Great Expectations

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Stephen Fry

The inimitable Stephen Fry reads this definitive edition of Dickens' most beloved novel, Great Expectations.

"My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip."

Great Expectations follows Pip's life from a plucky but poor and put-upon child in the Kent marshes, to a young man with "great expectations" in London and the choices he must make as a result of his winding journey. On the way, we meet some of Dickens' most memorable and unique characters - the mysterious and brutal Magwtich; eternally heartbroken Miss Havisham; and her cold-hearted child Estella.

In 2015, Great Expectations was placed 4th on the list of the 100 Greatest British Novels and has been beloved by readers and listeners since its original serialisation and publication in 1860-1.

Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director and all-round national treasure.

Notable acting roles include his award-winning performance in Wilde, his iconic projects with Hugh Laurie such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder, and his memorable turns in blockbuster projects V for Vendetta, the Sherlock Holmes films and The Hobbit series.

As a proudly out gay man, the award-winning Out There, documenting the lives of lesbian, bisexual gay and transgender people around the world is part of his thirty-year advocacy of the rights of the LGBT community.

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read, performed, and adapted today.

Public Domain (P)2024 SNR Audio

Critic reviews

“It is a novel not just about survival of the fittest. It is also a novel about the ways in which you make your way in the world, and how it is that you can reach a place in life which is different from where you started.”

- John Sutherland

Narration

Stephen Fry is a national treasure, and when he reads Dickens, it’s a delight. I highly recommend revisiting this classic.