I pity the poor high school student...

...who thinks they can skip reading the book and watch this adaptation instead.

You'll fail the test!

The first time I watched the Masterpiece Theater adaptation I basically came to the conclusion that the screenwriters butchered the story. I had just finished the book and was mad as hell.

Now that I've watched a second time, I've come to appreciate it in its own right.

Even though Estella and even Miss Havisham were MUCH nicer than they were supposed to be, and the ending was far too romantic and optimistic... those aspects actually made the story more entertaining - of course.(All throughout the book I kept hoping that Estella would express her hidden love for Pip, and that Miss Havisham would display a grain of kindness.)

While this humanizing of the characters makes for a more engrossing story (who didn't get all googly with that kiss at the end??), it's definitely a departure from the book, and you'll either have to be mad or learn to accept the varying interpretation.




...rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell...