909. Jack Maggs

Jack Maggs
Peter Carey
1997
Around 400 pages

There's a Jack Maggs Agency near me which is kind of weird, although I wouldn't fault anybody for not making the connection to this rather odd Dickens fan fiction. We've had no shortage of reimaginings on this List, but only a few actually stand out on their own as literary triumphs. I'm not entirely sure this falls under that category.

Carey comes up with a reworking of Great Expectations, where Jack Maggs stands in for Magwitch, and is on a quest to find his son Henry, or Pip. He meets Tobias Oates, aka Charles Dickens, who decides his story would make a swell plot line for his next novel.

This one dragged a bit, maybe due in part to pacing which was slowed down by the old-timey style. I felt like the narrative was bogged down with exposition and letters, although it did feel true to Dickens with its somewhat soppy story. 

But our man Carey has a penchant for melodrama, which I enjoyed more in Oscar and Lucinda. This was skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Publishers Weekly wrote "Carey's memorable characters can stand proudly in the pantheon beside those of Dickens."

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