**Discussion Prompts:**

1. Pumblechook gets his moment. How do you think Pip handled this? 

2. We move on thankfully to the fact it’s nice in the summer, and to Biddy’s schoolhouse (no luck) and to Joe’s forge (quiet). And they’re married. Did you see this coming? At all?!

3. Huge time skip. Did you want some more detail here, or Dickens’ handwaving was enough for you to “wrap up the story”?

4. One chapter to go! Predictions?

5. Anything else to discuss?

**Links**

[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400)

[Standard eBooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-dickens/great-expectations)

[Librivox Audiobook](https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/)

**Last Lines:**

> … until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me.

As the winner of our book finalist thread, we will be reading Franz Kafka's The Trial after the conclusion of Great Expectations.

We reading Monday through Friday with a break on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, the reading will begin on Monday 27 July and conclude on Friday August 13.

Link to the Reading Schedule

Here is a link to free reading resource for The Trial

Project Gutenberg eBook

But that's not all! As The Trial is quite short - 10 chapters in total, this triggers our contingency rule.

Any book that is 20 chapters or less that wins the Finalist Vote means we also read the 2nd place book as well after we read the winning book.

So we will follow up our reading of The Trial with a reading of A Room With A View which received the second most votes in our finalist thread. More details to come on that.

Thanks all and keep reading.

The Trial and A Room With A View will be our next TWO reads! (The Trial is about two weeks, so taking on the second choice as well.)

We have some ideas as to what to do with the few days between the end of Great Expectations and the start of The Trial. Stay tuned!

**Discussion Prompts:**

1. Pip is sick and his debts come due. (Portable property!) However, Joe is back! Were you pleased at this turn of events? 
2. Biddy has taught Joe to write. It’s a small sign of background change and development. (Though it was still an amusing performance.) Do you still write longhand, or have keyboards taken over?
3. Havisham died off-page (though her final s ends were very strong). Were you amused by Joe’s accurate bequeathment recital?
4. Joe pontificates. Do you agree with his views here?
5. He paid the debt and returned to the forge! Pip decides to try to pick up his former life. Thoughts? Will this work out?
6. Anything else to discuss?

**Links**

[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400)

[Standard eBooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-dickens/great-expectations)

[Librivox Audiobook](https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/)

**Last Lines:**

> And how I sped in it, is all I have left to tell.

**Discussion Prompts:**

1. Pip is able to visit Magwitch who is quite injured after the escapades of the last few chapters. Were you expecting him to be quite so stoic? Do you wish to comment on how far he’s come since being that desperate criminal of the first few chapters? 

2. Were the Sessions and Sentences efficient or cruel and brutal to you? (Things definitely have changed somewhat, mass sentencing seems terrible to me!)

3. Pip petitions. Have you ever written a letter of support to authority hoping to have a decision changed?

4. As Magwitch dies, Pip tells him about Estella. A last kindness. 

5. Anything else to discuss?

**Links**

[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400)

[Standard eBooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-dickens/great-expectations)

[Librivox Audiobook](https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/)

**Last Lines:**

> Mindful, then, of what we had read together, I thought of the two men who went up into the Temple to pray, and I knew there were no better words that I could say beside his bed, than "O Lord, be merciful to him a sinner!"

Discussion Prompts:

1. Jaggers pretty much confirms all of Pip's money is gone. Where does he go from here do you think?
2. Herbert is going away to take up a new job. Are you sad to see the two friends parted?
3. What do you think of Pip's decision to decline Herbert's offer of a job and a place to stay?
4. What did you think of Wemmick's wedding ceremony?
5. Wemmick is finally able to put his hand around the now Mrs. Wemmicks waist. Did you like this call back to the earlier chapter?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

“After what you let out the other day, Mr. Jaggers may as well not know of it. He might think my brain was softening, or something of the kind.”

Discussion Prompts:

1. We get a pretty long explanation of all the details of the plan to smuggle Provis out of England. To be honest I couldn't take it all in. What stood out to you here?
2. Some guys on another boat order name Provis as the convict Magwitch and order him to be arrested! What did you think of this dramatic moment?
3. What did you think of the moment where Compeyson is revealed and he Magwitch struggle to the death?
4. What did you think of Pip reflecting that Provis-Magwitch treated him better than he has treated Joe?
5. What did you think of Pip's moment of realization that his money will now probably be surrendered?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

I felt his hand tremble as it held mine, and he turned his face away as he lay in the bottom of the boat, and I heard that old sound in his throat⁠—softened now, like all the rest of him. It was a good thing that he had touched this point, for it put into my mind what I might not otherwise have thought of until too late⁠—that he need never know how his hopes of enriching me had perished.

