Book 10: The Bright Light of Manwich.

I see a light at the end of the Great Expectations tunnel. I read 140 pages yesterday, so I am only 120 from the end. I am sure you are just as happy as I am.

I finally told myself that I just needed to get it over with and to suck it up. Turns out, the book gets slightly more interesting after page 350. Pip finally learns who his benefactor is and there’s a little more explanation about what has been going on. I also like the fact that the guy’s name is Magwitch, which really just reminds me of Manwich. So instead of picturing a man, I just picture a big Sloppy Joe walking around. It makes for more entertaining reading.

I think I figured out why the first 350 pages were so hard to get through. They’re all exposition. There seems to be no drama, no challenges, nothing until Manwich comes back and stirs things up a bit. Up until that point you just get Pip whining and treating the people who raised him like crap.

(And really, the funeral? Couldn’t Dickens have given Pip a LITTLE EMOTION about that death? REALLY??)

So now I seem to be in the home stretch. 120 pages to go. I’m going to try and finish today, but we shall see.

There are so many more interesting books left for me to read that I simply want to be done with this one.