charles PLayers, who record it with all due talent and spirit BUT as a play, in an "exciting Radio Theater style" quote, unquote.....

This is Charles Dickens' best christmas story. Only David Copperfield tops this story. Mr. Dickens teaches the reader that no matter how much money or position we have, no matter how important we feel, no matter how much cynicism we have, life will come right out in front of us with a big wham!! Tiny Tim is compassion, Mr. Cratchit is hope, Fizziwigg is happiness. And all these things are life at its best. A Christmas Carol is the true feeling and hope and love. Make this short story your hope.

The following review is for the version illustrated by William Geldart, not this version illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. For some reason, Amazon mixed the two up.

This is it! These are the letters, words, sentences, paragraphs that made Christmas the celebration that it is today - the family parties, the feasts, the excitement, giving to the poor. Virtually every way we celebrate this magnificent Holiday (except the mall part!) comes from this book written by Charles Dickens.
First off, this is the unabridged version. Nothing added - nothing taken away. That's as it should be. (Unfortunately, as great as they may be, the movie versions truly do not do the book justice - although I must say the George C. Scott and Alistair Sim versions do come fairly close).
One thing that surprises me about this book is how few people I know that have have actually read it, but they've seen one version or another of the movie countless times! They don't seem to realize that when books are put to film, so much is taken out for length or for other reasons. A Christmas Carol is no different. In fact, if you watch all of the different movie versions available, you STILL would not get the complete book, even though each movie adds one thing or another from the original story that the others may not.
There are countless copies of this story available in various book form, but this particular version is probably one of the best that I have seen. The illustrations attempt in some part to keep in the same spirit as in Dickens' original. But the best, most interesting part of this version (besides the story itself) is all of the little facts, explanations, and trivia put into the margins throughout this book. They give the modern 21st century reader more of an understanding of what 19th century English life was like. A couple of examples: when Dickens writes of the Cratchit family taking their goose to the bakers to be cooked, I wondered why would any one take their food OUT to be cooked and then picked up later. This book explains that few poor people in this time period had ovens large enough to roast a good family sized bird. They were big enough to cook a small bit of meat and that was about it. In order to have one of those rare Holiday meals, they had to take it to the large baker's oven at an appointed time for cooking.
Another fact I did not know was that in the story, Scrooge's sister, Fan, was based on Dickens' actual sister in law, Mary Hogarth.
There are also a multitude of paintings, drawings, and sketches from Dickens' time showing his time. Now you can see, as accurately as one can considering there were no cameras, life of the rich, middle class, and poor as it actually was. There's a picture of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating Christmas. There is also a beautiful painting of a poor labourer's family Christmas celebration. There are sketches from the first edition of 'A Christmas Carol.'
If you plan on owning a copy of this most wonderful of all Christmas novels, this is the version to get.

Laura and Richard Fleming have returned to Laura's hometown of Byerly, NC to help with Cousin Vasti's production of A Christmas Carol. It will be Richard's first chance to direct. Laura is five months pregnant and just along for the ride, or so she thinks. During one rehearsal, the miscast actor playing Scrooge is murdered. There is more to the jolly man than meets the eye. Junior, the police chief is on an involuntary vacation, and her deputy Mark Pope, seems unable to cope, so Laura is drafted by her relatives to solve the murder.

This is a very good mystery. Laura's family is full of characters and the neighbors have more secrets than meets the eye. All in all, a very enjoyable cast and plot.

Laura and Richard Fleming should be getting ready for the Christmas holiday in their Boston home especially with Laura five months pregnant. However, her cousin Vasti from Byerly, North Carolina pleads with the Flemings to come visit her and neither one can say no.

Vasti wants Richard, a Shakespearean professor at Boston College to direct the production of A Christmas Carol. Richard is eager to take up the challenge. During a rehearsal, Seth, the actor portraying Scrooge is found bludgeoned to death. Laura teams up with Junior, the town's chief of police, who is on enforced vacation, to find the killer before he can do any more harm.

MAD AS THE DICKENS is a down home regional mystery starring a cast of eccentric characters that add atmosphere to the story line. The trials and tribulations of a five month pregnant woman will bring smiles to the faces of those reader who were pregnant as well as their spouses. Toni L.P. Kelner has written another absorbing installment in her long running and enjoyable mystery series.

Harriet Klausner

Wish there could be some more stars allowed. 5 is not enough.Can not wait for her next book. Stephen King,watch out.

I am currently being forced to read this book for my Honors English class in high school. I've already read it once before for a different class, so I know what I am talking about when I say this book is the ultimate cure for insomnia.

I honestly try to appreciate what is *supposed* to be fine literature, but "Great Expectations" is about as entertaining as watching kale grow. First off, the fact that this book has two endings inspires a bit of skepticism in me. I've never heard of an author so indecisive that he would put two endings in a novel. It creates a generally unsatisfying conclusion, as you're at a loss for which ending to "accept".

Aside from which, this book has enough useless passages to fill a hundred pages or so. It seems that, basically, Dickens didn't quite know exactly what to write about, but felt the urge to *write* *something*. So he wrote "Great Expectations", following the traditional poor-boy formula of his previous 15 or so books.

I find it especially hilarious that none of my teachers have ever even read the bloody novel, but it's "good" according to the curriculum. In the words of someone from a certain other Charles Dickens book, "Bah! Humbug!".

Don't judge Dickens by this book, however. "David Copperfield", for example, even though it follows the same "poor-boy" formula, is worlds better than this.

As much as I'd love to say, "Oh, it's a classic, everyone should read it!", I personally don't think so.

Like many other high schoolers who wrote reviews on this page, I was forced to read this in my freshman english class. I thought it was an extremely good story. The characters (my favorites being Orlick and Trabb's Boy) are brilliant and subtley funny. The story is creative and unpredictible, and overall, it was absolutely supberb. The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because it tends to drag a lot of the time, and Dickens overlong descriptions are a bit grating on the nerves, but I DO understand why people would have liked it like that in the 1800's. They liked their books long and juicy. It's a bit dated but Great Expectations is well worth a read if you have the patience. Even if you are impatient, you can not miss this great story and its wonderful characters, so at least see one of the many great movie adaptions. My personal favorite movie version of Great Expectations is the 1999 Masterpiece theatre version.

I spent a whole term going over this book in freshmen English class. It is an overall good book, full of interpritations. There are many symbolisms and allusions. However, it is important to remember that this book was originally a serialization, as it came out every week in the paper. There are some parts when Dickens drawls on with his plans, events, ect. However, there are scenes that are very fast paced and action filled. The overall plot is a young, naive boy of about ten lives with his sister and her simple husband named Joe. However, Pip is given a secret benefactor and is thrust in the life of nobility. Pip is tangled in his probelems of leaving Joe behind and his encouters with the shallow (and I mean SHALLOW) Estella and the wicked Miss Havisham. Dickens is a master with characters and the languege, but he doesn't describe any everyday events. For example, Pip goes to study law, but thats all we know. In my opinion, it gives the characters this higher than life importance, and less real. But, if you take this book slowely, maybe a chapter a night (instead of the five I had to do), you will definately enjoy this book.