Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 'Lloyd Jones brings to life the transformative power of fiction . . . This is a beautiful book' Sunday Times 'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' Bougainville, 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's ...
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Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 'Lloyd Jones brings to life the transformative power of fiction . . . This is a beautiful book' Sunday Times 'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' Bougainville, 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of Great Expectations. But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns. Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
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Seller's Description:
Fine unused condition. This book is in stock now, in our UK premises. Photos of our books are available on request (the pictures you see on Alibris are NOT our own).
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. A book can change your life forever. Num Pages: 240 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 149 x 199 x 16. Weight in Grams: 174. Good clean copy with some minor shelf wear. We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
A brilliant read. The story is unique and gripping, the writing fantastic.
Would definitely recommend!
aferret
Apr 9, 2009
A View Into Another World
An engaging view into another world, one rife with civil war and hardships. This tells it like it is....life can be hard, especially for the innocent children.
Cariola
Mar 29, 2008
A Powerful Novel about the Power of Books
A wonderful book about the power of the written word (when mixed with the reader's imagination) to change lives and/or make them bearable. Also questions the meaning of heroism in a violent world and examines the role one influential person can play in shaping the life of a young person.
Jones creates a unique and believeable voice for his narrator, 12-year old Matilda, and his depiction of her life in a remote Solomon Islands village torn by political war is both engaging and devastating. It's not hard to understand why Matilda and her classmates so eagerly enter the world of Dickens's Pip as a means of escape from the poverty and violence of their own lives. Mr. Watts, the last white man left on the island, a man known for wearing a red nose and carting his very large wife about in a trolley, finds himself cast in the role of teacher. Ill prepared, the best he can do is share with his students his love of "Mister Dickens's greatest novel," Great Expectations. In their world, Pip's story becomes a fragment of reality onto which they can hold.
My only negative comment about this novel is that the last 30 pages or so, after the climax, seem rahter rushed. But all is forgiven when the book as a whole is considered.
reader212
Dec 6, 2007
Worth the Agony?
It would help to have read Great Expectations recently (or have a good memory of it), but the horror of the experiences overroad the inspiration of the power of a book to help one survive. It is well written and captivating but leaves one depressed rather than exultant.
