01213nam a22001457a 4500020001800000082001000018100002100028245004000049250000800089260003200097300003600129505001700165520085800182650002701040  a9780141439563  a823.8  aDickens, Charles  aGreat ExpectationscCharles Dickens  a1st  aLondonbPenguin Booksc1996  axxviii, 514 Pagesb20X13 cmbPB  aInclude Maps  aOne of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming-of-age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens' dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire. Raised by a humble blacksmith, Pip is recruited by the wealthy Miss Havisham to be a companion to her ward, the cold but beautiful Estella. There, Pip learns to despise his rough origins as Estella torments him about his low prospects. When Pip is informed that an unknown benefactor expects to make him his heir, he sets off to London to realize his great expectations. But true gentleman stature, he will find, is a matter of character, not fortune.   aYoung menaBenefactors