The Library Vault

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations was not what I expected. No, I did not read Dickens in high school and yes, this was my first time reading Dickens. The inclination to read Dickens was due to an entirely different author. This author is from the modern era, but is an acquired taste. A natural storyteller, he mentions Great Expectations in his novels. The main character tends to be obsessed with Dickens’s notable work. They consecutively reread it. Is there a literary parallel between this said author and Dickens’s novel? I am not quite sure, there can be some critical analysis, but I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. We aren’t in school anymore. Dear reader, you might be wondering who this author is? If you haven’t guessed it, the author is the distinguished John Irving.

After doing a little research, it appears there is more than a possible literary parallel between Irving and Dickens. Great Expectations is the reason why John Irving became a writer. Irving said,

[Dickens’] genius is descriptive; he can describe a thing so vividly — and so influentially — that no one can look at that thing in the same way again.

I would have to agree with him. Irving is one of my favorite modern novelists. It is apparent in his writing that he emulates Dickens. Irving’s plots are thoughtfully designed, aligned with memorable characters that make you feel like a human. I think what Dickens reminds the reader with Great Expectations is that we are all human and nothing is actually what it seems. Let the world breathe while we occupy its space because we can’t expect too much from the universe. Now, that sounds depressing. It is not meant to. It just seems like the main character, Pip, has all these great expectations from life and is left in a melancholy home with a woman he will always love, but will never have. Many may know the story and many may not. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil how Mr. Pip gets to the lonely home at the ending, that is for you to explore through the words of Dickens.

The novel begins with a young man named Pip coming across an escaped convict and assisting him to potential freedom. The novel continues Pip’s story to adulthood, with the figure of the convict looming in the shadows. In that time, he builds significant relationships with characters like the sad Miss Haversham, the cunning and beautiful Estella and humble Joe. The characters of Pip’s life form the plot for his desires to be a true gentleman. The reader is taken on a path of self discovery, with all the hopes and expectations of what Victorian England has to offer. A wine to pair with this novel will leave the reader questioning, what is truly great in this world?

Personally, it must be a wine that I had low expectations of. I can’t say it was a wine, but an entire grape. Now, this is tracing back to my earlier years, when I was learning a thing or two about wine. It made me realize how naive I was, and how much I needed to still learn … a little bit like the character of Pip. We watch him grow, thinking that if he had all these desires fulfilled, it would satisfy his existence. What it actually did was open his eyes to the truth of what really surrounded him. This grape did something similar to me. 

The grape is Riesling, it originates from the Rhine region in Germany. It grows well in cooler climates. It actually can grow well in the Northeast. It’s hard to compare a Riesling from Connecticut to that of Germany, because our soil is just a little too rocky. This grape grows well in Austria, France, Slovenia, Serbia, Australia, and domestically in places like New York, Oregon and Washington. I think mass production of certain Rieslings gave the grape a bad reputation. In my younger years, I thought a Riesling was sweet and meant for the novice wine drinker. Well, I couldn’t be more wrong. It has a sweetness to it, but that depends on where it is grown. I feel like sweet is the wrong word. Riesling is a complex grape that is a known for making a dry white wine. It is aromatic with notes of pears or flowers. It presents itself with beautiful golden hue or as a crisp white.

It is truly fascinating how a grape adapts and evolves depending on the climate, terrain, and soil. Those components define each wine, which makes it unique. Yes, Riesling can grow in these various areas around the world, but the components that make up that area define how the wine is produced and each source is a different outcome. Another reason to love wine. It would also be true to Pip’s character. If he stayed and remained a blacksmith, he would still be Pip, but an entirely different Pip. If Pip never went to Miss Haversham’s, he wouldn’t have the life that he led. Our climate and terrain as people shape and evolve our outcomes and who we are. Dickens was going beyond the idea of expectations, he was defining the ‘what if scenario;’ that we shouldn’t focus on. Don’t look to the past, but keep on truckin’. The truckin’ of understanding Riesling led me to an amazing wine. 

The Riesling to pair with Great Expectations is from the Dönnhoff estate, located in the Nahe region in Germany. The Dönnhoff family has been in the region for over 200 years. They have a pretty interesting story, which you can investigate by googling their website. They describe the Dönnhoff Riesling as a great entry wine to the rest of their collection. It is truly an elegant wine that holds notes of pears and apples. It is dry but complex, it is a fruity wine that holds much depth.

When I first tried the Dönnhoff Riesling, I was blown away. It is a fascinating find for a reasonable price. I recently drank it to help frame this blog post and it still holds true. Great Expectations is a novel that was ahead of its time and this Riesling is a classic that is redefining the past. Summer may be full of heat, and the Earth may shudder with an afternoon thunder storm, but relax with a glass of Dönnhoff and Dickens. Remember we need to let the Earth breathe while we occupy it.