Mister Pip

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In a novel that is at once intense, beautiful, and fablelike, Lloyd Jones weaves a transcendent story that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of narrative to transform our lives.On a copper rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind the eccentric Mr Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens s classic Great Expectations.So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen year old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become real than their own blighted landscape As Mr Watts says, A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe Soon come the rest of the villagers, initially threatened, finally inspired to share tales of their own that bring alive the rich mythology of their past But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing. Read Mister Pip – kino-fada.fr I hated this book Let me tell you why this novel read like this look at this poor, uneducated island, and these poor, noble savage ignorant and simple black people who are caught in the middle of a violent conflict between the savage black rebels who will eventually sell you out and the evensavage redskins...This is when two and a half stars would be handy I really couldn t stand this book for a couple of reasons when I first started reading it It has a narrative voice that sounds like an oldish adult trying to sound like a five year old Jones writes in staccato sentences that are occasionally poetic butoften tend toward a voice I will refer to as Tragic Deadpan, a voice that was also used to disastrous effect in Octavia Butler s writing It is uniquely unenlightening on the plight of the P This is when two and a half stars would be handy I really couldn t stand this book for a couple of reasons when I first started reading it It has a narrative voice that sounds like an oldish adult trying to sound like a five year old Jones writes in staccato sentences that are occasionally poetic butoften tend toward a voice I will refer to as Tragic Deadpan, a voice that was also used to disastrous effect in Octavia Butler s writing It is uniquely unenlightening on the plight of the Papuan masses, though I can now rest assured that I should be glad not to be a member of that immiserated bunch Worst of all, toward the beginning the novel reads like Dead Poets Society type teacher schmaltz Being a teacher does sensitize one to the presumption that a good teacher is a combination of Erasmus, Steve Martin, and Mother Teresa But t...Re reading a firm favourite can be salutary, a cure for that breathless over enthusiasm that marked the initial reaction I m not sure if anything can recapture the emotional punch in the solar plexus this book gave me the first time round Appalled outrage at the fact that the civil war in the 1990s on the island of Bougainville which blasts devastation through the narrator s life was barely reported in any Western media shocked horror at the atrocities all based on fact painful, gut wrench Re reading a firm favourite can be salutary, a cure for that breathless over enthusiasm that marked the initial reaction I m not sure if anything can recapture the emotional punch in the solar plexus this book gave me the first time round Appalled outrage at the fact that the civil war in the 1990s on the island of Bougainville which blasts devastation through the narrator s life was barely reported in any Western media shocked horror at the atrocities all based on fact painful, gu...This is a fascinating book ostensibly about an isolated island in the south Pacific and its inhabitants caught in a war over a copper mine The lone white man on the island decides to help the children through the tension by reading from Great Expectations, and various repercussions follow But, the story is so muchIn fact, I think I ll need to read it again to really understand it Right now, I d say it s about the power of stories and how they shape our lives how they provide context a This is a fascinating book ostensibly about an isolated island in the south Pacific and its inhabitants caught in a war over a copper mine The lone white man on the island decides to help the children through the tension by r...I ve had this book on my shelf for a few years now, and when New Zealand came up as the first country in the Travelling the World challenge, it seemed like fate that I d waited this long to read it Well, the author s a Kiwi but the book is actually set on the small tropical island of Bougainville, near Papua New Guinea, in the 1990s It s the kind of tropical island where communities live in small villages by the beach, amidst the jungle, living off fish and coconuts, chicken and pigs Matilda I ve had this book on my shelf for a few years now, and when New Zealand came up as the first country in the Travelling the World challenge, it seemed like fate that I d waited this long to read it Well, the author s a Kiwi but the book is actually set on the small tropical island of Bougainville, near Papua New Guinea, in the 1990s It s the kind of tropical island where communities live in small villages by the beach, amidst the jungle, living off fish and coconuts, chicken and pigs Matilda lives with her mother her father got a job with the mine and, when it closed, moved to Queensland for a new job in Townsville they ha...What a nearly perfect book, especially right after reading the original Pip Great Expectations A white NZ man introduces the black children of the tiny island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea to Great Expectations against a background of civil war with the redskins from the lar...Mister Pip written by Lloyd Jones focuses on the power of imagination and the ability of literature to act as an escape from reality Mr Watt is one of the few remaining white men after the war begins on the island of Bougainville He becomes a teacher for the native children of the island and uses Charles Dicken s Great Expectations to teach the children about the importance of imagination Pip is significant to Jones s novel because he is the main character of Great Expectations that Mr Watt Mister Pip written by Lloyd Jones focuses on the power of imagination and the ability of literature to act as an escape from reality Mr Watt is one of the few remaining white men after the war begins on the island of Bougainville He becomes a teacher for the native children of the island and uses Charles Dicken s Great Expectations to teach the child...My friend Rose, who also is reading Mister Pip, early on described the book as schmaltzy, and I am inclined to agree Treacly might be another good word And the book often comes across as condescending toward anyone who isn t white, though I m sure Lloyd Jones didn t mean for it to be.If Mister Pip is ever turned into a movie, it s a given that the role of Mr Watts will go to Robin Williams, in his inspiring teacher mode but wearing that fucking clown nose from Patch Adams Without givin My friend Rose, who also is reading Mister Pip, early on described the book as schmaltzy, and I am inclined to agree Treacly might be another good word And the book often comes across as condescending toward anyone who isn t white, though I m sure Lloyd Jones didn t mean for it to be.If Mister Pip is ever turned into a movie, it s a given that the role of Mr Watts will go to Robin Williams, in his inspiring teacher mode but wearing that fucking clown nose from Patch Adams Without giving too much about Mister Pip away, the only consolation for those of us who dislike Robin Williams would be Mr Watts ultimate fate That actually might make the movie worth seeing.Also, and this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I m getting pretty tired of supposedly inspiring novels that focus on the act of r...Wow I didn t expect this when I started reading What a well told story.There are opposites throughout idyllic island surrounding Victorian London peaceful island rebels militia Great Expectations no expectations The juxtapositions are harsh and affective Mr Watts, the only white man on the island, takes it upon himself to teach the children during times of war after the school has been closed He uses Great Expectations as a textbook, teaching the children of a world beyond their o Wow I didn t expect this when I started reading What a well told story.There are opposites throughout idyllic island surrounding Victorian London peaceful island rebels militia Great Expectations no expectations The juxtapositions are harsh and affective Mr Watts, the only white man on the island, takes it upon himself to teach the children during times of war after the school has...Unconvincing narrator, condescending, patronizing, less than successful end Other than that it s an OK story Note to middle aged white guys think twice before writing as 13 year old black island girl.

Mister Pip
  • English
  • 15 February 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 256 pages
  • 0385341067
  • Lloyd Jones
  • Mister Pip