Time to Catch Up...

... on my progress through Dickens' Great Expectations. I haven't blogged about it since the beginning of the month, and I feel very remiss, especially after reading a little snippet in Seraphic's Blog Seraphic Singles. (Yes, I know her blog is directed at singles, but she has so much practical advice on how to deal with men, which I need desperately at times. And I do read her 'married' blog as well. Anyway...) In the snippet, Seraphic says:

"My personal feeling is that blogs are a great way to meet likeminded people and make friends. The trick is that your blog should be about something that you are passionate about (and not just about you)."

It got me to thinking, and I realised that my blog is mainly about me and that's most likely what is making it hard for me to blog everyday. I need to write about what I'm passionate about- the Catholic Faith, books, films, music. Perhaps, then it will be easier to keep this up (and not so boring for my readers).

So, to keep in step with this resolution, let's take a look at some Dickens, shall we?

CHAPTER III

Poor Pip.

That's really all I can say. He's gotten himself into quite a quandary and he feels absolutely terrible about it. He's been practically forced to steal from his sister, and the guilt is nearly driving him mad. Then, on top of it, he runs into another convict, which scares him half to death. He finally meets up with the right convict, gives him the food, and then gets frightened again when this convict almost throttles him for seeing the other convict.

It's quite confusing at this point, because no one has any names. It's just 'the man' and 'the young man.' And poor Pip.

I must say I'm enjoying the various accents, thus far...

CHAPTER IV

Here we have a full chapter of Pip on pins and needles, and on Christmas, too! He's so worried that Mrs. Joe will find out that he's taken things from the pantry, that he can hardly enjoy what should be one of the most joyous days of the year.

I'm starting to be fascinated with the extreme sense of guilt that Pip is carrying on his slim, young shoulders. Mrs. Joe is constantly making the poor boy feel unworthy and unfit to live. Pip remarks:

"I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends."

And yet, for all her preaching and penance-giving, it's Mrs. Joe who doesn't go to church on Christmas Day because she's too busy preparing for the guests coming later. Hasn't she ever heard the Gospel about Martha and Mary?

During the dinner, Pip has no repose from his guilt, because Mrs. Joe insists upon making him the subject of ridicule in front of the guests, who take up her habit and berate Pip, too! If Dickens was trying to instill a sense of pity for Pip in his reader, he has certainly succeeded! By the end of the chapter, I wanted nothing more than to whisk the poor child away from his sister and the Wopsles and Uncle Pumblechook. Only Joe had any sense of how to act decently towards Pip. Unfortunately, he isn't much better off than Pip himself, as Mrs. Joe treats him with very little respect.

The woman is a Pharisee, I tell you...

Oh, and I laughed with wicked delight when Pumblechook drank the Tar-water... I just wish it had been Mrs. Joe. But I suppose those are uncharitable thoughts, even if they're towards a fictional character.

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There is more to follow, as I've read up to chapter eleven, and I shall post again shortly. For now I am wondering briefly if a certain Scottish gentleman will be sharing his thoughts with me about the book, as we had promised to read it in a book-club fashion, and compare notes as we made our way through the novel. Hmm...