Book Review: Mr. Pip

Title: Mr. Pip
Author: Lloyd Jones
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: February 1
Own: Yes!
Why Chosen: Farming of Books January 2008 selection

Ok - I was wrong. I can admit it. I did NOT want to read Great Expectations last month for book club. I don't like Victorian literature. It takes me awhile to wade through all the fluffy words. I find it very annoying. But - I ended up liking the story. (See my review here.) The reasoning for the selection of Great Expectations in December was so we could better enjoy and appreciate the January selection: Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones. And getting through Great Expectations was definitely worth it once I finished Mr. Pip. Absolutely LOVED it! Loved the story. Loved the writing style. Loved the connection to Great Expectations.

Favorite Excerpts:

Our houses sat beached in a sloppy row, all of them gaping back at the sea.

Silence is an indicator of good manners...When I was growing up, silence was the bits left over after the blimmin' dogs and the blimmin' roosters and the generators had had a go at the world....But silence is good for a lot of things - sleeping, being at one with God, thinking about the Good Book....stay away from boys who abuse silence. Boys who shout have mud in their souls. A man who knows about the wind and sailing a boat also knows about silence and is likely to be more sensitive to the presence of God.

There are some things you never expect to lose, things you think will forevr be part of you, even if it is only a toenail.

I had discovered that the plainest house can crown a fantasy or daydream. An open window can be tolerated. So can an open door. But I discovered the value of four walls and a roof. Something about containment that at the same time offers escape.

Dreams are private, she said. And she is right. A dream is a story that no one else will get to hear or read. Thanks to dreams, in the history of the galaxy the world has been reinvented more often than there are stars.

Your shoelaces are useless on their own. They need a shoe before they can work. A human being without God is just flesh and blood. A house without God is an empty house waiting for the devil to move in. You need to understand boundaries.

But on thinking about it, this rain was wetter and more persistant than any I have ever known. It was rain that insists you take it more seriously; pay closer attention to it.

Or else she would have stared those words down until they curled up with shame and dropped off the wall in flakes.