Microblog (F1)

For my first fiction book I decided to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's a little bit on the longer side (500 pages), but it is manageable because of how Dickens keeps you interested in the plot. As I was working my way through the beginning of the book, I noticed that it was extremely easy to keep focus and loose track of time while reading it. I think this is due to the fact that one: Dickens is an amazing writer, and two: he uses first person and a lot of dialogue. Dialogue and first person descriptions allow me to only think about one point of view instead of constantly having to think about the viewpoints of many different characters. After reading my non-fiction book which was written in third person omniscient, I realized how much I enjoy reading a first person story.

That being said, I also did some research on Charles Dickens himself and the choices that he made to write the story from Pip's point of view. I found that in Charles Dickens' childhood his parents were sent to debtor's prison and Dickens was left to work in order to stay alive. Just like how Pip does not want to work as an apprentice to Joe, Dickens doesn't want to work in the factory. I also found that most of the characters in the book are based around life experiences that Dickens has had. For example, Dickens was a law clerk at one point in his life and met an unethical lawyer and that character shows up in Mr. Jaggins. Ultimately, Great Expectations is a reflection of many events in Charles Dickens' life and he writes it from the perspective of a small boy who aspired to the world that was out of his reach, just like Dickens himself.