Great Expectations by Deborah Chiel
His father’s family name being Bell, and his Christian name James, his infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Jimmy. So, he called himself Jimmy, and came to be called Jimmy Bell. The novel opens at the scene of a party, in New York City, and Jimmy Bell is the man of the hour, the experience so surreal to him that “Jimmy felt as if he were in a movie, starring in the role of a tough guy who didn’t give a shit, usually played by Bruce Willis or Clint Eastwood,” or in this case, Ethan Hawke. But how did Jimmy get from being the nephew of a modest Florida fisherman to the center of Manhattan stardom? Why, it’s a story as old as the film industry itself, and one that will defy your greatest expectations.
From his earliest childhood memory, Jimmy was taunted by the temptation for things he couldn’t have. While a directionless twentysomething, he was taken into the employ of the mysterious Miss Havisham (Janeane Garofalo) and enticed to lust after her beautiful charge Estella (Winona Ryder). Despite living with him and sharing many kooky misadventures, Estella repeatedly cast her favor with a more ambitious, if not more talented, artist Michael Grates (Ben Stiller). Then one day Jimmy was whisked away from it all by a visit from an accountant representing an unknown benefactor convinced that Jimmy should have great expectations for himself.
In order to finally attract the elusive Estella, Jimmy Bell must do battle with the evil Magwitch who wishes to destroy his great Expectations. Master of convoluted language, subtle symbolism, and fanciful character names, novelist Deborah Chiel’s narrative weaves ambition and human warmth through a tale unprecedented in English literature. This book is truly a worthwhile piece of portable property that tells us unequivocally: Charles Dickens.
— Philip Pirrip
