Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mister Pip
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was a choice for a book club I belong to. I am a tender-hearted soul and found the last several chapters too gruesome. I knew it had won the Booker Award so I did not expect such cruelty.
I have given the book away.
Book Review: Escape
Summary: 5 Stars
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones is a book for book lovers. Set in a village on a tropical island that has been completely cut off from the rest of the world, the children learn to understand life differently through the guidance of the only white man on the island, Mr. Watts. The coming-of-age story of Matilda will makes readers appreciate their lives, libraries, and education.
We Salute You Mr. Dickens:
- When asking any bibliophile why they love to read they're bound to give you some variation of the answer, "It lets me escape." Matilda and her friends learn about this power at a critical point in their lives, giving them something to look forward to during a very difficult time.
- Jones' characters are simple yet complex; the dialogue and the plot are described somewhat simply, yet the message conveyed to the reader is far more complicated.
- I despise cheesiness. The subject matter of this text had the potential to be a bit heavy on the saccharine, yet Jones reins it in through Matilda's narration. It's inspirational without being nauseating.
- The narrative voice and thread is unique; without giving away the ending, her later life allows her perspective to make sense.
- There is a darker side to this text, exploring both race and class, and how the connected disputes have changed the island's way of life.
- The novel is the perfect length, and the pacing is done appropriately.
Some May not Appreciate:
- It's slightly graphic at times (violence and sexual innuendos).
- It's obvious discussion of race.
- The fate of some of the characters.
I appreciate what Jones has done as far as creating layers in this text, as well as providing readers with a different perspective. A fairly quick read, it will leave you satisfied and excited to read more of Jones' work.
Book Review: Great Expectations...Fulfilled
Summary: 5 Stars
I had great expectations for Mister Pip, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (and, in my mind, far more deserving than The Gathering). I'm pleased to say that my expectations were truly met. This imaginative, courageous, and heartbreaking book captured my own imagination and will stay with me a long time.
The book takes place on a lush tropical island -- a paradise -- with Garden of Eden overtures. Here, Mr. Watts -- the only white inhabitant, a somewhat eccentric schoolteacher -- and Grace, the mother of the main character Matilda, wrestle for her soul, through fiction and religion. Both are products of imagination; both have the power to transform and both are redemptive. And ultimately, the moral values of both Mr. Watts and Grace emerge to be essentially the same.
There are surprises at the end and heartbreaks -- no spoilers -- that have haunted me since closing the last pages. There is wisdom about the power of imagination and reinvention, the nature of true courage, the way we repair ourselves with stories old and new.
And in the end, Lloyd Jones says it best: "Perhaps there are lives like that -- poured into whatever space we have made ready for them to fill... we needed a magician to conjure up other worlds and Mr. Watts had become that magician." Nothing is ever quite what it seems, and both art and religion have power and limitations. With its sparse, haunting prose and powerful story, Mr. Jones has conjured up some magic of his own.
Book Review: Greater Expectations!
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book when I was in New Zealand, and it was impossible not to do so when every bookshop had piles and piles of it, and everybody was grabbing a copy of it! So I didn't really read what this book was about beforehand.
So I loved it at the beginning, but then.... There is a really shocking and violent episode that ends with Matilda, the principal character, leaving the island..... and from there on, the book just let me down. And there are some parts of the novel that relied too much on re-telling Dickens Great Expectations, but not really building up on the story.
My last advice is: don't read this book if you haven't read Grat Expectations, or if you don't remember it well.
Book Review: Island fever
Summary: 3 Stars
If there's one thing this book did for me it was a desire to read Great Expectations just because of the way the author uses it as an important prop for his island based story.
This was a mix of Lord of the Flies and Treasure Island though it remained a mystery right to the end. It's probably one of the most unusual books I have ever read but I liked it because it was a story told honestly with no frills and it was set in a part of the world among people I would not be familar with. This in itself attracted me to the book.
It certainly set the scene for me and I transported myself totally into the story and for the duration of the read I was on that island. It also reminded me of the Life of Pi for some reason.
You could just imagine a scenario where people are faced with moral decisions but the gruesome event towards the end of the book took me completely by surprise.
This was an unusual, easy read but a rich and rewarding experience.