Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

"The 1990 blockade of Bougainville provides fertile territory for Lloyd Jones' imaginative riff on a classic Dickens novel."
On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with almost 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 whos contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. 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.
Sue said ...
'Mister Pip' 4/5 for me.Factual. Led me to extend myself. Watched 'Great Expectations' again. Looked up Frances Ona again.
Judith said...
Mr Pip was well-drawn and well written.An interesting story of interesting times and the type of people involved in colonial takeovers. Ultimately, sad, shocking and truthful. 4/5
Lee said...
If someone asked me to name my top 10 books this book would be among them. Any book that keeps me thinking about it years after I've read it means it has had a profound affect on me. Well written, riveting story that made me experience all my emotions as I became engrossed in Matilda's life. Loved it!
Gwen said...
A strong story. A haunting aftermath clings to the character of Mr Watts. The final exposition of his 'Walter Mitty' personality makes him even more noble.
The utter helplessness of the local population to resist both the external multinationals and the indigenous rebels is eloquently told.
Unfortunately the character of Matilda was somewhat ill-defined and she remained rather a detached narrator than at the heart of the novel where (perhaps) she should have been.
All up-Thumbs up!
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