Mister Pip cover art

Mister Pip

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Mister Pip

By: Lloyd Jones
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £9.33

Buy Now for £9.33

Summary

 'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames'.

Bougainville, 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island.

When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of Great Expectations.

But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns. Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished.©2006 Lloyd Jones Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
Fantastic and unusual book that all literature lovers should read or listen. What a shame that once again a prize winning book is 'arbitrary' abridged by Audible.

Mister Pip

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What an unusual story - gripping and appalling parts are offset with gentle and delighful memories of childhood. It is touching and sad, but full of hope and the magic of the world and the imagination. Finty Williams is the perfect narrator. This is 2 hours of total enthralment - do listen.

Magical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I joined Audible for free, in order to listen to ‘Mr Pip’ (which I didn’t manage to finish reading in paperback form, lent to me while abroad). The reader Finty Williams, while offering crystal clear diction, is very irritating. She occasionally gets the emphasis wrong, which I think changes the author’s intended meaning in places. Also, for an appropriate authenticity, the story should be read by a black reader with an exotic accent of some sort, not someone evidently from an English public school.
The story began engagingly, reminding me of a certain Detective Agency series, but suddenly turned into something horrible and vaguely exploitative, that only an insensitive author (who takes his readers for fools) could write. Ugh. I don’t understand how anyone could have recommended this book to me.

The story takes a nasty turn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn't like this audiobook and was glad it was short, until I discovered it was abridged. Maybe I would have enjoyed the longer version but I doubt it since it's safe to assume the best bits are here. Perhaps I should have read it instead. I found the perfect 'Queen's English' accentless narration annoying. It distanced me even further from the story, which as other reviewers have said, has been better done.

Disappointing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.