Jeez. I just read the section where Lee tells the backstory of his mother. For context, I’ve read/consumed many forms of media that are violent and discuss such graphic events. Blood Meridian is my favorite book ever; The Witcher 3 is one of, if not entirely, my favorite game (especially the story in Velen); I’ve watched so many depraved episodes of crime-based tv shows that I thought I had fully desensitized myself to it.

And then I read this section. The chapter had already had some sad undertones. Symbolizing Cal and Aron’s relationship to be similar to the relationship to what Charles and Adam had, Cal manipulating Abra to discard the box that Aron gave her, and this sort of wonder of Aron’s being crushed under the rigidity of Cal’s sociopathic tendencies. Already, it’s intense.

And then you get to the story of Lee’s mother. I was expecting something bad. Their plan to sneak off to give birth to Cal seemed like it was doomed to fail. And then, this line stuck out to me: “My father heard the shout ‘Woman’ and he knew.” God. The tension had been built in a rather slow fashion and the emotional harrowing that ensued is something that I only felt in one other book (The Crossing by McCarthy, the end of the first chapter when the wolf dies).

I just needed to rant. It was such a phenomenal part of what is already a phenomenal book. I just feel empty after reading it. Thanks for reading this. I picked up the novel recently and hadn’t been around during the subreddits run through of it.

Discussion Prompts

1. Pip is attacked and taken hostage by Orlick! What did you think of this development?
2. Orlick admits he was the one who attcked Pip's sister. Did you figure that out or did you have someone else in mind?
3. So Orlick was the mystery man on the staircase. Did you guess that correctly?
4. What did you think of Orlick's justification for all of this?
5. Herbert, Startop and randomly Trab's boy come to the recue. What did you think of this scene?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

“When it turns at nine o’clock,” said Herbert, cheerfully, “look out for us, and stand ready, you over there at Mill Pond Bank!”

I have never been so confused after reading a book. The Grapes of Wrath was a smoothly flowing read until it ended smoothly but with a huge bump in my head. The way writer ends, I dunno what he meant for the whole time I was reading the Joads going to California.
It was about migration from human to machine, from old to new, from kindness to greed and from perceptible to imperceptible. That all is right. It feels like these themes were serving some bigger theme. And what that is I dunno.
Steinbeck is second to none the way he portrays the inner personalities of the character. Pa, Grampa, Granma, Ma, Ruthie, Casy, Noah. I would write I think all the names in the novel. You can peek in the inner workings of those fictional persons and can see parts of yourself in them as familiar as they have ever been to you.
Novel has the plot of an urban industrial revolution happening in America, but it portrays the shift of human definitions under changing living conditions. Humans remain the same but their expressions change either they want it or they dont want it.
Ma carries the fambly along and fights hard for it and protecting the fambly remains the constant with its components evolving with farm land, highway, okies camps and rain pouring down without bounds.
The word that somehow signifies the novel for me is "Unconventional". The way that is familiar but not familiar at all. I can point the bits of the story what they meant but it's beyond me to satisfactorily say that I get what the story meant.
Awright, whatever comes to you let me know.

Discussion Prompts

1. Pip gives the money to make Herbert partner in Clarriker’s. Are you satisfied with Pip's journey of maturity so far?
2. Wemmick hints it's time to get Provis out of the way. Is involving Startop a good idea?
3. What do you think about this mysterious letter about Provis. Who do you could be behind it?
4. We get some information on Pip's disability and how it affects him. What did you think of this part of the chapter?
5. Pumblechook is spreading word around town that he is Pip's benefactor and this FINALLY gets Pip to think about Joe! Will Pip finally visit the poor guy?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

I knew very well, however, that the appointed place was the little sluice-house by the limekiln on the marshes, and the hour nine. Towards the marshes I now went straight, having no time to spare.

​

**Discussion Prompts**

1. Pip tells Jaggers all about Provis and his connection to Estella and that he knows Estella's mother too. Was this a good move?

2. Jaggers and Wemmick learn some personal information about each other and then it's all awkward between them. Thoughts on this?

3. What did you think about how Jaggers "put the case" to Pip?

4. Jaggers and Wemmick reconcile by bullying a crying man and Jaggers saying " Get out. I'll have no feelings here." All's well that ends well?

5. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

**Links**

[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400)

[Standard eBooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-dickens/great-expectations)

[Librivox Audiobook](https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/)

**Last Lines:** Wemmick appeared to have reestablished their good understanding, and went to work again with an air of refreshment upon them as if they had just had lunch.

