In the marshy mists of a village churchyard a tiny orphan boy named Pip is suddenly terrified by a shivering limping convict on the run Years later a supremely arrogant young Pip boards the coach to London where by the grace of a mysterious benefactor he will join the ranks of the idle rich and become a gentleman Finally in the luminous mists of the village at evening Pip the man meets Estella his dazzingly beautiful tormentor in a ruined garden 151 and lays to rest all the heartaches and illusions that his great expectations have brought upon him Dickens s biographer Edgar H Johnson has said that 151 except for the author s last minute tampering with his original ending 151 Great Expectations is the most perfectly constructed and perfectly written of all Dickens s works In John Irving s Introduction to this edition the novelist takes the view that Dickens s revised ending is far more that mirror of the quality of trust in the novel as a whole Both versions of the ending are printed here July 20 1861 Saturday ReviewMr Dickens may be reasonably proud of these volumes he has written a story that is new original powerful and very entertaining It is in his best vein and although it is too slight and bears many traces of hasty writing it is quite worthy to stand beside Martin Chuzzlewit and David Copperfield - from Amzon