September 2023-May, 2024: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
September 24, October 22, November 26, January 28, February 25, March 24, April 28, and May 26 at 1:00-3:00 PM (Pacific) | Virtual Event
New this year, we will be devoting an entire year to one novel instead of two, and will dive deeply into Great Expectations. Join Dickens enthusiasts and Pickwick Club members for a series of discussions about this book.
Charles Dickens depicts how a gentleman is made, not born, in this novel. Presented as Pip's confessional autobiography, Great Expectations describes his childhood at the forge, his infatuation with the beautiful Estella, his shame at his working-class origin and his eagerness to be a gentleman, and eventually his life as a young man-about-town with "great expectations" of inheriting a fortune. Recalling these events as an adult, Mr. Pirrip is frank about his mistakes and shortcomings.
Reading Schedule
| Sep 24 | Beginning to Book 1, Chapter 9 |  |
| Oct 22 | To Book 1, Chapter 17 | |
| Nov 26 | To Book 2, Chapter 4 | |
| Dec 24 | No Meeting | |
| Jan 28 | To Book 2, Chapter 11 | |
| Feb 25 | To Book 2, Chapter 19 | |
| Mar 24 | To Book 3, Chapter 5 | |
| Apr 28 | To Book 3, Chapter 14 | |
| May 26 | To End | |
Recommended Edition: We recommend the Penguin Classics edition of the novel for its appendices and notes, but other versions are fine. First-time readers should avoid the Introduction if they don't want spoilers. Download the novel to read at Gutenburg.org or to listen at LibriVox.org.
The Santa Cruz Pickwick (Book) Club, a branch of the Dickens Fellowship, is a community of local bookworms, students, and teachers who meet monthly to discuss a nineteenth-century novel. The Santa Cruz Public Libraries provide support for the reading group.