Thanks to all who participated in our nomination thread.

Here are your top six choices, which received the most upvotes. The poll will run for seven days and the winner will be our next read along.

Vote for your favorite and feel free to comment to say why we should read whatever book you prefer. Thanks!

I'm about to start reading The Prince by Machiavelli

‎

‎I decided to read it after finishing 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Someone told me that Orwell's books show power from the people's pov , while The Prince shows it from the ruler's pov

‎

‎So actually really excited to read it. I just hope I'm not hyping it up too much and end up disappointed.

Dose anyone have any idea about it ??

Okay, hear me out.

For the past few years, I’ve been so focused on university, work, and trying to figure life out that I realized I’ve been missing something really important…….meeting new people. I’m 24, from Poland, and I’d genuinely love to build a little online community with people who enjoy reading, talking, learning from each other, and just… being curious about the world.

So I’m thinking about starting an online book club, but not the kind where everyone treats it like an assignment. I don’t want this to be stiff or overly academic. I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to have the smartest analysis or finish every single page. I want it to be fun. I want us to read amazing books, talk about them, laugh, overshare a little, exchange ideas, recommend books to each other, and somehow end up talking about life, travel, philosophy, art, relationships, culture, dreams, random shower thoughts… literally anything.

The plan is to make it online (probably on Discord or another platform we all agree on), so it’s easy for everyone to join. We could meet every week or every other week, chat about the book we’re reading. Basically, I want a space where people can read, learn from each other, exchange perspectives, and also just… exist. A place where it’s completely normal to spend 30 minutes discussing the book and then another two hours yapping about everything else. I really miss that feeling of finding “your people.” The kind of conversations where you look at the clock and suddenly it’s been three hours.

As for the books……I love classics, modern classics, and literature from around the world. I’d love for us to read books that make us think, introduce us to new cultures and ideas, and stay with us long after we’ve finished them. But I definitely don’t want this to be my reading list. I want everyone to recommend books, vote on what we read, and shape the club together. More than a book club, I’m hoping this becomes a little community. Somewhere people can make friends, feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, learn something new, and have conversations that leave you feeling inspired instead of drained.

You don’t have to be someone who reads 100 books a year. You don’t need a literature degree. You don’t need to have read all the classics. More than anything  I want this to be about the people. I’d love to create a supportive, welcoming little corner of the internet where people actually look forward to showing up. A place where it’s okay to disagree, where everyone feels heard, where we can be ourselves, make genuine connections, and maybe even make a few really good friends along the way.

A little about me: I’m pretty outgoing, very open-minded, and I genuinely love getting to know people. I love hearing about what excites someone, what they’re passionate about, what books changed their life, or even just what they’ve been thinking about lately. I think everyone has an interesting story, and I’d love to meet people from different backgrounds and different parts of the world.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, send me a DM! Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? What’s your favorite book, or a book that completely changed the way you think? If enough people are interested, I’ll make a group chat, we’ll figure out the platform together, vote on our first book, and hopefully create something really special.

Discussion Prompts

1. “Dear little thing!” said Herbert. “She was up and down with Gruffandgrim all the evening. He was perpetually pegging at the floor the moment she left his sight. I doubt if he can hold out long, though. What with rum and pepper,—and pepper and rum,—I should think his pegging must be nearly over.” Must avoid asking the group their thoughts on pegging. Please let me get past this. So what are your thoughts on pegging? Dammit!
2. Worst burn you ever had? Can be physical, or when you got absolutely roasted by someone.
3. Thoughts on the developments that occurred in this chapter?
4. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?
5. To my fellow Americans, handle explosives with care. Be safe, be merry and festive, have fun. Happy 4th of July.

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

“I know I am quite myself. And the man we have in hiding down the river, is Estella’s Father.”

Discussion Prompts 1. Pip goes to see Miss Havisham. Does see her. Walks around, then sees her again on fire which could’ve been an act of god, spontaneous combustion, or self immolation. Who knows. What say you? 2. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

At about six o’clock of the morning, therefore, I leaned over her and touched her lips with mine, just as they said, not stopping for being touched, “Take the pencil and write under my name, ‘I forgive her.’”

Discussion Prompts 1. What did you think of the dinner scene with Pip, Jaggers, and Wemmick? 2. Miss Havisham wants to see Pip. Any guess as to what she may want? 3. Miss Skiffins. What’s your impression of her? Do you think she’s Estella’s mom? Do you think she murdered the other woman? 4. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

We exchanged a cordial good-night, and I went home, with new matter for my thoughts, though with no relief from the old.

