New end penned for Dickens classic

[eburns at gmail.com]

That's Bulwer-Lytton of "it was a dark and stormy night" fame...


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-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com>
Sender: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:20:12 
To: pynchon -l<pynchon-l at waste.org>
Subject: Re: New end penned for Dickens classic

On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Dave Monroe
<against.the.dave at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15779928
>
> Cf. ...
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-Deborah-Chiel/dp/0312963033

The ending of Great Expectations that Victorians read is not the
original ending that Dickens wrote for the novel. On the advice of his
friend, novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Dickens changed the original
ending where Pip meets the remarried Estella in London and they part
forever, to the more upbeat ending where Pip and Estella stay
together.

Dickens friend and biographer, John Forster, revealed the original
ending in his Life of Dickens after Dickens' death. Most critics
believe the original ending more suitable to the dark nature of the
story. Modern editions of the novel usually include the original
ending as an addendum.

http://charlesdickenspage.com/expectations.html

Thanks, Tim Strzechowski!