On ‘Great Expectations’ and new beginnings
Wisdom from timeless literature
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The beauty of timeless classics is that they are able to transcend the vortex of time and space to provide a cocktail so comfort and advice you might not realise that you need. On my first night at Oxford, I found a copy of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectation randomly placed over my desk; and a few hours later I was midway through reading it probably for the fifth time.
Rereading Great Expectations as I embark on a new(ish) adventure was a humbling experience. Those two hour spent lost in Dickens’ world provided the grounding I needed and reminded me about some of the universal truisms that are always helpful to remember.
In a previous newsletter on lessons from advice from Alice (in wonderland) we wrote about how fiction and philosophy is often a great map through uncertainty. In today’s newsletter we’re giving you the Charles Dickens edition
Advice from Alice - How do you live in a wonderland?
“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”
The Great Expectations
For the uninitiated and unfamiliar, "Great Expectations" is a classic novel by Charles Dickens that follows the life of a young orphan named Pip. The story begins with Pip's chance encounter with a mysterious escaped convict in a graveyard, which sets off a chain of events that will change his life forever.