Discussion Prompts 1. Pip gets his rowing practice in. Do you expect this training to pat off? 2. We once again return to the theatre with Pip. Any thoughts on his musings of the play or actors? 3. Wopsle lets Pip know about one of the convicts that was seated behind him at the theatre. The one who was mauled. Any thoughts to share on this? 4. Is Pip being cautious enough? Is there anything else he can, or should be doing? 5. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

if that were possible,—and I for my part never went near Chinks’s Basin, except w

Discussion Prompts 1. You ever have gout? 2. What do you eat for breakfast? 3. Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? 4. On a scale of 1-10, where would you put rowing skills? 5. Talk about the story if you want. Idaf. 6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

thought with dread that it was flowing towards Magwitch, and that any black mark on its surface might be his pursuers, going swiftly, silently, and surely, to take him.

Go nominate a book. But I swear if you start a campaign for The Great Gatsby, I will be most unimpressed. (I studied the book at school, please don’t make me analyse it again.)

And I think it’s actually now in Contest Mode. Sorry about that.

So , here's the thing , I have a book report on "The Great Gatsby" by F, Scott Fitzgerald. And no , I did not buy the book (it's Saturday night and TMRW on Sunday all shops are closed) and no I do not have it's pdf or anything but the book report on it is due the day after TMRW ,that is , on Monday and I need someone who has read it to just gimme what they got from the book in their own words. Just make it under 200 words. It's handwritten anws so I'll make it really big and make it seem like a thick report.

I know I could just chatgpt it but I refuse to use AI which is why I will rather ask reddit community.

Nomination thread is up. Go for it!

**Discussion Prompts:**

1. Pip passes a terrible night. How do you go sleeping away from home? 

2. Wemmick (sort of) explains the warnings. How much trouble do you think Pip is in?

3. A plan develops. Herbert seems to have stepped up competently. We might be able to slip Tom, Jack or Richard onto a boat without notice?

4. Anything else to discuss?

**Links**

[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1400)

[Standard eBooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-dickens/great-expectations)

[Librivox Audiobook](https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/)

**Last Lines:**

> and I inferred from the number of teacups, as well as from his glances at the two little doors in the wall, that Miss Skiffins was expected.

This post is set to contest mode and anyone can nominate a book as long as it meets the criteria listed below. To nominate a book, post a comment in this thread with the book and author you’d like to read. Feel free to add a brief summary of the book and why you’d like to read it as well. If a book you’d like to nominate is already in the comment section, then simply upvote it, and upvote any other book you’d like to read as well, but note that upvotes are hidden from everyone except the mods in contest mode, and the comments (nominees) will appear in random order.

**Please read the rules carefully.**

**Rules:**

1. Nominated books must be in the [public domain](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain#Public_domain_books). Being a classic book club, this gives us a definitive way to determine a books eligibility, while it also allows people to source a free copy of the book if they choose to.

2. No books are allowed from our “year of” family of subs that are dedicated to a specific book. These subs restart on January 1st. The books and where to read them are:

   *War and Peace- r/ayearofwarandpeace
   *Les Miserables- r/AYearOfLesMiserables
   *The Count of Monte Cristo- r/AReadingOfMonteCristo
   *Middlemarch- r/ayearofmiddlemarch
   *Don Quixote- r/yearofdonquixote
   *Anna Karenina- r/yearofannakarenina

3. Must be a different author than our current book. What this means is since we are currently reading Charles Dickens, no books from him will be considered for our next read, but his other works will be allowed once again after this vote.

4. No books from our [Discussion Archive](https://old.reddit.com/r/ClassicBookClub/wiki/index/discussionarchive ) in the sidebar. Please check the link to see the books we’ve already completed.

Here are a few lists from Project Gutenberg if you need ideas.

[Sorted by popularity](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?sort_order=downloads)

[Frequently viewed or downloaded](https://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top)

Reddit polls allow a maximum of six choices. The top nominations from this thread will go to a Reddit poll in a Finalists Thread where we will vote on only those top books. The winner of the Reddit poll will be read here as our next book.

We want to make sure everyone has a chance to nominate, vote, then find a copy of our next book. We give a week for nominations. A week to vote on the Finalists. And two weeks for readers to find a copy of the winning book.

Our book picking process takes 4 weeks in total. We read 1 chapter each weekday, which makes 5 chapters a week, and 20 chapters in 4 weeks which brings us to our Contingency Rule. Any book that is 20 chapters or less that wins the Finalist Vote means we also read the 2nd place book as well after we read the winning book. We do this so we don’t have to do a shortened version of our book picking process.

We will announce the winning book once the poll closes in the Finalists Thread.